Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, the pre-seed funding organisation, has just inked a three-year partnership with MentorSquare — a global platform of business mentors with all kinds of expertise.

Asking for advice will be as simple as selecting an expert from MentorSquare’s pool and sending him or her an e-mail.

Nazrin Hassan, Cradle Fund chief executive officer, said the partnership will add value to Cradle’s current pool of mentors, as well as help budding technopreneurs become more well-rounded businessmen.

“Cradle’s mentors can help fill-in a domain gap which technopreneurs can turn to when they feel they lack certain expertise, but they also need access to mentors that have gone through the trials and tribulations of setting up a company,” he told In.Tech.

MentorSquare provides the ingredient needed to increase the number of successful entreprenuers in the country, Nazrin said.

Sure thing

Cradle’s partnership with MentorSquare allows its grant recipients to seek advice from as many mentors as they want and at any time, and MentorSquare guarantees that its mentors will provide their feedback.

“The feedback from these mentors will help the technopreneurs see the bigger picture when building a business, as well as the various issues that need to be addressed,” said MentorSquare founder and chief executive officer Ravi Narayan.

Grant recipients also have the option of meeting with their mentors in person. “Some issues are best dealt with face-to-face so that recipients can better pick up on cues,” he said.

Nazrin regards the partnership as timely because technopreneurs face different problems today compared to five years ago.

“The main barrier for commercialisation among budding technopreneurs now is the lack of business expertise, not the funding of prototypes,” he said, adding that who better to give advice than those who have gone through the same difficult journey.

“It’s not very easy to get to talk with these successful people, but MentorSquare has provided a platform for that,” Nazrin said.

Ravi said the platform will help entrepreneurs to not only come up with better products but to also draft proper business plans.

Many budding technopreneurs put too much emphasis on building the product and pay little attention to the business aspects, Ravi added.

Malaysian technopreneurs, Nazrin chipped in, have a tendency to do that.

“If the period of development is 12 months, they’ll work on the prototype for nine months,” he said. “There’s a flaw in this thinking because it doesn’t allow enough time for them to figure out the business aspects and may come out with a product that isn’t marketable.”

Extra help

Besides mentoring, Nazrin hopes the partnership will also encourage grant recipients to think about taking their business global, right from the day they get an idea for the product.

“It’s impossible to do so without perspective from people beyond our shores but now they can get this,” he said.

It could also be an entrepreneurs link to global success, Ravi said. As the mentors have made the journey to the top of the ladder, they are likely to have established a network of useful business contacts.

“Imagine what benefits this will bring to Cradle grant recipients. They’ll be able to find customers and partners around the world immediately,” said Ravi.

Mentorsquare has 85 mentors in 25 countries and the numbers are increasing everyday. Ravi said the service is used by about 1,500 mentees now.

Mentors on MentorSquare are carefully selected to ensure that the mentees are properly guided. “We consider their interests and the amount of time they can contribute because mentoring is not like teaching a course. You must be there for your mentees at all times,” he said.

Cradle is also appointing a few Malaysian mentors to be part of MentorSquare. There are about 30 Cradle fund recipients who are engaging with MentorSquare now and the platform is open to both past and future Cradle grant recipients.