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PRO BONO MENTORING

Propel your business to new heights 

Are you a leader with limited resources and too many complex decisions? Are you unsure of the best way to turn your vision into reality? Our mentors can help with that.

Become a pro bono mentee

Our Mentorship Programme is all about training experienced business-builders to mentor other leaders. 

As part of our 8-week programme, we pair our mentors with pro bono mentees for real-world mentoring experience. Their task is to help you identify opportunities and risks, prioritise and tackle those priorities successfully. They bring their own experiences – along with the skills learned during the programme – and the support and knowledge of 14,000+ experts from The Portfolio Collective’s global community. 

Why choose to work with one of our mentors?

To be accepted into our Mentorship Programme, all mentors need to have built and led businesses, plus demonstrated leadership and expertise in fields that will be valuable to leaders like you. Mentees will benefit from their wisdom, fresh perspective, network and the skills they gain through the programme.

To get a feel for our mentors, you can see our 83 accredited mentors here. 

How it works

Mentor/mentee matching

Once you’ve applied, we’ll match you with a mentor from our latest cohort, who is best placed to help you solve the primary problem that you want to focus on. We will consider their industry experience, functional skills, personal style and any other factors that may matter to you.

Beyond the programme

If you’d like to transition to a paid mentoring relationship with either your mentor or another TPC mentor after the programme, we can arrange this – but it is not a requisite of being part of this pro bono mentoring scheme.

Working together

You’ll start working together by late May 2025. The commitment you make is for a minimum four hours of mentoring over four weeks (~one hour per week). You are welcome to discuss more hours with your mentor.

Feedback

We value your feedback and will ask you to report on how your pro bono mentoring relationship has developed and how it has impacted your business as a learning tool for your mentor.

I've just come off the pro-bono mentoring programme.

It was a really useful programme that gave me the space to be able to think differently about some of the business issues associated with startups.

Alex

There’s truly nothing like TPC!

It’s an incredible community filled with aspiring leaders and genuinely supportive people. The mentorship programme is a game-changer for founders and anyone eager to keep learning and challenging themselves. The team behind TPC is outstanding—highly responsive and always willing to go above and beyond to help, no matter where you are in your career journey. A fantastic experience all round!

Jack Irwin-Smith

My mentor has been invaluable.

Our conversations were both structured and open, allowing us to cover a range of topics that are highly relevant to my current role and professional growth. We discussed how my company is navigating our new Product-Led Growth (PLG) motion alongside our B2B enterprise offering, including a deep dive into our pricing models and how we differentiate our offerings. My mentor provided thoughtful feedback that helped me rethink some aspects of our pricing strategy.

MC Dinh

Not having had a mentor before, I wasn't sure what to expect.

After completing this program, I can confidently recommend TPC mentors to any start-up or scale-up founder! They create a bespoke, supportive, and educational environment - leveraging their network of skilled and diverse professionals to help tackle a myriad of challenges. It was an awesome experience, and we will definitely continue to be a part of the TPC community!

Danae Maragouthakis

My mentor from the Portfolio Collective was transformative for me and my business.

We were able to leverage on their extensive experience and I learned so much even in the one month programme. The Portfolio Collective is a great community of experts and I look forward to working with them again!

Caroline

I was part of their pro-bono mentor program.

It was very cleanly run with just enough meetings and emails to help keep on-top of things without being overwhelming. My mentor was brilliant - we met a number of times in person and he was a great sounding board for all areas of my startup. I would highly recommend startups to take part in the program!

Rango Ramesh

Great initiative from TPC.

My mentor was very approachable, open, experienced and gave me some sound advice for the focus areas we covered in our sessions (mainly prioritising as a founder and GTM / Marketing feedback). Would recommend to others to go through the experience too.

Rowan Bailey

Very happy with the team, my mentor assigned to me was brilliant.

Got a lot of value from him. Would recommend to any founder of a start up, lots to learn.

Ruben Roy Caballero

I've just come off the pro-bono mentoring programme.

It was a really useful programme that gave me the space to be able to think differently about some of the business issues associated with startups.

Alex

There’s truly nothing like TPC!

It’s an incredible community filled with aspiring leaders and genuinely supportive people. The mentorship programme is a game-changer for founders and anyone eager to keep learning and challenging themselves. The team behind TPC is outstanding—highly responsive and always willing to go above and beyond to help, no matter where you are in your career journey. A fantastic experience all round!

Jack Irwin-Smith

Read all reviews

What we're looking for from you

In order to be matched with one of our mentors, we’ll need you to commit to receiving four hours of pro bono mentoring between late May and early July 2025 and to complete a feedback form on your experience. It’s that simple.

Fill out the form below with a few details about yourself and your challenges and we’ll be in touch with next steps.

FAQ’s

How will I be matched to a mentor?

Once you’ve registered using the form above, we’ll match you with an appropriate mentor based on industry experience, functional skills, personal style and any other factors that may matter to you.

When will I be matched to a mentor?

You’ll be matched by late May 2025. If we can’t make a successful match for you in this cohort, you will be considered for future ones.

How many hours are expected to be given pro bono?

We ask that you commit a minimum of four hours of mentoring, ideally spread over four consecutive weeks. You can agreed the precise timings with your mentor.

 

How are your mentors accredited?

There are four pillars to the Mentorship Programme accreditation process:

  • Full participation in the programme
  • Quality of weekly module assignments
  • Presentation of a written case study
  • 360 feedback, including from their pro bono mentee

Passing is contingent on all of the above being met, which is further detailed in the programme Terms & Conditions. 

What happens if I need to drop out?

Please advise us as soon as possible if you need to make any changes to your pro bono mentoring arrangement, so that we can find a replacement. You can contact Ben and Fiona via team@portfolio-collective.com.

Can I apply for pro bono mentoring more than once?

Yes, but there is no guarantee of getting one. We are also happy to accept more than one mentee per organisation.

How will the mentor/mentee relationship begin?

Once you’ve been matched to your mentor, they’ll reach out to book your first meeting and will share an NDA to be agreed upon before you meet.