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Mentee aims to bring together new, aspiring entrepreneurs with experienced ones through a constant and lasting mentoring scheme that will have mutual benefits for both, like sharing of experience and knowledge; networking opportunities at international level; new ideas and collaborations; business expansion and more start-ups; creation of new jobs. This is why we are conducting a survey in Poland, Italy, Greece, Portugal and the United Kingdom to identify the key competences required to successfully mentor aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as those required to be a successful entrepreneur.

Your participation in our survey is highly appreciated!

Mentors please click here to participate: Key competences required for successful mentors in entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs please click here to participate: Key competences required for successful entrepreneurs

The Conference’s mission is to get together professionals in the field and to discuss and ex-change ideas, problems, solutions, and best practice in competitive and practical oriented en-trepreneurship education, training and consulting.

Hosted by The Bulgarian Association for Management Development and Entrepreneurship (BAMDE) in partnership with The European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB).

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The main challenge of this circle was to support the participating entrepreneurs to think about and explore the challenges that they are facing at this moment in their business and, at the same time, analyse and discuss those challenges and possible solutions with the colleagues of the mentoring circle. At the same time, all participants were requested to provide feedback related to the challenges and possible solutions of the other colleagues and, based on the results of this discussion in the circle, each entrepreneur was then challenged to define his/her goals and action plan for the future.

The overall feedback from entrepreneurs was quite positive and all mentioned that their participation in the Mentoring Circle for Entrepreneurs was essential for the improvement of their business. The group will meet once again in three months in order to check the achievement of the goals that each of them defined at the end of this circle.

For more information about the event please contact us: andreia.monteiro@mentortec.eu and/or joana.santos@mentortec.eu

The overall objective of this first multiplier event held in Matosinhos - Portugal was to introduce the main tools developed by the partnership of the project MENTEE - Mentoring, Networking and Training for European Entrepreneurs, namely the Competence Framework for key Mentoring Competences and the Social Collaboration and Learning Platform.

Additionally, the multiplier event allowed establishing strategic partnerships with national organisations for the development and implementation of the 2^nd Mentoring Circle for Entrepreneurs, which will occur between January and March 2016.

Are you an entrepreneur with interest in participating in this 2^nd Mentoring Circle for Entrepreneurs?

Contact us to know more information and to participate in this 2nd circle: andreia.monteiro@mentortec.eu and/or joana.santos@mentortec.eu

The event was attended by the Mayor of Matosinhos, Guilherme Pinto, and by the representatives of the main national institutions in the field of education/training.

Mentortec was invited to participate, having had the opportunity to present some initiatives in which it is involved and that represent good innovation practices, among which the MENTEE project, where its platform was presented to entrepreneurs, mentors and education/training professionals that expressed interest in the project.

Mentortec had the opportunity to get involved in this celebration, participating in the conferences, workshops and final pitches of new entrepreneurs. Besides the share of knowledge, experiences and contacts, this initiative allowed to introduce the MENTEE project to some of the main stakeholders of entrepreneurship of Portugal and of other countries as well.

For more information about the event please contact us: andreia.monteiro@mentortec.eu and/or joana.santos@mentortec.eu

Fórum "(R)Evolução da Aprendizagem – Debater as competências para o futuro" em Matosinhos

No dia 1 de Outubro, Matosinhos recebeu o Fórum "(R)Evolução da Aprendizagem – Debater as competências para o futuro", que reuniu mais de 100 participantes, entre os quais decisores políticos e atores regionais/nacionais ligados ao desenvolvimento de competências como professores, formadores, gestores de pessoas e educandos. O dia foi dedicado à partilha e exploração dos caminhos pelos quais se deve fazer avançar a educação no futuro.

O evento contou com a presença do Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Matosinhos, Guilherme Pinto, e dos representantes das principais instituições nacionais no domínio da educação/formação.

A Mentortec foi convidada a participar, tendo tido a oportunidade de demonstrar algumas iniciativas em que está envolvida e que representam boas práticas de inovação, entre as quais o projeto MENTEE, onde a sua plataforma foi apresentada a empreendedores, mentores e profissionais de educação e formação que manifestaram interesse pelo projeto.

Para mais informações sobre o evento por favor contacte - nos através do e-mail: andreia.monteiro@mentortec.eu e/ou joana.santos@mentortec.eu

The Circles are organised in three sessions, according to the following programme:

• Session 1 – 20th of November, 10h-13h – Entrepreneurial Skills Profile;
• Session 2 – 27th of November, 10h-13h – Exploitation of Challenges, Opportunities and Constraints of the Entrepreneurs,
• Session 3 – 04th of December, 15h-18h – Definition of Objectives and Action Plans.

For more information on this event please check MENTEE’s Facebook page or contact us: by e-mail andreia.monteiro@mentortec.eu and/or joana.santos@mentortec.eu

Participate and disseminate!

1º Ciclo de Mentoring para Empreendedores: Inscreva-se já!

A Mentortec promove durante os meses de novembro e dezembro o 1º ciclo de mentoring para empreendedores de novos projetos, startups ou empreendedores que já tenham uma ideia de negócio consolidada.

Esta iniciativa, promovida no âmbito do projeto Europeu MENTEE - Mentoring, Networking e Formação para Empreendedores Europeu, dirige-se a empreendedores que pretendam desenvolver competências de resiliência, liderança, negociação e pensamento crítico, entre outros, assim como interagir com outros empreendedores e mentores.

A Mentortec foi convidada a participar, tendo tido a oportunidade de demonstrar algumas iniciativas em que está envolvida e que representam boas práticas de inovação, entre as quais o projeto MENTEE, onde a sua plataforma foi apresentada a empreendedores, mentores e profissionais de educação e formação que manifestaram interesse pelo projeto.

Os Ciclos estão organizados em 3 sessões, de acordo com o seguinte programa:

• Sessão 1 – 20 Novembro, 10h-13h - Perfil de Competências Empreendedoras;
• Sessão 2 – 27 Novembro, 10h-13h - Exploração dos Desafios, Oportunidades e Constrangimentos dos empreendedores;
• Sessão 3 – 04 Dezembro, 15h-18h - Definição de Objetivos e Planos de Ação.

Para saber mais sobre este evento consulte a página do Facebook do projeto ou contacte-nos através de andreia.monteiro@mentortec.eu e/ou joana.santos@mentortec.eu

The Associação Nacional de Jovens Empresários – ANJE (National Association of Young Entrepreneurs) promotes, since 1997, the Academy of Entrepreneurs which main goal is to promote the entrepreneurship spirit at national level essentially by: supporting new entrepreneurs and start-ups at different levels and using different tools and instruments; recognizing successful Portuguese entrepreneurs, which are publically distinguished by the academy. The Academy of Entrepreneurs offers several instruments and tools to promote entrepreneurship and to support entrepreneurs at National level and have 4 main initiatives: Ideas Competition – competition which awards the entrepreneurial creativity and the best business ideas; Road-Show – a program to promote the entrepreneurship among the educational and training schools/centers, which is being implemented at National level; Young Entrepreneur Award – which distinguish, support and promote start-ups and/or business expansion; Entrepreneur’s Fair – to promote networking and business between entrepreneurs and their market. Besides these 4 main initiatives, the Academy provides other instruments and activities focusing on the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture, of the entrepreneurship in companies and social entrepreneurship.

This year, the Academy of Entrepreneurs is celebrating 18 years of existence and to celebrate this huge accomplish, ANJE hold during all June/2015 a set of activities dedicated to the entrepreneurial initiative, including sessions of coaching, pitches and networking, as well as a show of innovative start-ups.

Mentortec had the opportunity to get involved in this celebration, participating in the conferences, workshops and final pitches of new entrepreneurs. Besides the share of knowledge, experiences and contacts, this initiative allowed to introduce the MENTEE project to some of the main stakeholders of entrepreneurship of Portugal and of other countries as well.

Further information about this inititiative can be found here

This initiative is basically a package of training and specialized consulting sessions for young, graduate entrepreneurs (25-35 years old), with a business idea/plan well defined and mature, who desire to move forward and quickly enter the market. This programme was designed and implemented by Mentortec in partnership with UATEC.

The main focus of these workshops was on the acceleration and maturation of an existent business idea/plan or enterprise, promoting its development and fast market entry, namely by:

• Providing basic knowledge, skills and competences to young entrepreneurs to support the promotion and development of their business ideas and enterprises, in its different phases, having as focus the launch of the business/enterprise into the market;
• Delivering adequate support and consultancy for the definition and validation of business ideas/services/products of young entrepreneurs in the context of a global market;
• Potentiating the setting-up and survival of businesses and start-ups promoted by young entrepreneurs in a highly competitive market.

The partnership between UATEC and Mentortec t revealed to be crucial to the high success of this acceleration programme, which already counts two editions!

Further information about this initiative can be found here (only available in Portuguese).

Source Marketing Direct, a London-based sales and direct marketing firm, points the finger at the absence of a utilised mentoring system. In the presence of a mentor, businesses can, according to the firm, move beyond the critical point in their business.

The role of mentoring in business success is also highlighted by Claude Littner, known from his appearances on the BBC-produced British version of The Apprentice. The chairman of the IT products and service provider Viglen comments “It's vitally important to give young students a chance, but equally let's give them the tools to try to succeed. Give them the opportunity coupled with business education and real life experience and they will absolutely show just how clever they really are. Effective mentoring can be the key to unlocking this potential.” Programmes such as MENTEE clearly help to fill this gap by supporting aspiring entrepreneurs who are spending time with an experienced entrepreneur through a holistic approach which is based on mentoring.

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www.journalism.co.uk

SEMLEP aims at collaborating both with colleges and universities to increase the number of apprenticeships and leaders of the industry. The local small start-ups will be given the benefits of a programme similar to MENTEE!

www.northantstelegraph.co.uk

The University teamed up with experts from Start-Up Foundation aiming at giving the students competencies and awareness to transform their ideas into real business activities. Three teams have been awarded Student Enterprise Award of £1.000, 00 giving them the possibility to collaborate with real customers. Winners will have access to full mentoring and support from coaches. Mentoring is again making business ideas reality!

It is clear that programmes such as MENTEE are needed all over Europe where technical innovative industries are facing difficulties in having access to funding and are failing in continuing running their business. Corinne Vigreux, the co-founder of satellite navigation company TomTom expresses her concerns about the lack of entrepreneurs in Europe.

According to the managing director of Europe’s sole consumer electronics brand, it is down to Europe’s risk-taking attitude, or in this case lack of! “We have an education system that stigmatises failure. There has to be more ability to dare to fail. Mentoring can help with that,” Vigreux said. “We want education and mentors and physical resources to make Europe better than Silicon Valley!” a delegation of young researchers demanded in a mock protest on stage at the event.

www.bqlive.co.uk
www.euractiv.com

400 attendants and stakeholders from the entrepreneurial world were there! The Mentee objectives to bring together experienced and new entrepreneurs through a constant mentoring scheme have been presented, along the lines of the foreseen outputs of the project in the near future, and the benefits thereof for mentors and entrepreneurs.

Business Link is a platform of co-working spaces in 10 major cities of Poland whch operates on the basis of the group of its clients, which is more 1000 companies (current and past). What makes the project special is that they a unique business mentoring project to its clients.

Business mentoring face to face with the entrepreneur is nothing innovative itself. However, the offer from BL allows start-ups to meet regular business gurus in the given area. During these meetings, one has the chance to receive valuable feedback and tips for development.

The net of young entrepreneurs reaches to over 1000 people and allows them to meet personally the high profile business mentors such as companies CEOs, innovation leaders, investors, politicians, scholars and show-business celebrities.

On 20th of January 2015 INnCREASE met with the leaders of Akademickie Inkubatory Przedsiębiorczości (AIP), which is the managing organization of the Business Link. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the entrepreneurial context of Business Link and possible usage of the nets of contacts for both parties. It was also a chance to discuss future possible partnership occasions.

Further information about the project can be found at this address: blpoland.com (in Polish).

Polish President introduces a project of the innovation bill!

On 25th of March 2015 the Polish President, Bronisław Komorowski, presented his official project of the innovation bill. The project includes several tax reliefs for research and development sector. It is now headed to the parliament to be approved by the MPs.

Besides from the R&D tax reliefs, the presidential bill proposed to reveal the companies that invest exclusively in innovation projects from the obligatory income tax. This works mostly for the venture capital and is directed mostly to the internet-based companies.

The President’s idea was also to open up the polish higher education for foreign scholars. This means that the PhD applicants from outside the EU will have an easier path to get to one of the universities in Poland.

The bill goes to the parliament now which is likely to approve the idea, which is also a part of the ongoing presidential campaign in the country.

More information can be found at this address: http://www.rmf24.pl/fakty/polska/news-prezydent-oglosi-dzis-projekt-ustawy-o-innowacyjnosci,nId,1697595 (in Polish).

The “Rede Nacional de Mentores” (National Mentors Network) is and initiative from the Portuguese Strategic Programme on Entrepreneurship and Innovation (+E+I) managed by the Portuguese National Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (IAPMEI) that aims to nurture and stimulate the networking between experienced professionals with a recognized professional track record (acting as mentors) and young entrepreneurs that are developing their business ideas and projects.

Since the beginning of this initiative in January 2013, MentorTec has some of its senior staff as members of the mentor’s network and has been involved in over 25 mentoring relationships, supporting entrepreneurs defining and maturing their business ideas or entrepreneurial project. The methodology applied by these mentors has been defined by MentorTec and uses concepts and methods inspired in the lean start up approach: continuous innovation involving experimentation, learning and assessment.

Further information about this initiative can be found here: www.redenacionaldementores.pt (available in Portuguese).

The main focus of this conference was the future of the entrepreneurial initiative and it was complemented with the Show of Entrepreneurship 3.0 and the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp of the BIP – Business Ignition Programme (the ideas accelerator promoted by the University of Porto in partnership with ANJE). The journey was closed by the Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and it counted with more than 400 participants coming from all over the country.

MentorTec was present at this conference and had the chance to interact with different stakeholders of the entrepreneurial context, including capital venture entities, business angels, entrepreneurs, academics and professionals supporting entrepreneurship. It was also possible to know some startups with potential of innovation and suitable to be integrated in the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp of the BIP.

By participating in this event, MentorTec had the opportunity to be aware of some good practices and programs supporting entrepreneurship and of reinforcing its list of stakeholders, regarding the dissemination of the MENTEE project.

Further information about this conference can be found here: http://mailing.anje.pt/v/aPUeh10Pe8Le3903666150 (available in Portuguese).

Connecting Enterprising Women has set up an initiative entitled Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures to give entrepreneurial girls, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, opportunities within a business area to develop their skills whilst still in education. Participants are paired with a mentor in their industry and encouraged to consider their business and career options early which has dramatically increased their aspirations.

Helen Pearson, International Project Co-ordinator at Inova, gave a talk on the programme opportunities available to support aspiring entrepreneurs and mentors such as MENTEE.

This event was a fantastic opportunity for us to meet and network with various interesting people and organisations from the West Yorkshire area and spread the word about our upcoming programmes, encouraging more people to get involved in mentoring.

Getting to know the stories of some of the mentees and mentors from the Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures programme was a very rewarding experience as it was delightful to see how both parties had benefited from their mentoring relationships.

The Enterprise Café was a unique chance to network and share experiences between inspiring independent businesses from the Sheffield area in a welcoming and friendly environment.

After the initial networking activities, Inova gave a welcome speech and introduced the MENTEE project amongst others to the audience.

During the second part of the event participants had time to network again and get to know each other during a dynamic and exciting “Talent Swap” where they had the opportunity to talk about their business ideas and exchange their products and services. The entrepreneurs actively participated to the “Talent Swap” and gave very positive feedback to this activity that Inova had designed for them.

During the coffee break participants could exchange their opinions on common issues that they faced or are currently facing as self-employed entrepreneurs. The thoughts that Inova staff have collected are very insightful and also related to the MENTEE project, as mentoring was one of the topics on which participants shared their opinions.

The third part of the event was dedicated to a presentation focused on introducing and explaining the use of social media for small businesses.

Some of the participants of the Enterprise Café showed their interested on the project idea and shared their experiences as mentors/entrepreneurs with Inova staff.