[ismarc]

Honestly, this is going to sound cheesy at first, but it's not, I promise you. My dad was the first mentor I had. Entire time I was a kid he was trying to get different businesses off the ground. After I moved out he actually succeeded for a while, but that eventually imploded. You see, my dad isn't a very skilled person. He's lacking a large amount of business sense. He's really not even very bright. However, he's one hell of a salesman. He could always sell the product, but couldn't keep the business together. I saw him fail repeatedly, and learned from his examples. Essentially, I had a decade of failed startup experience before I was trying my own. The end result? He was a mentor by showing me a large number of ways to fail.

[nurall]

Interesting, I totally agree with you. I considered my dad my Mentor too early on. But as one grows and our world view changes we probably start looking out for other people to look up to and learn from. Have you connected successfully with a Mentor after your dad?

[ismarc]

I've had (and have) many mentors over the years. The way I found most of them was I'd have a question on something I couldn't get answered. I'd go to IR and ask the question. Whether anyone knew the answer or not, I'd hang out for a while answering other folks questions or just chatting. It was never anything formal, but eventually there would be people I considered experts who didn't mind an email with questions. Thing is, it goes both ways a lot of times now. People who I would consider mentors for some things would likely consider me a mentor for others.

My advice would be to not look for a mentor, but instead put yourself in situations where there are knowledgable people to meet.

[nurall]

Thanks for the sound advice :)