Mentors who have been there before.
Kipinä connects early-stage startups and ambitious entrepreneurs with experienced professionals who share their knowledge, challenge assumptions and help founders make better decisions.
More than advice.
The purpose of Kipinä mentoring is to create mutually valuable relationships between experienced mentors and participating companies.
Mentors bring real-world experience, proven practices, structure and outside perspective to the challenges that early-stage companies face.
The goal is not for a mentor to run the company or make decisions for the founder. Good mentoring helps founders learn faster, think more clearly, build confidence and make stronger decisions themselves.
Learn
Gain perspective, knowledge and tacit experience from people who have faced similar situations.
Decide
Challenge assumptions, improve decision-making and work through difficult business choices.
Develop
Support professional development, leadership skills and personal growth as an entrepreneur.
Connect
Expand networks and potentially connect with relevant customers, investors, partners and other entrepreneurs.
Meet the mentors
Our mentor pool includes experienced entrepreneurs, executives, investors, specialists and business leaders from different industries. Each brings a different perspective and set of experiences to the programme.
Rob Connell
CEO, Nolwenture · Managing Partner, Bailey Partners
More mentor profiles are being added
We are gradually introducing the people in the Kipinä mentor network and their areas of experience.
Mentor matching
Kipinä does not simply assign mentors at random. Matching is coordinated by the programme team and starts from the participating company’s situation and needs.
Current needs
Industry & company stage
Mentor’s relevant experience
Overall fit
How mentoring gets started
Once the matching has been made, Hub Panostamo helps get the relationship started. After that, the mentor and company manage the practical mentoring schedule together.
We make the match
The Kipinä team matches the company with a mentor based on the business analysis and identified needs.
We introduce you
Hub Panostamo sends an introduction to both the mentor and the participating company.
Agree on a first meeting
The mentor and company find a suitable time and arrange the first discussion.
Build your own rhythm
From there, the mentor and company manage their own meeting schedule in the way that works best for them.
Mentoring in practice
Six-month programme
Kipinä runs in six-month cohorts, giving the mentoring relationship time to develop alongside the company.
Recommended meetings
We recommend around 4–6 mentoring meetings during the programme. The exact number can vary based on what the company and mentor find useful.
Keep it practical
A typical mentoring discussion is around one hour, but the relationship does not need to follow a rigid format.
It can continue
In previous Kipinä cohorts, some mentoring relationships have continued even after the programme has ended.
The first meeting
The first conversation is about getting to know each other, building trust and agreeing on how you want to work together.
Introduce yourselves and share your backgrounds and experience.
Discuss expectations and what you hope to get from mentoring.
Talk openly about the company’s goals, challenges and priorities.
Agree on communication and how you want to give and receive feedback.
Agree on practicalities such as meeting frequency and possible topics for future sessions.
A few simple principles
Confidential
Mentoring discussions are confidential unless both parties explicitly agree otherwise.
Guidance, not selling
Mentoring is about helping and sharing experience, not promoting or selling products or services.
Honest & constructive
Mentors are encouraged to challenge, encourage and give honest, direct and constructive feedback.
Come prepared
Both mentors and participating companies are expected to commit to the relationship and come prepared to meetings.
Mutual respect
The mentoring relationship is built on openness, trust and mutual respect.
What if the match isn’t right?
Sometimes a mentoring relationship simply does not work as expected. If that happens, we encourage both sides to address it openly and early. Clarify expectations, discuss what could work differently and, if needed, contact the Kipinä team. Rematching with another mentor is possible.
Questions about Kipinä mentoring?
Whether you are participating in Kipinä, already part of our mentor pool or interested in learning more about the mentoring model, contact the Hub Panostamo team.