Imagine you had access to Sundar Pichai 10 years ago 👀
What if you had access to Satya Nadella (Microsoft) or Sundar Pichai (Google) during early days of their careers?
Sundar Pichai joined Google in 2004. Became CEO in 2015 nearly 11 years later.
Satya Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992. Became CEO in 2014 nearly 22 years later.
Imagine if you got a chance to learn from them by being a mentee in early parts of their career. Typically this is impossible unless you work for these great companies and under great teams.
But what if you had access to elite mentors at world-changing startups and scaleups who might one day become leaders in your industry?
What if you built a mutually respectful relationship with them that spans over the decades? Wouldn’t that be a dream?
A new startup called Meander makes this dream possible.
When I broke into tech startups for the first time from corporate life in 2020 (when I joined On Deck), I had no clue what to expect. It was a major career pivot for someone who worked in Fortune 500 companies (like Delta, Turner etc.) with employee size of over 100,000 people in more countries than I can count. On Deck, on the other hand, was 26 people when I joined. The cultural norms, the speed of action and the inside language was all very different. And I freaked out.
Luckily, a few people I admired and had access to via Twitter jumped on a bunch of calls with me and helped me navigate this transition. Navigating transitions is very hard.. especially when more and more careers these days are non-linear.
That’s when I realized mentors can be life-changing.
Enter Meander, a new platform which matches great mentors with great mentees who are relevant, practical and generous.
I recently got a chance to check out the demo and meet the CEO and I was instantly impressed. The experience and product flow was seamless and easy to use. I loved it so much that I signed up as a Mentor. My profile link is in the footer of this post.
Mentors on Meander are carefully curated from top orgs and startups like Google, Canva, Meta and more. Huge respect for the team who're mission driven to match great mentors and mentees and help professionals navigate their careers through highs and lows.
This is why I decided to help and support Meander on their mission. Today, I just hunted them on Product Hunt and they’re quickly rising the charts. (Currently at #2 spot!)
Join the launch party/discussion and add your comments and questions on Product Hunt here.
Your support would mean a lot to the founders and to me :)
Thank you so much! 🙏
Shoutouts and Sponsors
#1. Rithmm
Rithmm is an incredible design agency founded by Kwaku Amprako. They work as an extensive creative department for ambitious AI & Tech founders that are building the future and offer unlimited designs & unlimited revisions. Check them out here.
#2. BIPF
My Fellowship BIPF is currently accepting applications for cohort 2 which starts on May 24th. We have an incredible line-up of Fellows joining who’re from top institutions like YC and On Deck. The goal is to help great founders become even better storytellers. Go from idea to consistent action on your next big thing
whether it’s a newsletter, podcast, startup or a fund.Join the curated community and 5-week program designed to help you put yourself out there and build in public fearlessly. Apply here.
#3. Paralect
New Episode Alert → Recently invited Igor Krasnik on my Build In Public podcast (for the special series called “Million Dollar Exits”) and we had a blast!
Igor is CTO of Paralect and a huge believer of the “build in public” movement. We covered a range of topics like his founder journey, why sponsoring creators is a high leverage move, AI, no-code and even Naval Ravikant. (Video here)
How can I help you?
No pressure but whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:
Schedule a quick 1:1 mentorship call with me on Meander to get specific tactical and personalized guidance on your product’s go-to-market strategy, Product Hunt launch planning and how to fall in love with build in public.
If you have a business you want to promote to my ~7,000 email and ~43,800 Twitter audience feel free to reply to this email or DM me on Twitter.
And that’s a wrap for now! 🌯
Thank you for giving your attention and checking this edition out 🙏
Did you like this post? It would MEAN A LOT if you can share this on your socials and tag me at @thisiskp_. Thanks again!