You2Mentor
A free platform for mentoring and personal development
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Hansi Nissanka

How can we make mentoring accessible and meaningful for everyone?

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You2Mentor
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Hi everyone! I’m Hansi, founder of You2Mentor. I started this platform to bridge the gap in mentoring. Most people either don’t have access to mentors, or the mentoring they get is limited to the organisation or the department they work in.

We’re building a platform that helps individuals find mentors and supports organisations in running structured mentoring programs. Users can set goals, track progress, and grow skills in a meaningful way.

I’d love to hear from you: What’s the hardest part about finding or running effective mentoring today?

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Nika
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IMO, quality mentoring (and justified mentoring) comes from people who have already achieved something. But those are usually busy. The question is then: how to make those top founders accessible for everyone?

Hansi Nissanka
You2Mentor
@busmark_w_nika Agreed, quality mentoring comes from people who’ve done the work, not just founders but experienced operators and leaders. A mentor tribe spreads access, so learning doesn’t stall when one person is busy.
Nika
minimalist phone: creating folders

@hansi_nissanka Do you team up with any mentors?

Hansi Nissanka
You2Mentor
@busmark_w_nika Yes, we do team up with mentors across roles and industries for specific mentoring programs. The individual platform that everyone can access for free is based on peer to peer mentorship.
Pratap Simha

Hi building something similar but from a performance stand point.

Hardest part:

  1. Finding the right mentor. In my org there would hardly be 4/5 people who would qualify as a mentor in my field. Now I understand that mentors can come from anywhere but mental benchmarks are often eaiser if from same field. Im sure there are more but either im not aware or they are not explicitly showcasing their skill.

  2. Not treating this as “another task” specially when things pile on. Imagine having 50 hour work weeks. The whole mentorship goes for a toss if I can not show up.

  3. Mentors knowing how to mentor. My goodness most mentors I have coached actually treat it as a task and goal conversation

Hansi Nissanka
You2Mentor
@pratap_simha2 Thanks for sharing this, you’ve nailed some of the biggest mentoring challenges. What we’re trying to solve is exactly this reliance on a single mentor. With a small tribe of mentors across and within industries, progress doesn’t stall when one person is unavailable. Combined with clear goals and structure, mentoring stays practical and momentum isn’t lost even during busy work weeks. Really appreciate you calling this out, this kind of insight helps shape what we’re building.
Tinnix He

Hi Hansi, is You2Mentor connecting users through setting up meetings? Are the mentors paid? How do you find mentors to onboard them? And who are your target users?

Hansi Nissanka
You2Mentor
@tinnix_he Great question. For individuals, You2Mentor is built around peer-to-peer mentoring. Everyone comes with development goals, but also skills and experience they can share with others who are earlier on a similar path. For organisations, we support structured, goal-driven internal mentoring programs with progress tracking and outcomes. Currently, there is no option for paid mentoring but we will look at that for a future release to connect with dedicated paid mentors/coaches
Tinnix He

@hansi_nissanka interesting! so how do you onboard your mentors? are they volunteers?

Hansi Nissanka
You2Mentor
@tinnix_he it’s based on peer to peer mentorship. Anyone who signs up will mentor others with their area of expertise while also gaining mentorship based on their development areas from people who has experience in that field.
Alessandro Pignotti

Finding quality mentoring is certainly a challenge for junior developers. But the problem feels like one of a supply and demand (i.e., there’s more demand for experienced developers’ time than they have free). This solution sounds like a great way of centralising that demand, but how does it solve it help solve the supply issue?

I have personally benefited a lot from quality mentorship and I try to offer the same to young engineers when I can, but I very much focus on the local community to keep the time investment manageable.

Hansi Nissanka
You2Mentor
@alessandro_pignotti Thanks for your response and yes, supply is a very valid issue with limited time availability for senior colleagues. I do believe, having a tribe of peer mentors will reduce the demand for one mentor being the source of all information and support. This will also give the mentee a wider perspective on what their path forward should be. While this is not going to solve the supply issue as a whole with limited time being the main issue for most mentors, it would reduce the single point dependency.