About Labs Mentors
Labs mentors are industry experts with a wealth of experience – from operations to investing,
business development to coding, creative to marketing. Mentors come from a wide range of
professions including: venture capital, product management, consumer technology, design,
sales, marketing, communications, finance, legal, HR and other areas.

External Labs mentors are actively involved in the start-up community in the UK and abroad
and have a personal passion for entrepreneurship. Mentor’s volunteer their time to help grow
and support the participating Labs companies and the program more generally. Internal
mentors are accomplished professionals who have championed innovation at the BBC Worldwide. These
mentors will provide insight to the BBC Worldwide and help Labs companies navigate the waters.

Responsibilities
Labs mentors commit to a minimum of one workshop or mentoring session with our participating
companies. The workshops can be as casual as a breakfast round-table discussion on a
specific topic, a Q&A one-on-one with the founders, or a one-hour working session geared
toward solving a specific problem. Mentors work closely with the Labs Program Director to help schedule, organise, and create a tailored workshop for participants that will ideally benefit
all involved.

Overall, we expect Labs mentors to be accessible and to help facilitate new introductions and
garner new potential business interests for the program start-ups.

We ask all mentors commit to
- a minimum of 1 year (2 program sessions per year)
- one workshop or mentoring session per program session
- attend a minimum of 1 networking event per program session hosted by Labs
- evangelise the program to external parties

If interested in becoming a Labs Mentor, please email us at LABSinfo@bbc.com with the
subject heading, Labs Mentor.

 

FAQs for Mentors

+-Can I be a Labs mentor if I’m already a mentor for another start-up program or incubator?
Yes. Labs does not compete with start-up incubators. Actually, we consider them potential
partners in helping to grow and promote emerging digital companies. If you have the time, then
by all means we welcome your participation.
+-Can I be a Labs mentor if I’m already involved with the BBC’s Connected Studio?
Yes. Labs does not compete with the Connected Studio, an initiative run by the BBC. Labs is an initiative run by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Labs focuses on companies at the point of commercialisation.
+-What if I’m an advisor or board member to a competitive start-up, can I still be a Labs mentor?
Check with your start-up first but as long as you disclose your associations beforehand, each of
our programme participants can choose for themselves whether they consider it competitive. Of
course, we will assume that you maintain all confidences.