Here Are The Top 15 CEO Mentors You Can Talk To This Week

CEOs, it’s not easy being in your shoes.

You have to make a ton of decisions on a daily basis that can have a huge impact on your company. And you’re often charting new territory, so you don’t have a map for the best way to move forward. It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Fortunately, all you need is a guide to cast some light on the path ahead.

You need a mentor.

Why CEOs Need Mentors

There’s three main reasons a CEO needs a mentor:

• You’re trying to move your business into new territory
• You need an objective perspective to gut-check your decisions
• You need to up your own game as CEO

In all three of these cases, there’s one commonality: you need a fresh set of eyes on the situation.

A mentor can do just that. Whether they’ve been in similar territory with their business before or have learned how to improve their CEO skills the hard way, their experience can light the way for you.

Plus, because they don’t have the emotional investment in your business as you or one of your team members, they can see a bigger picture when it comes to providing advice or decision-making.

What to Discuss with a CEO Mentor

If you’re not quite sure where to start with questions for your mentor, there are five main areas that we see CEOs typically need help in:

• Leadership Skills
• Operations and Efficiency
• Innovation and Change Management
• Scaling and Expansion
• Strategic Planning and Vision

Let’s dive into each one and discuss some of the questions you may want to ask:

Leadership Skills

For most, leadership skills don’t come naturally. Because these are soft skills where there’s no one “right” answer, they’re not typically skills you can just “learn-by-doing” (at least not without making a lot of mistakes) either.

But a great CEO can make the difference between being “yet another company” vs. “the company everyone wants to work for.”

Fortunately, a mentor will have plenty of experience to draw from and know the mistakes you need to avoid when leading a business.

Since it’s such a diverse area, here are some questions to start with when talking to your mentor about leadership skills:

• How can I get more honest feedback from my team about my leadership?
• What are some of the biggest leadership hurdles you faced in the past?
• How do I handle conflicts in the organization that are linked more to office politics than concrete business problems?
• How do you nurture leadership potential within a business?
• How can I instill a strong ethical framework in my company?

Operations and Efficiency

Operations and efficiency are all about making your business run more smoothly. But, when you’re in the weeds on a day-to-day basis, it can be hard to see where you might need a tune-up.

A mentor can shine a spotlight on your operations and figure out exactly how to make things run more efficiently.

So you have a good base to work from on the topic, here are some example questions to ask:

• What KPIs should I measure and prioritize when it comes to running my company efficiently?
• Do you have any tool or workflow recommendations that have significantly improved your operations?
• How can you encourage a continuous improvement mindset when it comes to business processes?
• Are there any strategies I can use to reduce costs without sacrificing quality or productivity?
• How can I determine what areas of my operations need to be streamlined?

Innovation and Change Management

Every CEO will eventually have to grapple with a big change within their organization. It’s simply part of creating a business that can adapt to changing times.

But even positive, innovative changes can sometimes feel nerve-wracking to tackle.

This is where a mentor’s wisdom can help focus you on the real areas of concern and assuage any overthinking you’ve built up along the way.

If you’re chatting with a mentor about change management, here are some of the questions you might want to ask:

• What’s the best way to foster a culture of innovation in my company?
• What are best practices for introducing a large change within the organization?
• How can you encourage a flexible, responsive culture, especially as the company grows?
• How do you balance day-to-day operations with larger scale innovation projects?
• What was your biggest struggle with a major change your organization undertook?

Scaling and Expansion

Scaling and expansion are usually some of the most positive changes your business will see. However, they’re still terra incognito, so it can be hard to gauge where to start.

This is another case a mentor can come to your rescue, offering advice on sane scaling and expanding without over-extending your company.

Some of the questions you may want to ask may include:

• How do I know when to hire for a new role, especially within the C-suite?
• How do I attract and retain top talent?
• How do you ensure that the company’s operational infrastructure can support growth?
• Can you share your approach to identifying new markets or opportunities for expansion?
• How do I know if a scaling initiative is feasible?

Strategic Planning and Vision

Yet another skill that only comes with practice, most CEOs will need guidance in determining long-term goals and visions for their company.

Again, a mentor’s “been there, done that” expertise can help immensely.

You might want to ask questions like:

• How do you set ambitious long-term goals that aren’t overwhelming?
• How can you ensure that your vision and long-term goals align with the company’s daily operations?
• What are common pitfalls in strategic planning and how can I avoid them?
• What can I do to balance innovation and practicality in long-term goal setting?
• How do you disseminate the company’s long-term vision and keep employees motivated towards it?

How to Find a CEO Mentor

There are a few different routes you can use for finding a CEO mentor, including CEO communities, cold-contacting CEOs you admire, and mentorship platforms.

Personally, we think mentorship platforms are the fastest and most efficient option. Plus, if you’re using a platform with vetted mentors like GrowthMentor, you can trust the mentors you chat with have real expertise.

Here’s an example of how to find mentors as a CEO on GrowthMentor:

First, you’ll want to visit the “browse mentors” page. You could just start scrolling.

But, since we have more than 600 mentors, you’ll want to narrow down your options first.

Within our mentor search, you can apply filters to search for mentors with specific skills, software expertise, industries, or current and former companies. There are 275 different software areas to filter by, 30 skill areas, 300 industries, and more than 100 mentor companies.

For example, let’s say you’re facing questions about building a team for a SaaS industry company and you want a mentor with experience in both of those areas. All you have to do is check “Team Building” under skills, for 278 mentors:

And then, after a quick search for “SaaS” under “Industries”, check that box to narrow your field down to 107 mentors:

We usually recommend applying no more than 2 filters at a time, as certain filters (such as a mentor’s previous or current company) can pinpoint fairly specific results.

But in some cases, your filters may still yield a fairly large pool of potential mentors, like our 107 SaaS mentors with team building experience above.

To focus your options even more, you can search for specific keywords in our general profile search. Within our “SaaS” and “Team Building” filters, a search for the keyword “CEO” produces 15 mentor options, a search for “founder” yields 47 options, and a search for “agency” produces 38.

From there, it’s just a matter of browsing your options and determining which mentor seems like the best fit for you.

However, sometimes you’re in the throes of decision fatigue and simply don’t have the time or energy to sort through even five or ten mentor options.

Situations like these are exactly why we built our new AI matching engine:

Simply describe your primary pain-point, add your desired outcome, and in a matter of minutes, you’ll be matched with three different mentors who will be a great fit to help with your challenge.

Now, even with all of these options, you’re probably still wondering: “Sure, you have plenty of mentors. But will you have one that’s a good fit for me as a CEO?”

And that’s exactly why we pulled together a list of our top 15 mentors with CEO experience. Keep reading, and keep in mind: this is just a selection of the CEO mentors we have to offer.

Ari Bencuya

Best for: CEOs who are feeling “stuck” and need to figure out why

One of Ari’s 118 rave reviews:

Had the privilege of working with Ari as a mentor for our business, and I must say, he exceeded all expectations. Ari’s sharpness and ability to get straight to the point were truly impressive. He quickly grasped our pain points and provided effective solutions that proved invaluable to our growth. What sets Ari apart is his willingness to go the extra mile. Not only did he provide us with insightful advice, but he also took the time to send us videos that further enhanced our understanding. Based on my experience, I highly recommend Ari as a mentor.

Hans Bunes

Best for: CEOs who want a perspective informed by multiple roles, industries and company sizes both large and small

One of Hans’s 50 rave reviews:

Hans is great. No theoretical advice, all practical business. We discussed the product my team and I have taken to market. He asked questions to understand its value. Then reached out to people in his network he thought we could potentially work with and should meet. Not a lot of people would do that after just 20m of meeting someone. I can’t recommend Hans enough.

Dave Schneider

Best for: CEOs of agencies that want a varied, experienced perspective that reaches beyond agency work

One of Dave’s 81 rave reviews:

I’m making a strategic shift in my business, and have three paths that I’ve heard from the market. Dave helped me work through those approaches in an unbiased way, and immediately understood some of the challenges I’d encounter to determine my path forward. 15 minutes of pure gold – thanks, Dave!

Uri Einav

Best for: CEOs who need an expert take from the mobile or gaming industry

One of Uri’s 41 rave reviews:

I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Uri for a consultation on Facebook marketing strategies for my mobile app, and I couldn’t be more impressed with his insights and guidance. Uri’s vast experience in the mobile growth industry, combined with his diverse background in sales, marketing, and startups, offered me invaluable insights on how to successfully scale my campaigns. His recommendations were tailored specifically to my needs, and I could tell his genuine passion lies in providing value to others. I highly recommend Uri’s mentorship—his expertise and support went above and beyond my expectations!

Maciej Galkiewicz

Best for: CEOs who are from a technical or engineering background or need an engineering-flavored leadership perspective

One of Maciej’s 80 rave reviews:

Maciej is a great guy. We booked a session but we felt that there are more on things needs to be discussed so we scheduled another session for the same day. I like to work with Maciej because as a CEO he has a different perspective about startups. I can recommend reaching out to him at any stage but if you are in early you would get a high value talking with him. I can recommend him to anyone.

Craig Zingerline

Best for: CEOs who want a straightforward, well-rounded product, marketing, and leadership perspective on their business

One of Craig’s 103 rave reviews:

What a valuable session. We specifically asked about engaging our clients long term and how to create more focus in our business. Craig is very easy to talk to, he quickly understood our business and he had a lot to offer (including some sound reminders we needed to hear). Overall – really appreciated our time. We hope to talk to him again soon. Thanks Craig! 🙂

Tim Cakir

Best for: CEOs in the AI industry who need an expert eye or CEOs looking to improve their processes with some AI magic

One of Tim’s 70 rave reviews:

Tim is an incredible guy; he has helped both me and my CMO develop a clear strategy tailored to us for attracting more customers. A strategy that makes a lot of sense for us and adapts to what has worked for us in recent months, but we hope that this new structure can give us a bigger growth boost. I had a session with Tim a year ago and repeated it because I knew he wouldn’t disappoint me. We’ll see you again, Tim!

Best for: CEOs involved in the VC and accelerator world who want a leadership perspective from the growth side

One of Satwik’s 76 rave reviews:

I had an incredible session with Satwik! We discussed the progress we’ve made since launching, and he shared valuable insights on how investors evaluate product market fit in our industry. He also provided guidance on getting started with the fundraising process and gave me a simple framework to follow. Satwik is an excellent listener, very patient, and has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to maximizing growth potential and raising funds. Thank you so much for your time, Satwik!

Bartosz Majewski

Best for: Bootstrapped CEOs who want a leadership perspective informed from the sales side

One of Bartosz’s 43 rave reviews:

Great call with Bartosz, I always like when a mentor has the right experience and knowledge to give very clear-cut and definitive answers to questions, which is exactly what Bartosz did. A great call that gave clarity about the level of pricing but also opened my mind to other options when it comes to pricing and pricing strategy. We discussed defining the actual value the product delivers, pricing and also options for pricing for a partner network. Some great marketing ideas in the mix too. Thanks Bartosz!

Blair Morrison

Best for: CEOs in FinTech or CEOs who come from a CFO background, especially if you’re bootstrapped

One of Blair’s 27 rave reviews:

Had a great call with Blair. She’s a down to earth, calm and present mentor. Our conversation was helpful for me because it felt like we brainstormed my mini-problems and potential solutions together. My thoughts weren’t very clear before this call. I couldn’t articulate the problem well. She helped me get clarity and narrow down the possible solutions.

Sardar Azimov

Best for: CEOs or agency owners whose companies work extensively with outbound methods

One of Sardar’s 62 rave reviews:

The meeting with Sardar was EXTREMELY helpful. He is super patient and thoughtful and goes through step-by-step what you ask him. He gave actionable steps, places, and links of where to go and find connections in the M&A and PE segments, how to use those platforms, and how to reach out to these people, aside from advising me on how I should work with so many channels at once. 100% recommend.

Evan Hammer

Best for: CEOs with accelerator backgrounds who want an engineering and product-informed leadership take

One of Evan’s 17 rave reviews:

Evan absolutely blew my mind with what he taught me! Total paradigm shift. I should not only track my sellers in their cycle towards activation but their end-users as well on a completely separate graph so to speak. He also taught me to focus on tracking my most qualified users first and foremost and so much more! We spoke about technology also and more about what activation really is! My man even stayed a bit longer to share another great suggestion of his! Crazy great sesh

Aditya Mehta

Best for: CEOs in the AI or tech space, especially if you’ve been involved in an accelerator program

One of Aditya’s 46 rave reviews:

Aditya was a game-changer for our Y Combinator (YC) application. We had consulted with three other YC alumni, but Aditya’s session was by far the most helpful. He not only identified the flaws in our application but also provided actionable suggestions on sentence structure, highlighted our startup’s strengths, and helped us restructure the entire application. His vast experience in reviewing YC applications was evident, and his detailed feedback gave us the confidence to submit a strong application. I highly recommend Aditya to anyone seeking expert guidance on their YC journey. Thanks to him, we feel well-prepared for success.

Maeva Cifuentes

Best for: CEOs who are agency owners or are rapidly growing their teams from the solopreneur to small team size

One of Maeva’s 16 rave reviews:

I had an incredible mentorship experience with Maeva. She was clear, focused, and really understood how to make complex things simple. She felt really comfortable and yet insightful to talk to and knew just the right questions to ask. She guided me to find my own answers, which was really empowering. Most of all, she was genuinely there for me, offering support and insight. This mentorship was really valuable – straightforward, authentic, and super structured. I’m grateful for the experience and highly recommend it.

Trevor Ewen

Best for: CEOs in the SME tech industry or CEOs who want a technically minded leadership perspective

One of Trevor’s 26 rave reviews:

Trevor, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your guidance and support. The insights and tips you shared were incredibly valuable and have already made a big difference for me. You really know your stuff when it comes to sales and discovery, and I’m so grateful that you were willing to share your expertise with me. Your ability to listen, ask insightful questions, and provide actionable advice is seriously impressive. I felt like our session was super productive and I left with a ton of new ideas and strategies to implement. Looking forward to have another session soon!

So for a huge variety of CEO mentors, we suggest joining GrowthMentor.

Start talking with a mentor as soon as this week and unlocking the path ahead for your business.