Mentorship

Who have you actually watched build the startup you're trying to build? Saeed Amidi makes a point about Stanford I keep coming back to: the reason so many students there start companies is that they grow up seeing it as normal. A graduate feels they could just as easily go build the next Google as go get a job at one. He points to the poster children — Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard. When you can see people like you doing it, building becomes something you can picture yourself doing. I launched the startup incubator at San José State, where I still teach. Same engineering talent as anywhere. Far fewer startups. The gap isn't intellect... it's whether or not students believe they can do it. The same dynamic runs for anyone starting a business. What you believe you can attempt is shaped by the peers you can watch attempting it. That's why community isn't just encouragement — it's the infrastructure your belief runs on. Watch Saeed make the point himself here: https://youtu.be/bb9n-CnDGVA Who in your peer group has already made this leap? And if you can't name anyone... is that why you're hesitating? #IndependentConsultant #Coaching #Consulting …more

Nearly half of managers are typing real employee names into public AI chatbots before difficult conversations. Barely any of their companies have a policy for it. This is the AI governance story that's not getting enough attention. Korn Ferry research published this week found that middle managers are already using AI to rehearse firing conversations, performance reviews, and pay discussions. The practice is spreading faster than the policy to govern it — and most of these conversations are happening in tools that aren't covered by any enterprise data agreement. The productivity case is clear. Rehearsing a hard conversation reduces anxiety and often produces a better outcome for everyone in the room. The governance gap is equally clear. Real employee names, salary figures, and performance details typed into public AI tools are data that don't belong there, full stop. Most enterprise AI policies don't address this use case because they were written before managers started doing it. For B2B marketing teams, the parallel is direct. If your content team is using public AI tools to draft campaigns with real customer data, competitive intelligence, or unreleased product details, you have the same exposure. The technology is ahead of the policy everywhere. Close the gap before someone closes it for you. https://aibusinessweekly.net/p/managers-ai-coaching-difficult-conversations #B2BMarketing #AIGovernance …more

People ask what the catch is on the free 30 minutes. Fair question. So here's exactly how it goes. You talk. I listen. That's most of it, honestly. Bring one specific challenge let's spend the time on that. I'll give you honest feedback, including the parts that are hard to hear, and together we find one or two concrete moves you can make this week. Why free? Because the best conversations tend to lead somewhere for both of us, and I genuinely like helping people. If it turns out you're a fit for my coaching program, we can talk about it, but that follows the conversation, it doesn't drive it. You'll get the most out of it by coming prepared: a real challenge, a clear top priority, and a willingness to act on what we land on. The people who get huge value come with something specific and go do the thing we talked about. That's it. No pitch, no catch. So here's my genuine question... if you had thirty minutes with someone who'd just listen and give you a straight read, what's the one thing you'd want to work through? Book it whenever you're ready — link in the first comment. #IndependentConsultant #Coaching #GoingIndependent #Positioning …more

I love helping students achieve their dreams. After years working in Silicon Valley, I've come to believe that's not a departure from leadership work — it's the heart of it. Every time I teach or mentor a student stepping into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, I'm reminded that the most important skill we can pass on isn't a specific tool or model. It's the mindset to keep learning as the ground shifts underneath us. AI is folding into hardware, software, and the way organizations operate faster than any curriculum can keep up. The people who thrive won't be the ones who memorized today's stack — they'll be the ones who learned how to adapt, collaborate across differences, and put new ideas to work. For business leaders, this matters more than it might first appear. The students dreaming today are the workforce you'll lead tomorrow. Investing in their growth — mentoring, teaching, opening doors — isn't charity. It's how we build the kind of talent pipeline and adaptive culture that AI-era organizations actually need. And it's a discipline that sharpens our own leadership: nothing clarifies your thinking like explaining a hard idea to someone at the start of their journey. At the AI Institute of Silicon Valley, this belief shapes everything we do — from programs and workshops to community events designed to help both emerging talent and established leaders navigate what's next. Helping people achieve their dreams and helping organizations transform for the AI era turn out to be the same work. If developing AI-ready talent and leadership is on your mind, I'd love to hear how you're approaching it — send me a message. #AILeadership #FourthIndustrialRevolution #FutureOfWork #AIISV #AIL4IR https://kentkaufman.substack.com/p/putting-new-ideas-to-work …more

Everyone building something of their own is told to be the visionary. Set the standard. Be the culture. Tom Shen spent nearly 20 years running SDI and holds almost the opposite as a core principle of building something that lasts. His point: build a culture that can push back on you. Every person you bring in should enrich the culture, not just fit it. And the ones worth having are the ones who will say, plainly and kindly, "I know you believe that — but here's why you're wrong." Here's why it matters. If you're the ceiling, a single bad decision can bring the whole thing down. A culture that can correct you is insurance against your own worst call. It's easy to file this under big-company problems. It isn't one. If you're running a small practice, you may not have employees, but you have advisors, partners, and communities you've chosen to surround yourself with. The real question is whether any of them can actually tell you no. Tom put it better than I can, in Episode 7 of the Inspiring Founders podcast: "The culture needs to be better and richer than the founder." Worth a watch — link in the first comment. So here's mine to you: who in your world will tell you plainly when you're wrong? If you can't name someone, that's the gap to fill. #IndependentConsultant #Coaching #GoingIndependent #ThoughtLeadership …more

If you’re rethinking startup mentorship and founder coaching, here’s the next step I recommend. Shift from passive learning to a mentor-led, hands-on project that proves you can move outcomes. Practical framework: 1) Pick a specific user problem and one measurable outcome. 2) Ship an MVP in 4 weeks that tests a single hypothesis. 3) Pair with a founder/operator to run the experiment and iterate. Want a short template and a mentor match for a 4-week project? Send me a message. …more

Join new Cabrillo President Dr. Jenn Capps and leaders in Workforce & Economic Development at the Cabrillo College Career Education Summit 2026 on Friday, April 3, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. From launching programs at startups, I learned that mentorship paired with concrete next steps is what moves careers forward. If you are mapping a path into product, operations, or startups, this summit is a practical place to connect and collect actionable frameworks. Send me a message. #CareerEducation https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/cabrillo-college-career-education-summit-2026 …more

AI is reshaping the job market. Universities must do more than prepare students for jobs; they should act as incubators for entrepreneurship, teaching critical thinking, curiosity, ethics and product skills. I’ve seen first hand how SpartUp at SJSU has helped students, the university and the community. From launching programs and startups, three practical lessons stand out: use project-based coursework, embed experienced mentors, and run low-risk pilots that let students ship and learn. If you’re an early-career professional aiming for product or operations roles, start by building a short project, finding one mentor, and proposing a campus pilot. https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/the-case-for-universities-as-startup-incubators …more

Inspiring Founders Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts. If you want to learn from other founders, check it out. I learned early that a good idea rarely guarantees survival. After launching early initiatives I found two practical levers that matter: repeatable operational rhythms and access to mentors who help navigate inevitable pivots. The Inspiring Founders Podcast digs into these realities with founders who share what actually worked and what didn’t. If you want practical takeaways, subscribe and listen. If you want to get more involved in the startup ecosystem, send me a message. #founders https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inspiring-founders-podcast/id1847207641 …more

SJSU students: this is a practical way to get involved and experience entrepreneurship while you're in college. If you're an early-stage founder or curious about startups, join SpartUp Founder Fiesta on 3/12 for a panel discussion hosted by the SpartUp Incubator. As a founder and long-time mentor, I've learned that early customer feedback and mentorship shape are the fastest way to go to market. Want to connect there? Send me a message. #startups https://luma.com/nnxlhtzj …more

Looking for experienced professionals and entrepreneurs to mentor early-stage teams as they prepare for Launchpad on May 13, 2026 at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Mentors will help sharpen pitches, validate ideas, and build founder confidence before the live competition and job fair. I'm also building my list of Mentors for Santa Cruz Accelerates Cohort 7 (mentoring seed-stage startups with traction) From my experience, targeted feedback early brings clarity and faster decision making for teams and fresh perspective for mentors. If you can help, send me a message. #mentorship https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/launchpad-2026-mentors-needed …more