I was recently invited to mentor a group of startups at the selection weekend of StartupBootcamp Internet of Things|Connected Devices, a new accelerator based in London.

At first, I wondered whether I’d have enough questions to ask in the 20 minute long 1-2-1 mentoring sessions with the founders. I decided to jot down some of the best questions I’ve heard over the years  at the various hackathons and startup events I’ve attended so I was prepared.

It was quite a handy little crib sheet so I’ve included it below as a resource. Feel free to print out and use it for your own events.

Let me know if it is useful and give me a shout out if you think it is worth more people hearing about!

Best Mentor Questions to ask Startup Founders

1. Have you worked together before?
2. Is this your first startup?
3. What IP protection do you have?
4. Do you have any pre-orders?
5. Who will be your key clients?
6. Have you ever worked with these clients before?
7. What is the marketing plan?
8. Who are your competitors?
9. What are your USPs against these competitors?
10. How are your clients solving this problem now?
11. What is your exit strategy?
12. What are your cyber security plans?
13. What are the revenue streams?

You can download a copy of this list as a handy PDF here for your own use.