Get more from your startup mentor in less time

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Mentors are invaluable, but they come with a hidden cost: time. Time spent asking questions, reflecting on feedback, or rethinking your approach can stretch your day and derail your focus.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed, especially when juggling a growing startup or demanding career. You might even wonder: Is it worth it? Can I really afford the hours a mentor demands?

The answer depends on how you approach the relationship. When managed well, mentoring amplifies progress rather than slowing it. It’s less about the hours you spend and more about how you use them.

Here’s how to turn a time-consuming mentorship into an efficient, high-impact partnership.

7 quick tips to get more from your mentor

Being good with your time helps you, and it helps your mentor too.

Here's some strategies you can put in place straight away to cut down the time you spend to get the most out of your mentor.

1. Have a clear idea of the role of your mentor

A mentor isn’t a boss or a therapist. They’re a guide. They offer perspectives you can’t easily find elsewhere—insights from experience, feedback without bias, and a broader view of your challenges.

But unlike a manager, mentors won’t hold your hand. Their role is to challenge you, not solve problems for you.

Once you see them as a guide rather than a savior, it becomes easier to manage expectations.

The time you spend with a mentor is like planting seeds. Every conversation can lead to new questions, new ideas, or new ways of solving problems.

That’s why you should treat mentorship as an investment that compounds over time.

2. Prepare for your mentor meetings

Mentor meetings drag on when you come unprepared. Rambling updates and vague questions waste time and frustrate both of you.

Start by answering two questions before every meeting:

    1. What do I want from this session?
    1. What do I need to share to get there?

For example, instead of saying, “I want to talk about our marketing strategy,” focus on specifics: “I need advice on whether to focus more on paid ads or organic growth. Here’s what we’ve tried so far.”

Use a simple structure to guide your approach. Here’s some things you should consider.

  • Agenda: Share key topics ahead of time.
  • Updates: Briefly summarise progress since your last chat.
  • Questions: Prepare 2–3 specific, actionable questions.
  • Decisions: Be ready to summarise takeaways at the end.

Mentorship meetings don’t need to be hour-long marathons. In fact, shorter is often better. A crisp 20-30 minute session forces you to get to the point.

Using some of the items above, an example might be:

  • 5 minutes: Quick updates and context.
  • 15 minutes: Deep dive into one or two key questions.
  • 5 minutes: Summarise decisions and next steps.

The more focused the meeting, the less time it will take—and the more value you’ll gain.

3. Get actionable takeaways from each meeting

Good mentorship isn’t about ideas—it’s about action. Every session should end with clear next steps. If you leave a meeting feeling inspired but unsure what to do, you’ve missed the point.

After each session, write down:

  • Key insights: What stood out most?
  • Next steps: What actions will you take?
  • Follow-up questions: What needs clarification later?

For example:

  • Insight: Our pricing strategy might be too complex for customers.
  • Action: Simplify the pricing tiers and test customer reactions.
  • Follow-up: Ask in the next session about strategies for price testing.

When you focus on tangible outcomes, you turn abstract advice into measurable progress.

4. Set boundaries with your mentor

Mentorship doesn’t mean constant availability. Set clear boundaries to keep the relationship sustainable.

This protects your time and prevents the relationship from becoming overwhelming.

Be upfront about your limits:

  • Schedule regular check-ins: Decide on a consistent meeting frequency—weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Stick to it.
  • Avoid excessive messages: Resist the urge to ping your mentor constantly. Save non-urgent questions for scheduled meetings.
  • Say no when needed: If a mentor suggests something outside your bandwidth, it’s okay to explain why it’s not feasible right now.

Be clear with your mentor about time boundaries. Saying, “I want to make sure we stay within 30 minutes to respect your time,” shows you value efficiency.

Most mentors will appreciate this, especially if they’re busy. The boundaries make mentorship predictable and reduce stress for both sides.

5. Give mentorship a purpose

Mentorship loses value when it becomes directionless. If sessions feel like casual chats, both parties might wonder if the time spent is worthwhile.

A shared goal keeps the relationship on track. Decide together on a purpose for your mentorship. Examples:

  • Launching a product.
  • Solving a specific business challenge.
  • Developing leadership skills.
  • Preparing for a funding round.

Check in periodically to assess progress. Ask, “Do you feel like we’re achieving what we set out to?” Purposeful mentorship creates focus and prevents wasted time.

Mentorship is an investment, and like any investment, it needs a return. Periodically evaluate whether the relationship is still beneficial. Ask yourself:

  • Am I growing because of this mentor?
  • Are our sessions productive?
  • Is this relationship still aligned with my goals?

If the answer is no, it’s okay to reframe the relationship—or even step back. Mentorship doesn’t need to last forever. Sometimes, moving on is the best way to keep growing.

Likewise, no single mentor can solve every problem. If you rely on one person for everything, you’ll stretch their time and limit your own growth. You should diversify your mentorship network.

Think of mentors as specialists:

  • A technical mentor might help refine your product.
  • A business mentor can guide strategy.
  • A leadership mentor might improve your management skills.

If you spread your needs across multiple mentors, you reduce the pressure on any one person. This also makes each interaction more focused and efficient – which can cut down time, even if adding more mentors seems counterintuitive.

6. Use asynchronous tools with your mentor

Not every conversation has to happen live. Real-time communication is great for some things, but most of the time, it’s overkill.

Asynchronous tools—emails, shared documents, quick videos—are more efficient for routine updates or questions.

They let people respond on their own schedule, which means fewer interruptions and less wasted time.

For example:

  • Email a quick update before a meeting so you can skip the catch-up and dive straight into the important stuff.
  • Use shared documents to work collaboratively without endless back-and-forth.
  • Record a Loom video to explain a tricky concept instead of writing a long email.

The best part is asynchronous tools let you stay connected without getting in each other’s way. They keep the machine running smoothly while giving everyone more room to breathe.

7. Learn to self-mentor

A great mentor’s ultimate goal is to make you independent.

The best mentors don’t just answer your questions—they teach you how to answer them yourself.

Over time, you’ll notice patterns in their advice. Pay attention to those patterns, and you’ll start to see how they think. That’s the key to self-mentorship.

When you hit a roadblock, ask yourself:

  • What would my mentor say about this?
  • What questions would they ask me to figure it out?
  • How have they approached similar problems before?

This isn’t where you guess what they’d do; it’s trying to think the way they think. For example, if you’re stuck deciding between two options, remember how they’ve handled trade-offs in the past.

Self-mentoring isn’t just about solving today’s problem—it’s practice for handling the next one. Over time, you’ll need them less and less, which is exactly the point.

Final thoughts

Like any relationship, mentorship improves with practice. The more intentional you are, the more value you’ll gain.

If mentorship feels like it’s taking more than it’s giving, don’t abandon it. Refine your approach. Set clearer goals, establish boundaries, and focus on outcomes. When done right, mentorship is one of the highest-leverage ways to grow, for both sides.

The real magic of mentorship is in the multiplier effect. Every hour you put in can pay off exponentially—whether it’s solving a problem faster, learning something you couldn’t on your own, or opening doors that wouldn’t exist otherwise.

With the right mindset, mentorship stops feeling like a drain and starts becoming one of your best investments.