Having your mentorship turned down
Yes. This happened to me. I think it has to do with the modesty of my mentorship approach.
Two enthusiastic entrepreneurs were assigned to me by the programme for mentorship. They were into keeping plants in small apartments. Their venture had a lot going for it: a bustling instagram page, one had green fingers, the other was into marketing.
In our introduction talk we went through the state of their ideas and ambitions, which were big. Something about becoming a central marketing platform for all things plants and living room. Venture capital was needed.
I challenged it: “Why not produce a book from all the cool content you have? See where that process leads you. You guys seem to be too early for growth money”
It was a suggestion that led to my rejection.
Finding a mentor is part of the process
It was not pleasant to hear that they requested the programme manager to assign them with another mentor (specifically the veteran on the mentoring team with venture capital experience). But when the manager carefully explored the thought of switching mentees, I didn’t really mind.
It’s not about mentors proving their worth.
People should be able to make their own choice for their mentors. Sometimes they’ll choose well, sometimes they won’t. In both cases they learn.
Now (4 years later) there is a new book out on plants.