Here are the 9 Growth Mentors of October 2024

1. Zoi Therapou

Describe yourself

I am hugely passionate about growing companies, having recently led the global sales for a fintech company from scratch to more than USD 70 million in revenue and ultimately selling to Thomson Reuters for almost USD 500 million. I have been mentoring startups for years and I have also invested in multiple startups as an angel investor.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I am hugely passionate about growth and have been leading global sales teams in technology for years, as well as mentoring start-ups, and being an angel investor.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset to me means that you always fine-tune your strategy, you never stop when there’s a setback and you don’t forget what makes you unique in your market.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

The one topic I would mentor is what sales strategy will be most successful to use in your market and how you can achieve a critical volume of clients so that you “cross the chasm” and become the mainstream option. (PS this is an excellent book!)

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

While leading the sales to financial institutions in my latest role, the hardest part of moving the sales cycle ahead was the inertia and bureaucracy of these large organizations which often meant an 18 to 24-month sales cycle. By incorporating the corporate clients of the banks into our strategy and placing a focus also on them and how they were affected by how banks operate, we were able to make our sales cycles move way faster and exceed our revenue targets year after year.

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2. Tomek Siergiejuk

Describe yourself

I like building things and helping others succeed. I use my professional experience at large companies to guide others about execution, outcomes, and navigating the ecosystem. I’m good at telling a growth story to investors (management presentations, fundraising docs), valuation for M&A, and strategy in the fintech space. I can help build a team, start a service, and launch a product. I’ve worked with founders and CFOs looking to build a finance org, set the strategy, build a forecast, and use data analytics to grow.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

Help others build things

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Being a humble student of life. Asking questions, learning from others, sharing your perspective, and seeking truth.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

How to hire a strategic CFO and build a finance org. I have first-hand experience building a CFO team from 1 to 80 globally, and setting it up to add value, drive business, and hold partners accountable.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

Understand the goal, actions taken, and outcomes recorded. See how outcomes are different from what’s desired. Analyze each step of the journey to identify drivers, players, and tools and link to specific results. Suggest a change and test it with a hypothetical outcome in mind. Communicate with the team throughout and position searching for a cause exercise as problem-solving as opposed to anyone’s fault. Learn and change.

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3. Saguna Budhiraja

Describe yourself

I believe in solutions, and in creating a culture where people can grow to deliver results and impact. Finding Creative solutions, creating new opportunities, drive to succeed, and building strength and confidence in the team to scale greater heights are my strengths.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

To enable startups and founders to scale with ease and the power of knowledge and to share my experience and knowledge of scaling a wellness marketplace.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Growth is a vision to journey towards a destination, passion to grow and learn, self-reflection, finding solutions to problems, and creating growth for others.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

The Self. The leader who believes in themselves creates solutions, see growth opportunities, and create amazing teams. It would be great to mentor someone to believe in themselves! Secondly, I would love to mentor on travel and sales growth, as I scale the supply and operations pillar of a wellness travel start-up.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

At least 5 Why! Asking the why helps us to get to the bottom and also an outside perspective, stepping out of the situation and viewing it from the outside.

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4. Peter Barnett

Describe yourself

I’m a senior product manager with experience across large enterprises, small startups, and growth companies. I’ve launched products from zero to one and led scaling products as well. Building successful products that have great experiences has been my passion for years.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

If I can help others succeed, I want to help.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Willing to try the unexpected to succeed, and ready to put in the work to find out. Growth comes when optimal strategies meet great work ethics and phenomenal execution.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Building great product experiences.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

5-Whys is a great basic framework, but oftentimes root causes are discovered when you remove your bias from the equation; leveraging inputs from others, diving into analytics, and striving to prove yourself wrong are great methods here.

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5. Ori Elraviv

Describe yourself

I am a turnaround executive with over 15 years of managing and growing small and medium-sized companies. I believe in sustainable, profitable growth, sticking to simplicity and the basics of operating a business.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I just love being able to make a difference and fascinated with the various business challenges of small-medium size companies.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset is taking a step forward every day. Understanding this is a journey, not a race, and just like with a book we need to evolve through the proper chapters.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Planning and operating sustainable business growth. Because to me this is the basic north star of running a business.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

In the case of operating a business, I typically find the problems are almost always in the basics. So getting a broad understanding of the situation, people involved, market and business models, will lead to identifying critical intersection points in the business. Focusing on those would be key in solving any problem we are facing with.

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6. Martin Postel

Describe yourself

I completed a PhD in Applied AI at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and then turned Entrepreneur to co-found Opply, an AI supply chain optimization startup based in London. Over the past years, we raised $8m+ and have grown the company to 25 people. I’m a big fan of scalable processes, and automation, enabling others to grow while building high-performing teams.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

Building Opply over the past few years and raising $8 million in venture capital has taught me invaluable lessons— would love to share these and learn from mentees as well!

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Constantly striving for incremental improvements. Embracing failing quickly to learn and iterate on solutions. And most importantly, pushing through when others have given up already.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

How to build a rockstar team and find the right VCs.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

Break down the situation into manageable chunks, starting with a minimal version. Then, expand the scope and observe when the problem appears. Many issues across various domains can be approached like debugging code!

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7. Ludvig Alm

Describe yourself

7 years of background in high-growth start-ups, straddling both B2B and B2C. Particular experience in cold-starting growth, building frameworks for success, and contributing to organizations growing with confidence.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

Love this platform and love sharing ideas. Applied very early to become a mentor (around 2020/21) but life got a bit too busy. Would love to come aboard now.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

Constantly questioning yourself – but in a good way. That was great, but what can we do better? Constantly looking for learnings and things to optimize and improve, whether for personal development or for a test you’re running.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

Structure and process, holistically and across different channels

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

I mainly work by forming an idea or a list quickly of most likely places that can be the issue and then validating those hypotheses in a quick way. When this inevitably highlights a different problem area or a new set of questions, repeat the process there! Ie: “CAC is spiking and we found out it’s because of low cart conversions. Why do we have low cart conversions?”

Somewhere in that process of solving other related issues, you can then solve your core issue.

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8. Juan Cruz Viotti

Describe yourself

Hey there! I’m an O’Reilly author, award-winning University of Oxford alumni, JSON Schema TSC, open-source maintainer, founder, and consultant with extensive experience as an engineering leader. I’ve been involved in early-stage startups ranging from IoT to APIs, architecting and building high-performance tech, and growing teams.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I love to help, and usually find I learn a lot when I try to help.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset means an endless appetite to explore and be world-class in whatever category you are focusing on.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

I have extensive experience planning the design and development of technology products from scratch. I can help you figure out what is important, what is complex, and what is the best architecture given your existing constraints to smoothly pull it off.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

Aggressively break down the problem, question everything, and think from first principles.

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9. Jonathan Del Gatto

Describe yourself

I am a successful video producer director and editor with 20 years of experience at the highest level. I’ve founded and managed 3 top Los Angeles-based commercial video production companies and continue to produce content for many brands. I am taking on aspiring creatives and business owners to share my knowledge and experience and help you shorthand the crazy world of video production.

In just one sentence, why do you want to become a growth mentor?

I like to teach and have been interested in coaching.

In your words, what does a growth mindset mean to you?

A growth mindset is a mindset that chooses optimism over fear and embraces and thrives in challenges.

If you could mentor a startup on one topic, what would it be?

I’d like to teach people what makes video advertising great versus good. How to create systems and processes to produce exceptional advertising that gets noticed. Then how to market your work and grow.

Describe an out-of-the-box solution to a complex problem that made you proud of yourself.

You can pinpoint problems by examining and defining your goals as they relate to the systems you have in place. Are your systems producing the results you desire, and if not at what point does the train come off the tracks?

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Interested in becoming a growth mentor?

What we’re looking for:

• Growth marketers, product managers, and designers, with extraordinary track records of success
• Inspirational founders that have “been there and done that.”
• Friendly people that take joy in helping other people.
• At least 5 years of demonstrable experience working in growth.
• GrowthMentor is a #givefirst platform. You should be cool with mentoring for free until you have three reviews.