By Alizeh Iqbal
International Women’s Day - perhaps not the kind of holiday you’d make dinner reservations for, fret over gifts, or buy a card. But, we hope, perhaps the kind of day you might join us in recognizing some of the women who have elevated and supported us, the women of Renaissance Collective.
Although IWD isn’t a holiday in the traditional sense, there isn’t an accomplished woman who hasn’t found a gift in someone believing in her. None of us — the smart, ambitious women operators in tech — would be where we are today without support from the women and men in our lives who’ve encouraged us, taken chances on us, and carved opportunities for us to grow and succeed. Today, we celebrate those who have championed our successes. Those who wedged their foot in the door to make room for us. And we hope to do so by sharing specific stories of advocacy and support featuring small, meaningful — and highly doable — actions that can elevate more women operators in tech. Specifically, we want to share examples of creating “mentorship moments” — occasions to share expertise or opportunity in a specific, targeted setting.
What is a mentorship moment?
Early in our careers, many of us are advised to find a mentor to accelerate our professional development. Formal mentorships, defined by a committed and ongoing “mentor-mentee” relationship between two people, seem too archaic, structured, and inorganic to be useful, particularly in the context of fluid and fast-moving careers in tech.
What seems appropriate to the times are more nuanced relationships crafted around “mentorship moments” where specific problems are tackled with someone of trusted expertise. These moments crop up frequently and organically, and provide an opportunity for outcome-oriented collaboration. These mentorship moments don’t require the long-term commitment of traditional mentorship arrangements, but can provide just the right insight and perspective when it is acutely needed.
Mentorship moments for brief, tactical exchanges of knowledge
Jen Yip, a community organizer, met Mallun Yen at a women’s dinner hosted by Bloomberg Beta. Yen, Founder and Partner at Operator Collective, listened as Jen explained the challenges of pricing strategy for her company’s newly launched product. With the ease of flipping a coin, Yen said to Jen: “I’m great at pricing, and happy to chat further about it.”
Jen didn’t need to be told twice. She followed up with Yen, who warmly offered to meet in person and shared advice from her own experience. Jen found Yen’s advice so profoundly helpful that she wrote all her notes into a document and sent it to Yen, so that Yen could share her own advice at scale in the future. Jen describes this brief moment of mentorship as “magical” — a discrete exchange with a disproportionately wonderful outcome.
A mentorship moment is a timely, effective transfer of advice and knowledge that empowers the “mentee” and offers flexibility to the “mentor.” Kali Borkoski, Product Manager at Berbix, describes how Beckie Wood, former VP of Content Programming at Pandora, offered a few mentorship moments to help Kali as she transitioned to a new product role. Each of their meetings focused on tactical ways that Beckie could help Kali propel her career: in one meeting, they discussed whether to index on title or company, in another, Beckie helped Kali conceptualize the first 90 days at her new job to ensure Kali’s growth and progress around a few core competencies.
For both Jen and Kali, mentorship moments enabled access to women with remarkable expertise in a way that was direct and flexible for both parties. At their finest, these relationships should be constructive and opportune — in other words, a bit like magic.
A mentorship moment can be as simple as really listening
When Minn Kim, an investor at Bloomberg Beta, graduated from college, her head wasn’t in the clouds — it was above them. A 23 year-old data analyst based in New York City, she nursed a fervent interest in space and satellite startups — the space was in an exciting, nascent period, much like her career. The thing was, she didn’t know how to break into the startup scene. Buoyed by her passion, she managed to land a meeting with Angela Sun, COO and Partner at Alpha Edison (though then at Bloomberg LP) through a friend of a friend. “I didn’t realize at the time, really, who she was,” recalls Minn, at the time unaware of Sun’s eminent 10-year tenure at Bloomberg.
Minn didn’t realize the extent of Sun’s strong reputation even meeting her for the first time — Sun carried no airs, and the two hit it off over conversation. Sun’s aim wasn’t to size up Minn, or grill her against a set of predetermined criteria. Rather she posed a single question — “what do you think people should be talking more about?” — simply to take a pulse of Minn’s passions. This was a mentorship moment — an opportunity for Sun to really listen to Minn, with the potential to provide feedback to her specific needs. Their conversation ran the scope of NYC’s tech scene, Minn’s burgeoning interest in startups, and of course, satellites, and Minn shone hungry and curious and perceptive. She was hired. And to her surprise, hired to a team consisting largely of former management consultants and investment bankers from top-tier firms. She initially felt out of place because of her dissimilar background, but Sun bolstered her with a studied balance of direct support and autonomy, providing her space to launch.
Ultimately, what Minn recalls most is Sun’s generosity. She didn’t hire Minn for her background, but for her potential. She didn’t use the weight of her accomplishments to make Minn feel smaller, but instead helped her grow and feel bigger. She offered Minn a space to voice what she hoped to become, and used her resources to help her become it.
When people are generous enough to go a little bit out of their way for colleagues — especially young women — they can play an astoundingly large role in helping build incredible careers. The gesture can be as large as hiring a newcomer to the field, or as small as making a quick introduction. And ultimately, this generosity comes from an abundance mindset — believing that there’s enough room and opportunities for everyone who applies themselves to succeed.
A mentorship moment can be an act of advocacy
While mentorship can provide meaningful opportunity for growth, sometimes all you need is someone to go to bat for you, or to put you in the right room (or email) with the right people.
For Jen, an advocate is something of a catalyst — a person who creates great reactions between people and opportunities. When she met Amanda Kelly, co-founder of Streamlit, she was struck by Kelly’s flair for a well-timed intro and desire to pipe up on behalf of others. Kelly is the kind who looks out for other women. Once, after interviewing a talented candidate who didn’t happen to be a good fit for her team, she sent Jen a note immediately following the interview — asking if Jen knew of other companies looking for promising junior talent. She wanted to back this woman who she believed could flourish under the right guidance and leadership, and moreover, wanted to ensure that this woman would land at a fantastic new team. Amanda’s follow-through and thoughtfulness toward others who cross her path are qualities we should all aspire to demonstrate: extending your network doesn’t require continual effort, but can create a ripple effect of positive outcomes.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we’d like to express our immense gratitude toward those who’ve supported us in a myriad of ways — through advocacy, generosity, moments of mentorship, or otherwise. And while IWD isn’t celebrated with the traditions of other holidays, we hope you might revisit this list and renew your dedication to the small, meaningful ways all of us can enable women in tech to succeed. For all those whose moments of mentorship rendered outcomes that transcended all expectations -- we encourage you to pay it forward.
Special thanks to Jen Yip, David King, Minn Kim, Kali Borkoski, and Emily Hughes for their contributions to earlier drafts.