Meander - The mentorship platform for non-linear careers

@thisiskp_ thanks for the hunt ^_^ Hello Product Hunt community! I’m Anna, CEO and Co-Founder at Meander. In the last ten years I’ve switched careers from journalism to product management to entrepreneurship. Each time my first thought was: *oh God, I do not feel prepared for this monumental shift in my life.* Each time, I was fortunate to have a mentor to usher in my new normal and help me manage the career shift. At Meander, we believe careers aren’t linear anymore. So many of our customers report the same kind of journey I once had. We work, we learn, we discover a new interest, and we change direction. Our solution aims to build a bridge between where you are and where you want to go in your work life. Mentors really do make all the difference. Sign up, browse the mentors in your space, and book a session right away. We want this to be a fast, simple, powerful way to unlock the next stage in your career. Both the team and I will be here today for your questions and thoughts on the product. Please share your feedback and questions as well as your own stories about career meandering. Come Meander with us! P.S. If you are curious about product strategy or fundraising, feel free to book a session with me here https://meander.so/m/anna?tab=about

@anna_buldakova1 congrats on the launch, I truly like this, believe that education for so long has limited people in certain careers because of "what they studied" or "what they started in" it tends to pigeon hole people, and if you don't have the connections or the means to get out of it, you were extremely limited, I hope this goes well for you past the PH launch, I'd like to see you succeed. Best of luck!

@gabe_moronta I couldn't agree more! We want to democratise access to professional knowledge so that people would not be limited by their background, environment or network.

@anna_buldakova1 thank you for building this, I think such kind of tool had been long awaited for in the community

@dashamrt I felt the exact same way when I was transitioning from journalism to product management!

@dashamrt Hey Daria, and the entire Meander team, Congratulations! As someone who has experienced the challenges of navigating career growth without a mentor, I can truly appreciate the value that your platform brings to both mentors and mentees. It's amazing to see a solution that not only connects professionals with the right mentors but also simplifies the entire process. Keep up the great work, and I'm excited to see the impact Meander will have on the professional community. Cheers to your success! 🎉

@terno thank you for your thoughtful comment and kind words!

@kate_bovkunova of course, happy to help! Initially all mentors on the platform were free but, as we grew, we realised that the paid model had its own benefits. Many amazing mentors provide free mentorship to help those in need, to pay it forward, or to simply try sharing their expertise. You can easily access these mentors, however, you should be prepared to take the lead and be the owner of the learning process. Invest time in building a proper connection with your mentor and respect the time they give you for free. Many amazing mentors do paid sessions because they understand where they can help people and want to ensure that they only talk to people they can support and who actually have a problem to be solved. You should go for this kind of relationship if you want to have more clarity, predictability and control over your mentoring experience. You can also expect to share the ownership of these sessions' success with this mentor. As a platform, we want to ensure that in any of these scenarios mentees have the best experience so we have a 7-day money back guarantee if the session didn't meet your expectations. Let me know if you have any further questions!

@anna_buldakova1 Thanks for the quick response! Honestly, I have mixed feelings and thoughts about having a mentor. On one hand, as you mentioned, it's beneficial to seek guidance in finding direction at the beginning of the entrepreneurial journey. On the other hand, I'm uncertain about how to choose the right mentor. I believe it's important to find a mentor who has relevant experience but isn't too far ahead in their journey, perhaps just 1-2 levels higher than where I currently am. For example, if I know how to manage a team of 6 people and I've been promoted to lead a team of 20, it would be more beneficial for me to connect with someone who has managed teams of 20-30 rather than 150. However, it's worth noting that a specialist who knows how to manage teams of 20-30 may not be aware of the challenges that come with scaling to 150, as they haven't experienced it yet. I might be rambling a bit, but I'm curious to speculate on this topic and hear your opinion. As a relatively new startup founder, I can relate to feeling scared and confused during the early stages. However, as I experience some initial successes and make progress, my confidence grows. It's important for me to find a mentor who can recognize my strengths and provide guidance based on them, rather than simply sharing their own experiences. I believe there are multiple paths to reach my goals, and I want to find the one that aligns with my personal growth and values. I understand this is a pressing question for me, especially considering my co-founder's skepticism about mentoring. I'm trying to figure out for myself whether I truly need a mentor, how to find one, and how to determine if it's the right fit for me. Sorry for the long post, but this question has been bugging me🤔

@kate_bovkunova that's very fair concerns and this is exactly what are we working on at Meander. We would like to provide people a way to find a mentor 1-2 levels above their current level. Anyway if you're stuck and don't know where to start we have a career coach @najim_zaytoun who can help you to start and find an ideal mentor https://meander.so/m/najim 🙌

@hai_ta1 thank you! One of our objectives is to make mentorship as outcome-oriented and context-specific as possible - especially now when mentees come from diverse backgrounds and industries. 100% agree with your point!

Thanks, @hai_ta1 ! You’re right, context is king when it comes to advices. To genuinely help someone, you need a deep understanding of their issue. Interestingly, during our user interviews, we discovered that great mentor+learner match benefits not only the learners but also the mentors. The outcome of this interaction is essentially new knowledge that benefits both parties!

And the second question: is it completely free?

@dzianis_yatsenka thank you! Yes, we do - you can take a look here https://meander.so/ in the founders section, review these two lists https://meander.so/case/founders... and https://meander.so/case/founders... - or register to view the full list of mentors

@dzianis_yatsenka it's free for you to use the platform. Some mentors are sharing their knowledge for free, others can ask for a fee - you can see it upfront on their page.

@dzianis_yatsenka We've actually got a mix of both paid and unpaid mentors, so you can pick one that suits your preferences! 😊

@jamesstirrat oh wow - such a journey!

@jamesstirrat you're my hero! Switching from non-tech to tech is one of the most challenging transitions. I hope you've enjoyed the journey along the way!:)

@jamesstirrat That's an amazing journey! I think that being experienced in more than one engineering speciality is a competitive advantage. You can take best from the both virtual and real worlds!

@najim_zaytoun is amazing! Take a closer look at his profile if you're don't know where to start 🚀

@najim_zaytoun no one would like to be stuck in the middle of the ocean like Robinson Crusoe! Love the analogy ^_^

@stan_minasov Thank you for being with us every step of the way! 😊 I completely agree with your thoughts on making the world a little better through mentorship; I feel the same way each time too!

@stan_minasov Thank you so such an amazing feedback! ❤️

@stan_minasov such a thoughtful comment! Thank you for sharing your experience, Stan - it's stories like this one that inspire us to build products 😊

@becky_stephens that is so true! I used to loose my mentoring notes all the time as these conversations were happening across email, Linkedin, whatsapp and many other tools. I'm so happy that I can now centralise everything in one place ^_^

@handspringer actively dogfooding the product :)