Having a good mentor is often named as one of the most important factors in pursuing entrepreneurship. This week on The Disruptors, co-host Bruce Croxon sat down with the CEO of one platform that’s trying to make networking more efficient.
Ten Thousand Coffees allows users to search by industries — such as fashion design or finance — organization, and location. The aim is to help users expand their networks and gain or share insights or ideas about certain fields or activities. Croxon was one of the first mentors to sign up when they first launched.
“We saw the need that people had to get access to the right people. Whether you’re starting a company and you might traditionally need access to a mentor, or you’re an alumni member trying to access people, or you’re a business leader trying to connect with youth, they were all doing it in a complicated way,” said Dave Wilkin, founder of Ten Thousand Coffees.
Croxon said in Canada, there’s a pressing need to pass on knowledge especially since we don’t have the depth of business experience as Americans, and a platform that makes it easy to start connecting the experienced with those looking for experience could help alleviate that.
“Canada has so many great thought leaders but we’re all disconnected because it’s such a big country. So if you’re somebody with a great idea who’s not from a metropolitan city, you may not get access to the right individual,” said Wilkin. “We built this so that no matter where you’re from, you can meet someone like yourself.”
Watch the whole interview below:
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