Thank you so much for reaching out to learn more about how to get involved with mentoring at TechFW!

TechFW is a non-profit that has been putting the ‘tech’ in Texas for the last 25 years. We help entrepreneurs launch and grow emerging technology companies by providing coaching and mentorship to achieve success. We identify and promote entrepreneurs with innovative proprietary technologies, without taking any equity. We have several program offerings to get involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem here in North Texas. I’m going to list the programs where we have opportunities and on ramps to get involved through mentoring.

1:1 Mentoring: TechFW and partners offers one-on-one mentoring designated for founders to chat with professionals in a specific field. Whether they are looking for legal advice, marketing, business development, or accounting advice, we offer the resources to get founders connected with the right professionals. If you are interested in volunteering for 1:1 mentorship, please let us know.

MCrew: MCrew is a mentorship program where a team of mentors with diverse experience work with startups on breaking barriers to their business growth. We also host a mentorship network to facilitate one-on-one meetings between founders and mentors specializing in various fields. The MCrew cohort are typically teams of 3-5 mentors matched with one startup company for a duration of 6 months and will launch in the spring. Mentoring 1-1 sessions are open office hours at the discretion of the mentor’s schedule.

SmartStart: Our SmartStart business incubator assists founders in launching a new company. It helps the entrepreneur formalize the business framework necessary for the company to execute its path to market strategies. At the same time, the company works to develop a minimal viable product with the help of TechFW coaches to help facilitate the process of engaging early adopters, prototyping, and test marketing the product/service idea. We offer roundtables for external speakers to provide guidance to the founders on a particular topic to help strengthen their knowledge base, if you’d be interested in guest speaking to network with the startup founders.
 
We also will be hosting our quarterly Tech Together ecosystem happy hours throughout the year! These networking events are held to help strengthen and develop the entrepreneurial support ecosystem in DFW. If you’d like to volunteer to help with this event or future iterations, please let us know and we'll be happy to add your information to our planning docket. As details are solidified, we’ll reach out to coordinate more. 

CULTURE FIT

1. Give before you get. Expect nothing in return.

2. Have empathy; Remember that building new ventures is hard.

3. Guide, but never tell the entrepreneurs what to do; Understand that it’s their company, not yours.

4. Communicate well with other mentors who get involved; being on the same page is essential.

SKILLS + EXPERIENCE

1. Either own or work in startups that commercialize innovative tech or have a high barrier to entry

2. Have raised capital through angel investors, venture capitals, crowdfunding, etc.

3. Have high competency in business expertise or network in targeted industries

4. Have experience building high growth, scalable businesses

Once your application has been received, a TechFW team member will review and schedule a screening call to get to know you and make sure you are a good fit for our organization. 

1. Access to our amazing founders and the ability to provide them with the advice they need to grow their businesses
2. Networking opportunities with other mentors in the network