Insights on the mentorship and coachability of entrepreneurs

Mentorship from other experienced individuals has become essential to entrepreneurs and their fledgling ventures, particularly in today's accelerators. However, even with the acknowledgment that mentoring and coaching improve an entrepreneur's likelihood of success, we know very little about the nuances of mentormentee relationships or the individual characteristics important to an entrepreneur's coachability. Therefore, we examined mentors and founders across entrepreneurial support organizations to investigate the factors that influence an entrepreneur's coachability, how coachability translates to venture outcomes, and whether or not the mentor-mentee relationship met the entrepreneur's expectations. We found that entrepreneurs that are more coachable are ultimately more successful during their time in these programs and are more satisfied with their mentorship experience. This article provides insights for the leaders of accelerators to improve mentorship opportunities and suggestions for entrepreneurs to improve their coachability. (c) 2020 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that entrepreneurs who are more coachable are ultimately more successful in accelerators and more satisfied with their mentorship experience.