Seattle Mentoring LLC was designed to move beyond the 5+ years of volunteer work I did with SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) after the organization was defunded by the US government in 2025.   I saw that as an opportunity to continue working with startup and early stage growth companies but provide them with a wider range of services than I could at SCORE.  My organization has changed, but my personal mission to provide free mentoring services to my clients has not changed.

 

With a goal of helping you turn your startup into a great company, our approach is focused on balancing the three most important areas of excellence that successful startups all have:

• A product that people need and a competitive advantage,

• An ability to acquire new customers for below 50% of their lifetime value,

• And an understanding of how much money you need to get to cash flow breakeven.

 

A business is like a three legged stool.  If any leg is missing or broken, the entire stool fails.  We can help you build a well rounded business plan (product + marketing + funding) that will allow you to create a real company that can meet the expectations of your investors, your customers, your team, and your family. 

 

Our team also excels at helping you get ready to build an outstanding team and then successfully raise the funds you need to launch your product or service.  A great product idea without a team that understands how to turn that idea into reliable and positive cash flow, is a recipe for running out of money before you succeed. 

 

Once the plan is viable then building a team that has the talent and experience to successfully launch the company is a winning recipe to get a great valuation on the company you want to build.  Its not the business plan document that's important, its the quality of the thoughtful planning, the team the CEO can successfully attract with that plan, and the ability of that team to execute that plan, that creates a winning foundation for success.