Mentors are overrated.
Traditional mentorship is rare and slow.
Luckily, you can download a lifetime of guidance without anyone’s permission.
Here is how to build your own permissionless mentors:
Choose Your “Board of Directors”
The best mentors are people who have done a version of what you want to do.
They can be alive or dead.
Beware false idols. Be careful idolizing people that you don't want to become.
You may succeed.
Harvest Their Playbooks
Most of your idols will be too busy to talk with you. Others will be long dead.
That's fine. You don't need their permission.
You also don’t need a one-on-one relationship.
You can glean everything you need from afar.
- Read all their books, posts, & best tweets
- Listen to their podcast episodes
- Follow the living ones in real time
Books are generally the best sources. They spent 100 years living what you can learn in 10 hours.
News articles of the day are interesting, but generally not as deeply researched.
Meeting them in person is cool, but unnecessary.
Most living ones have shared the same stories on 25 podcasts and 100 tweets.
The active company builders will be the hardest to reach. You can normally tap into their entourage though. Number 2s have a lot more free time.
The retired builders will be easier to meet. They are reachable and have free time.
The eminent dead leave a record. Study it.
Build Your Mental Model
You want to understand how they view the world.
How do they approach different situations?
How did they get started? and solve problems along the way?
Spend enough time in their mind and you will eventually get a little mentor on your shoulder.
Take notes to organize your thinking. I keep a list of questions I want to understand and then write out the answers over time.
Turn your notes into a public blog post. This is how I started writing online.
A #1 ranking blog post for their name is a great way to start a conversation.
Remember: The goal isn’t to collect advice. It’s to build a life worth writing a book about.
Learn, get inspired, and then go do it yourself.
Live the life you want to live!
Here are some of my mine:
- Mark Leonard (Constellation Software) Operating Manual
- Andrew Wilkinson & Tiny Operating Manual
- ESW Capital Operating Manual
- John Malone (Cable Cowboy) Operating Manual
- Robert F. Smith (Vista Equity Partners) Operating Manual
- Roy Thomson of Fleet Street Operating Manual
- Felix Dennis Operating Manual
- Mike Speiser & Sutter Hill (Venture Studio) Operating Manual