Mentoring that starts with a coffee.
The person who could open a new path is often a level up and a floor away. People say what they can mentor on and what they'd like to learn. We suggest who to meet, and a first coffee does the rest.
Nobody is ever assigned a mentor. Both people say yes before anything starts.
Your profile
Add what you can mentor on, what you'd like to learn, or both.
Suggestions
Up to six people from your organization, each with a plain reason: “Aisha can mentor you on leadership.”
A first coffee
Invite one of them to coffee. It's just a coffee, with no strings attached.
Make it official
If it clicks, either of you can ask to make it a mentorship. The other says yes or not now.
Mentorship shouldn't wait for luck
Most mentoring happens because two people happened to sit near each other, or someone was brave enough to ask a stranger. That leaves out the quiet, the new, and anyone in another office. Formal programs try to fix it by assigning pairs, and assigned pairs often fade after one awkward meeting. We do the part in between: show people who could help them, make the first coffee easy, and let the mentorship grow from a conversation both people chose.
How mentoring works
A two-minute profile, then it's up to them.People share their topics
On their profile, anyone can add up to ten things they can mentor on, and up to ten they'd like mentoring in. Both are optional.
We suggest who to meet
Each person sees up to six colleagues whose topics fit theirs, each with a plain reason. Only people from their own organization, and never anyone who has paused.
It starts with a coffee
One tap invites someone to coffee. They accept or decline like any invitation. A coffee is just a coffee, so nobody is signing up for a year by saying yes.
Make it official, together
After they've met, either can ask the other to be their mentor, or offer to mentor them. Nothing starts until the other person says yes.
A structure that stays out of the way
The person learning
- Suggestions matched to what they want to learn, with a reason for each
- A low-stakes first step: a coffee, not a formal request
- Shared goals and action items once the mentorship begins
- A short brief before each meeting, built from the last ones
The mentor
- Asked, never assigned, and free to say not now
- Only shown to people looking for what they offer
- Can pause, complete, or end a mentorship at any time
- A clear picture of the goals they're helping with
You, the host
- Which topics people want to learn, and which ones people offer
- Topics nobody is offering yet, so you know where to recruit
- How many people are in a mentorship right now
- No pairs to make, and no spreadsheet
What you see. What you don't.
The host sees
- How many people want mentoring, and how many offer it
- The most requested and most offered topics
- How many people are mentoring or being mentored
The host doesn't see
- Who is mentoring whom
- Messages, goals, action items, or meeting notes
- How a mentorship is going, which only the two of them see
A mentorship belongs to the two people in it. That's why they talk freely.
How to run a mentoring program people stay in
Five things the programs that last have in common, with or without us.
- 1
Let people choose
Assigned pairs feel like homework. A mentorship both people chose survives the busy months, because both of them wanted it.
- 2
Make the first step small
“Will you be my mentor?” is a big ask. “Can I buy you a coffee and ask about your move into product?” is an easy yes. Start there.
- 3
Name the topics
“Mentoring” is vague. “Managing my first team” or “switching into data” tells a mentor exactly how they can help, and helps the right people find each other.
- 4
Write the goals down, together
Two or three shared goals keep a mentorship from drifting into pleasant chats with no direction. Revisit them every few meetings.
- 5
Give it a graceful ending
A mentorship that completes on purpose, with a thank-you, is a success. Make ending one as easy as starting one, so nobody feels trapped.
Good to know
The honest answers, including what it doesn't do yet.
- How is a mentor different from a buddy?
- A buddy helps someone new settle in for their first 90 days. A mentor helps someone grow over a longer stretch, toward goals they set together. Both start with a coffee, and you can run both. See the buddy program for new starters.
- Do you assign mentors?
- No. We suggest people whose topics fit, and the person learning decides who to invite to coffee. A mentorship only begins when one asks and the other says yes. There's no host-assigned pairing for mentoring.
- Who can be a mentor?
- Anyone in your organization who adds topics they can mentor on. There's no seniority rule. A peer who switched careers can mentor someone about to do the same.
- Can someone propose a mentorship to a person they've never met?
- Not directly. A mentorship can be proposed once two people are connected, usually after a first coffee. It keeps the formal ask for people who already know each other a little.
- How long does a mentorship last?
- As long as both want it. There's no fixed end date. Either person can pause, complete, or end it, and an unanswered request lapses after 30 days.
- Is there a limit on how many people one mentor takes on?
- Not a built-in one yet. Each mentorship needs the mentor's yes, so they decide how many they take on.
- How do we turn it on?
- Mentoring is off by default and switched on one organization at a time. Talk to us and we'll turn it on for yours. Your people then see the topic fields on their profile.
Help know-how travel.
Tell us about the people you'd like to grow, and we'll switch mentoring on with you. A human reads every message.
Talk to us