Google for Startups Immersion: Black Founders

Each startup will be matched with 1-2 Googlers who will serve as their primary support system throughout the program. All Googlers have varied backgrounds and have been matched to their assigned startup according to the needs of the startups and their relevant expertise.  

Google Mentor 1 - Sales, Growth, Business & People

• Meet regular with startups to offer high-touch support, acting as the startup’s co-pilot for the duration of the program
• Regular communication with startups and core team
• Serve as the startup’s main project manager and bridge to Google
• Surface wins & challenges to the core team
• Track startup’s journey and OKRS Refer startup to internal / external mentor pool to address questions or topics that may fall outside their area of expertise
• Direct questions from assigned startups to the appropriate Google POC’s and/or mentors Help connect the startup with Bench Mentors with relevant expertise 

Google Mentor 2 Tech Product ML/AI Cloud  

• Meet regular with startups to offer high-touch support
• Regular communication with startups and core team
• Be a consistent element throughout the startup’s journey with Google
• Surface wins & challenges to the core team
• Refer startup to internal / external mentor pool to address technical questions or topics that may fall outside their area of expertise
• Help coordinate introductions for the startup with other Google mentors, as needed; focused on technical topics
• Provide technical expertise that aligns with the startup’s goals/needs 

We have recruited +40 mentors to provide 1:1 mentorship throughout the program. Separate for the dedicated mentors, these mentors are available to provide hands-on mentorship on an 'needs-only' basis.

• Meet with startups on a “needs-only” basis
• Help identify other Bench Mentors who can help answer questions that may be outside their area of expertise
• Available to support all startups, not dedicated to startups
• Post meeting follow-up communication encourage but not required
  • Their expertise range from technical expertise, OKR training, hiring and building teams, sales and marketing, and more 

The 1:1 mentoring session is a regular 30-60min meeting via Google Hangouts between a startup and their two dedicated Google mentors . These mentors have volunteered and committed to joining regular mentoring sessions for the duration of the program. The mentor aims to advise the startup on a specific topic based on the startup’s needs and the mentor’s expertise. Neither the startups nor mentors are expected to continue the relationship unless they choose to do so after the duration of the program.  

The kick-off meetings were a one-off 60min session between the startup and their mentors to help startups narrow down their challenges to create their program OKRs. The OKR workshop happens before the mentoring kick-off.

By the time mentors meet with the startups for 1:1 mentorship, the startups will have finalized their OKRs. Thus, in the 1:1 mentorships sessions, mentors will use their expertises to advise on how startups can achieve those OKRs. 

As a mentor, we request that they are available to the startups throughout the program (Sep - Nov’20) for regular remote 1:1 mentoring sessions that will be scheduled according to their availability

As a mentor, the number of mentoring sessions can vary across objectives and startups needs, i.e 6 bi-weekly sales and strategy sessions vs 5 intense tech sessions. 

You will receive your mentor matching by the end of the first week.  

• One of the 2 dedicated mentors or ad-hoc mentors
• The startup team member(s) most relevant to discussing mentorship topic 

• They can learn more about the mentors by clicking their photo above

• They can learn more about the mentors by clicking their photo above

• They are matched with specific startups based on their specific expertise and the startup’s needs. The mentor matching process is based on the startups’ ongoing feedback, OKRs, tech assessments, and the mentor preference form responses

• All mentors have been selected by the program team. We encourage you to connect with other mentors by using the Google Meet Room. All mentors for this program will have their own kick-off meeting to be able to refer you to other mentors. 

• It is your responsibility to reach out to your dedicated mentors and schedule the kick-off and follow up meetings.  

• Before each mentoring session, we ask those mentors to review the startup’s pitch deck and OKRs. 

• Excellent Communication - In a great session both startups and mentors listen to each other, stay professional and suggest well reasoned priorities
• Hooks are better than fish - Although sometimes we “ feed” the fish, mentors goal is to give startups the “hook”, explain the process and teach and empower startups how to make decisions that may be out of their comfort zone
• Make decisions - A good mentorship session ends with decisions which drives work that’s fast to execute and moves the needle. Preferably, mentors want startups to execute on decisions they’ve made within 48 hours (so you can go and check the results with them) . 

• We are collecting feedback from the startups via the ongoing feedback and mentor session form on an ongoing basis. Once the survey results arrive, we will share feedback with mentors as needed.

• During the 3-month program, we will meet the startups on 1:Many trainings (optional to Mentors), 1:1 Mentorship, Office Hours, Weekly Newsletter, Self Studies etc. via Google Meets. Each month will focus on a different theme such as: OKRs, Product/IUX, Tech/ML, Growth/Biz Dev, Leadership etc. Some sessions will be optional but remember this program has been tailored to you, so please make sure you can attend most sessions. Some are compulsory.  

• Please reach out to mboumanjal@ with any red flags or concerns regarding the mentors. We will do our best to address them.