Mentorship Platform for Startups

Hey All,
So I started a practice to come up with a new startup idea every week and validate its market potential. I call these idea pitches and I share them via my newsletter and at theideapitch.com .

Here's what I came up this week. Let me know what you think:

The Idea
Everyone agrees that getting a mentor as a startup founder increases your chances for success tremendously. Yet, there are very few places where you can find one:

• you can go through your network and somehow find a mentor or
• you can join a non-profit organization that also offers some mentorship.

There is a third option: a platform where mentees and mentors can find a good match.

The Problem

I think such a platform will solve several problems:

• no space to connect with mentors and work with them collaboratively.
• it's hard to find a good match - someone who can give you solid advice but also is interested in what you are working on.
• approaching people to mentor you is awkward. It's even more awkward to approach people to mentor. It's like asking near strangers on a date.
• even when you find a mentor, how do you structure the whole process that you get most out of it?

A separate but also quite relevant problem is finding a mentor with the right expertise. If you are solving a problem in a very niche industry you need advice from someone who has the connections and understanding of it. Finding such people is hard.

The Solution
To address all these pain points, a mentorship platform has to have these features:

• it's a space where mentor and mentees can create profiles and share more information about their experience, what they are working on and how type of support they need;
• mentees can be matched to mentors (based on criteria) but they can also search for them;
• mentors' profiles will show their experience, ranking and number of sessions they've had;
• mentors can charge for their services but they don't have to.
• once matched the platform will guide both sides through a process of setting objectives, booking sessions, prompting questions for discussion;
• good professionals are not good mentors. It's a skill many develop. To be effective at what they do, the platform will provide snackable training for mentors.

Revenue Model

• the obvious: charge a monthly fee;
• the less obvious: charge a % of the fees mentors charge the mentees.

What are you thoughts on this idea?

If you're curious to read more, I'm sharing a link to the full version:
https://theideapitch.com/29384399a3a040e69912338b59f6011c