OLNEST
FOR MENTORS · INDEPENDENT · VOLUNTEER

Help founders build the company.

Startups send you requests on the topics you help with. You choose who to take on, and how many at once. They book time on your own calendar page.

Apply as a mentor
✓ Google sign-in✓ Reviewed by the Olnest team✓ Your own capacity
MENTOR PROFILE · AS FOUNDERS SEE ITEXAMPLE
Mentor ATaking requests
Former product lead, now helping first-time founders find their first hundred customers.
  • Operator
  • Repeat founder
  • Product
  • Sales
  • Hiring
SERVES
Idea, Pre-seed, Seed · First-time founders
HOW
Free 30-minute video calls
EXPERIENCE
Head of product · Example company · 6 yearsTHE MENTOR’S OWN ACCOUNT
NEW REQUEST · EXAMPLEWAITS 14 DAYS
Pellavo Bio · Pre-seedTopic: Product. We’re deciding what to build first for our pilot labs.
Shared with you: My Score, Founder DNA card
AcceptDecline
PAYVolunteer, plus a 15% referral share
REVIEWEvery profile read by the Olnest team
CAPACITY1 to 10 startups, your call
CALENDARFounders book on your own page
[01] WHO MENTORS ON OLNEST

People who have done the work before.

Pick up to two that describe you. Founders filter by them.

01OperatorYou’ve run a function inside a growing company: product, sales, finance, people.
02Repeat founderYou’ve started companies before and know the early years first-hand.
03Angel investorYou bring what you’ve seen from backing startups. Here it’s your experience founders want, not your money.
04Domain expertYou know one field deeply, from biotech to logistics, and can save a founder months.
05CoachYou help founders lead, decide and keep going.
06Professional adviserYour trade is legal, accounting or company work, and you share how it works in practice.
[02] WHAT A MENTOR GETS

Requests that fit. And the context to help.

Requests on what you said you help with

A founder picks one of your specialisations as the topic and writes up to 600 characters. You see who they are before you say yes.

TOPIC
Always one of your specialisations. Up to four: Fundraising practice, Product, Hiring, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Legal and company, Operations and Go-to-market.
WHO SENDS
Founders on the Scale or Growth plan. A startup works with at most three mentors at once.
TIME
A request waits 14 days, then expires. Accept with a short note, or decline with a reason.
CLEAN
Messages can’t carry contact details or round details. The founder is asked to edit first.

What each startup chose to share

Access lasts while the mentoring is active. If either side ends it, or the founder unticks something, that part disappears at once. Your private notes on each startup are yours alone.

[03] HOW IT WORKS

Five steps from application to first call.

  1. 01ApplySign in with Google, fill in your profile and submit it.
  2. 02The team reviewsThe Olnest team reads every application, then approves it or asks for changes with a note.
  3. 03Go liveFounders can find you. Turn requests off any time, or set how many startups you take.
  4. 04Accept or declineRead each request and what the startup shared. Say yes with a note, or no with a reason.
  5. 05Founders book youOnce you accept, they see your booking link and book on your own calendar page.
YOUR CALENDAR STAYS YOURSCalendly, Cal.com, a Google Calendar appointment page, Microsoft Bookings, SavvyCal, TidyCal or Zcal. If you connect a Google Calendar, Olnest reads only when you’re free or busy, never what your events say.
YOUR REFERRAL SHAREOnce the team approves you, you get a link of your own. When a founder joins Olnest through your link and pays, you earn 15% of each paid invoice for 12 months from their first payment, tax excluded.
[04] WHAT OLNEST ASKS

Three things from every mentor.

The Olnest team reads each application against these, and approves it or asks for changes with a note.

  1. 01Your real experience, in your own wordsUp to five roles, each shown to founders as your own account. Nothing on it is marked as confirmed by Olnest, so write only what’s true.
  2. 02Your own capacityChoose how many startups you mentor at once, from 1 to 10. When you’re at it, your profile shows Full.
  3. 03No investment adviceMentoring on Olnest is about building the company. It isn’t advice on investing, and it isn’t an introduction to investors.
[05] WHAT OLNEST NEVER DOES

No founder fees. No ratings. No emails.

NO FOUNDER FEESFounders never pay you through OlnestMentoring is volunteer, and Olnest takes nothing from it. The one payment is the referral share, which Olnest pays you on founders who join through your link and pay.
NO RATINGSNo stars, ranks or countsNo reviews, no session counts, no response times, no “top mentor”. Your profile speaks for you.
NO EMAILSNotifications stay in the appYou hear about a new request, and about approval or changes asked, inside Olnest. Nothing is sent to your inbox.
[06] QUESTIONS

Questions mentors ask.

Anything else: finvestoros@gmail.com

It’s volunteer, and founders never pay you through Olnest. What Olnest pays is a referral share. When a founder joins Olnest through your link and pays, you earn 15% of each paid invoice for 12 months from their first payment, tax excluded. Your link opens once the team approves your profile, and the team pays you directly.

READY WHEN YOU ARE

Mentor on Olnest.

Fill in your profile and submit it. The Olnest team reviews every application.
Apply as a mentor

Mentoring isn’t an introduction to investors, and mentors don’t give investment advice through Olnest. An Angel investor mentor is there for their experience, not their money. Mentoring is volunteer: Olnest takes nothing from it, and pays mentors only the referral share on founders who join through their link and pay. Olnest does not give investment advice. REVIEWED 30 OCTOBER 2026