Questions and answers

Still have questions?

Our project is a community which intends to close the mentoring gap of startups in the region. The mission of our mentoring platform is to develop and promote a mentoring culture in Uzbekistan and Central Asia as a whole. It is expected to evolve into a mentoring community in our region. Startups in the Central Asian region will gain access to mentors from Silicon Valley, Germany, the UK, other European countries and the CIS countries.

A mentor is partly a coach, leader, advisor, counselor, teacher, guide, and friend but none of these alone or completely. Mentoring Platform for Central Asia is designed to help the mentor give the mentee a taste of the real experience in the field they've chosen and help get on the path to it.  

See About for a written description or check out this video!

The platform doesn’t limit you and suggests certain amount of time. However, there is a-day-prior rule: tasks should be fulfilled and displayed on the platform one day prior to the meeting so that there would be enough time to review them and come up with feedback. Keeping the rule in mind, you might allocate appropriate amount of time.

You will likely gain knowledge, skills, and tips about challenges you face in your startup or future career.  Hopefully, your mentor's advice and perspectives will increase your self-confidence and support your success.  Mentoring Platform for Central Asia will also provide you with the ability to develop a personal network of professional contacts through online and offline events.

Most mentors in our program want to volunteer their time as a chance to “give back.” Sometimes they were mentored in their early career and would like the opportunity to mentor and have their own mentee.  

Nothing! The program is FREE for all students and startups.

No. This is a volunteer-based mentoring program that focuses on developing the skills of both mentees and mentors.

Mentoring Platform for Central Asia provides mentoring opportunities for ALL Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and startups in the Central Asia.  

Currently we are serving Central Asian startups and students only.

Yes.  You will list your home university or college on your profile, and use a verifiable .edu email address to create your Mentoring Platform for Central Asia account.

No. Mentoring Platform for Central Asia mentees can also be graduate students, including both masters and Ph.D. students.  Mentees must be at least 18 years old to participate.

We are collecting this information to generate the best match possible through our matching algorithm.  In addition, we collect demographic information in order to be able to describe the characteristics of our participants to the public, funding agencies, and donors. We also may use your responses to customize discussion prompts for your match and to help us learn about how to improve our platform over time allowing us to better serve diverse populations.  

Yes, see our Privacy Policy for more information. 

Yes, see our Privacy Policy for more information.

As a mentee, you will receive your recommendations before you send an invitation to a potential mentor.  The list goes away purposefully after the invitation is sent.  If you receive a decline email, you will be presented with other recommendations again.

It’s up to both sides’ availability and there are no limitations on the cycle duration.  

The mentee will go back to their community page and assess the mentoring period.  If there is a result or personal story to share they are welcomed to do that. It can be both public and private. Ideally, participants (mentees) are expected to return as mentors themselves.

No.  It is Mentoring Platform for Central Asia’s goal for each mentee-mentor pair to have a mutually fulfilling mentoring relationship and to provide such an opportunity to as many mentee as possible. Therefore, it is Mentoring Platform for Central Asia’s policy that each mentee shall only be matched with one mentor at a time.

It happens for all sorts of reasons. Don’t worry. Email us at info@mentoringplatform.com and let us know the problem. We can unmatch you and then you can find another match if you wish.

A Startup is a company or project initiated by an entrepreneur to seek, effectively develop, and validate a scalable business model.

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics