Happiness
This has been a strange week for me. BBC Breakfast has been running a series on Happiness and what leads to it. The conclusions seem to be that people are happier through showing acts of kindness and spending time with each other rather than through accumulating money or assets.
This week I took part in Seedcamp for the second time. It was exhausting and does involve giving up a lot of your time – and none of the mentors get paid for this. I also have to say I am feeling very happy right now (despite having the usual problems that all of us have to fight on a daily basis).
It was only when I saw the conclusion on BBC this morning did I make the connection between the way I felt and the fact that I had given something back to the entrepreneurial eco-system.
There are too many ‘grubby’ things out there where lots of people of little or no talent try to make money off the back of incredibly hard working and risk taking entrepreneurs and it really makes me angry when I hear some of the stories around this. Entrepreneurs are the new rock stars of the moment and there are so many organizations that claim to exist to support them. Unless you are in the business of investing or mentoring, you are not helping. It really is as simple as that. And if you are in the business of investing, be clear, honest and transparent about your cost structure.
Seedcamp has created a great eco-system where lots of mentors give up their time for free. The companies pay nothing to be there and benefit from the advice given. I was able to mentor a few companies, and I was really pleased with the feedback (not about me, but about the Seedcamp process).
There is nothing more disheartening than to give your advice to people who don’t want it (even though they ask for it!). This is what I as a mentor thought was brilliant about Seedcamp companies – they all wanted advice and really took it on board. This compares with two companies that asked for advice and did not turn up for pre-booked meetings that I met through a different forum (still not had an apology from one of them!)
Back to my main point, I would encourage anyone with experience in the digital space to try and get involved in Seedcamp as a mentor. It is a great experience, you will meet great people and companies who will value your input. And as the BBC proved this week, giving your time to this will make you happy – I promise you.
