3-min read
The manifesto
How nAItive mentors
work
Mentorship is not a title. It is a way of working. These 12 principles describe it: we use them to select mentors, to set expectations from the first conversation, and to review how each mentorship is going.
nAItive mentors are founders, operators, investors and domain experts with first-hand experience of building companies.
They help AI-native founders make better decisions, faster: by challenging assumptions, sharing what they have seen work and fail, and opening their networks when it matters.
Written by the nAItive Institute, founded by Leonid Boguslavsky and H-FARM.
Download the manifesto (PDF) ↓01–03
With founders
- 01
Keep the founder in the driver's seat.
Challenge, question, push back. Then let them decide. It's their company and their call.
Read more → - 02
Build capability, not dependency.
Share the reasoning, not just the answer. Success is a founder who no longer needs you.
Read more → - 03
Be direct.
Say the hard thing clearly and early. Be demanding, never destructive.
Read more →
04–07
In every conversation
- 04
Ask for evidence, not opinions.
Push Fellows to validate assumptions with real customers, real data and small experiments before trusting their gut, or yours.
Read more → - 05
Separate fact, experience and hypothesis.
Say which one you're offering. “I saw this work at my company” is not “this will work for you”.
Read more → - 06
Say “I don't know”.
If it's outside your expertise, say so, and point the Fellow to someone who knows.
Read more → - 07
End with a next step.
Every conversation should leave a clearer decision, a concrete action or an experiment to run.
Read more →
08–12
As a nAItive mentor
- 08
Show up prepared.
Read what the Fellow sent before you meet. Bring specific questions, not generic advice.
Read more → - 09
Be responsive and follow through.
Reply promptly and do what you said you would. If you can't commit, say no. That's fine too.
Read more → - 10
Open doors.
Make relevant introductions to customers, investors and operators. Your network is part of the mentorship.
Read more → - 11
Keep it confidential. Declare conflicts.
What Fellows share stays with you and the nAItive team. Disclose any investment, client or competing interest before you engage.
Read more → - 12
Earn your place in the pool.
Fellows give feedback after every engagement. Mentors who deliver stay certified; those who don't step out.
Read more →
Questions
become
Decisions
How mentoring works
Vertical access, on demand.
Fellows reach a mentor when they have a specific question in that mentor's domain: fintech regulation, B2B sales, AI infrastructure, fundraising and so on. Targeted expertise, exactly when it's needed, drawn from the whole mentor pool.
Some mentorships are a single sharp conversation. Others become an ongoing relationship over the fellowship. Both are valuable, as long as each conversation moves the founder forward.
Becoming a certified mentor
From onboarding to first match.
- 01
Onboarding
About five minutes: a short bio, your sectors and expertise. Then you review your profile.
- 02
Team review
The nAItive team reads every profile personally and reviews it against this manifesto.
- 03
Intro call
If your profile is a fit, a short call to get to know you and align on what we expect.
- 04
Certification
Your profile goes live. Fellows find you by sector, expertise and stage; your contacts stay with us.
- 05
Matching
Fellows request a match, you express interest, the team coordinates. Feedback keeps you certified.
A few other points
Stay in touch.
We only know as much as you tell us about your interests and availability. Keep the nAItive team in the loop, especially when your availability changes.
Know why you mentor.
Mentoring is not a sales channel. Don't use a mentorship to pitch your services, products or fund. If a commercial relationship makes sense later, disclose it to the team first.
Protect what you hear.
Fellows share sensitive information about their ventures. Don't discuss a Fellow's company outside nAItive without their permission.
If this is how you work,
join us
About five minutes. Every profile is reviewed by the team.