Erika Block founded three companies before launching Sticky Lab, which provides strategy and coaching services to entrepreneurs. She’s also a three-time VentureWell mentor, having served as an investor-mentor as part of Aspire. A five-week training program offered twice a year, Aspire is specifically designed to support seed-stage startups—in both climatetech and medtech—at the investor engagement stage. “Beyond the network and the specific skills that mentors bring, they can really serve a very practical and functional need,” Block told us. “You need grit, but you don’t get grit only by yourself. You get grit when you have a community around you—a safety net.”
One of the most transformative components of our Aspire program is the networking, peer-to-peer learning, guidance, and expertise participants receive from working directly with mentors. Block joined an extensive teaching team with experience as business leaders, angel investors, venture capital fund managers, and startup board members and advisors, who provided insight on engaging with investors. This has proven invaluable to seed-stage startups as they work to develop a viable fundraising plan, determine strategic direction, and build a deal room for due diligence documents.
It was there that Block connected with Aspire participant Shantonio Birch, a fellow Michigan-based inventor developing energy-efficient building upgrades for low- to middle-income housing through ThermoVERSE. “As an entrepreneur, you can be siloed into your way of thinking. You need someone to reel you in,” said Birch. “There is psychological security in having someone to bounce ideas off of and they’re also being intentional about helping you.”
Applications for our Spring 2024 Aspire Climatetech cohort are now open. Submit today!
We sat down with both mentor and mentee to discuss the key aspects of Aspire mentorship that made their experience so valuable.
Aspire Mentors Come From a Wide Variety of Industries and Locations
Aspire’s investor-mentors represent active investors at all stages, including angels, venture capitalists, and corporate and strategic investors. They leverage their experience and interest in working with startups specific to their background, offering key feedback to Aspire participants that can mitigate confusion and illuminate nuance.
“I was on a Zoom call the first day, and Erika found out that I was a Michigan startup,” said Birch, describing his initial meeting with Block while participating in Aspire. For both innovator and investor, this was a crucial moment that sparked a deeper conversation between the two. “It was great because a lot of the work that I’ve been doing was nationally,” Block explained. “I hadn’t seen as many Michigan companies, so I was really excited about that.”
Aspire Provides Multiple Avenues for Mentors To Connect With Their Mentees
Over five weeks, Aspire participants connect with investor-mentors through panel-style discussions on Zoom, breakout group activities, and one-to-one meetings. This leads up to the culminating event of the program: an in-person, two-day workshop where both mentors and mentees meet face-to-face, with the chance to connect meaningfully and intentionally.
“After exchanging messages in Slack, we sat down and went through my pitch deck at the end of the event in Houston, Texas,” Birch explained, underscoring the need for in-person collaboration. “[Block] was very supportive.”
Aspire Fosters a Culture of Meaningful and Open Dialogue
While providing ample opportunities to connect is important, so is ensuring that the culture of the program encourages discussions that build relationships between mentors and mentees. “If you’re a startup that’s going to be raising money, you need people who you can actually talk to in an honest way,” Block told us.
Aspire is designed to provide startups with space to ask in-depth questions and receive meaningful feedback. During teaching sessions, investor-mentors leverage their experience and share stories, which allows entrepreneurs an opportunity to hear more about the thought process of an investor. “Culture is a really important part of companies and startups,” Block said. “I’ve participated in many different mentorship programs, and none of them have resonated because they haven’t had this intersection of people and process and culture. It’s seeded by VentureWell.”
Aspire Creates Networking Opportunities for Mentors To Build Their Own Network
Mentees are not the only ones who benefit from this arrangement. Mentors also receive dedicated time and space to build a network within their own circle, connecting with other investors to collaborate and broadly strengthen their network. This can be particularly helpful in the age of hybrid and remote working, says Block, where opportunities for gathering and meeting peers can be limited.
“It’s really hard not to be in silos,” Block told us. “Anything we can do that builds these kinds of relationships is going to be accretive in terms of the value it offers for everybody—not just the startups, but the mentors. All of that becomes this sort of virtuous circle of benefit.”
A Lasting Impact for Mentors and Their Mentees
For Birch, the impact of working with mentors cannot be understated. “As a solo founder, it can be challenging to bring my venture to fruition,” he said. “I needed a consortium of mentors to really guide me to the finish line.”
Since 2015, VentureWell has run 17 Aspire programs with 177 startups and over 100 active mentors. Startups have raised over $430 million in seed funding, of which $370 million was in early-stage capital from seed, angel, and venture capital investors and $83 million was in non-dilutive funding, including SBIR/STTR grants. Additionally, VentureWell is proud to report that startups that have completed the Aspire program have an 81% venture persistence rate.
“I’m so impressed with the intelligence and the thoughtfulness of the VentureWell teams and the quality of the startups that I’ve worked with,” Block told us. “I’m excited to deepen my involvement in this community of mentors.”
Following her participation in Aspire, Block went on to join our first Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator cohort as a co-lead instructor. Another VentureWell initiative supporting seed-stage startups, this Ascend program focuses specifically on Michigan-based companies. It was a natural fit for Birch, too, who joined as a participant for the opportunity to test a different value proposition for his startup, as well as stay connected with mentors and fellow founders specific to his local community.
Don’t wait to apply for Spring 2024 Aspire Climatetech. Submissions close on April 15.