Techscaler Programme 2022-2024: early evaluation - main report

5 Mentors feedback

5.1 Introduction

This chapter provides feedback received from mentors to an online survey (43 responses, 29% response rate) and 12 follow-up qualitative interviews. Where appropriate we have provided anonymised quotes from Techscaler Programme mentors to provide greater insights and to highlight the diversity of views. Mentors typically raised a wider set of points than outlined in their online survey response.

The research methodology is described in Chapter 2 and Appendix B, and the survey tables are presented in the supplementary report. Due to self-selection, the sample cannot be viewed as wholly representative, and the results cannot be generalised to all Techscaler mentors.

5.2 About Techscaler mentors who participated in the research

Key messages from the mentor survey included that mentors who responded to the survey:

• have been involved in the Techscaler mentorship programme for varied lengths of time — the majority (65%) of these mentors have been a Techscaler mentor for over one year.
• have considerable previous and/or current mentoring experience outside of the Techscaler Programme — most of the mentors who responded to the survey are mentors for other programmes in Scotland and further afield.
• have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to offer Techscaler mentees, this includes mentors with direct experience of setting up, scaling, investing in, and selling tech companies.

Mentors who responded to the survey said that they first found out about the Techscaler mentorship programme directly from CodeBase, from another Techscaler mentor, or through an existing relationship with CodeBase. Together, these mechanisms accounted for over three-quarters (77%) of all survey responses.

Over half of mentors (54%) who responded to the survey have been matched with Techscaler mentees and have provided mentoring support many times through the Techscaler Programme. The remainder either said that they have been matched, but not often (37%) or have not yet been matched (7%) to provide mentoring support through the programme.

5.3 Motivating factors for involvement

Motivating factors

Mentors who responded to the survey said the main motivating factors for becoming involved in the Techscaler mentorship programme were to:

• share their skills, experience, and knowledge (86% of survey respondents).
• support the development of tech startup founders/senior leaders (86%).
• give something back to the tech community (74%), see Table 5.1.

Table 5.1: Why were you interested in becoming a Techscaler mentor?

Response	Number	Percentage
As a way of sharing my skills, experience, and knowledge	37	86%
To support the development of tech startup founders and senior leaders	37	86%
To give something back to the tech community	32	74%
To support my own development and understanding of business	11	26%
To grow my own professional network	9	21%
To gain mentor training	2	5%
Other reason	2	5%

Source: EKOS mentor online survey. Base=43.

Multiple response question where respondents could select more than one option and all that applied. Percentages may total more than 100% as a result.

Mentors emphasised that starting and running a startup could be a ‘lonely place’ or journey, that finding the ‘right support network could be challenging’, and that ‘as a company grows and matures, they need a bigger, larger resource base and network.’ Increased opportunities for founders (from early-stage onwards) to connect and talk with their peers and to access practical mentoring support from experienced founders was considered invaluable.

Mentors said opportunities for founders to be guided by and to learn from ‘people who have been there and done it’ was vitally important. They spoke of individuals who they had received mentoring from in the past, and they now mentor other people to ‘pay it forward.’

“The mindset of people being with a group of other entrepreneurs who are in the same stage is incredibly valuable.”

“To play a role, however small, in the establishment of a strong startup ecosystem/tech hub in Scotland.”

“Having the right resources around you is critical. The right team. The right guidance. Being open to opportunities, knowing what your limitations are, and realising that you don't have to try to do everything yourself.”

Financial compensation

Almost all (93%) Techscaler mentors who responded to the survey welcomed and valued the financial compensation they received from CodeBase for their Techscaler mentoring services — and two-thirds said it was a material consideration in their decision to offer time to the Techscaler Programme.

Key points from the mentor feedback included that mentor remuneration:

• helped to cover some but not all the costs associated with the time spent preparing for sessions, delivering mentoring support, and in mentee follow-up — not least as mentors have their own company, other competing priorities, and/or other professional and personal responsibilities.
• was on a par with other organisations they provide mentorship with.
• demonstrated the CodeBase team valued and recognised the knowledge, experience, industry expertise, and skills mentors brought to nurturing and supporting founders and their contribution to the Techscaler Programme —they said nowadays mentees also expected mentors to be financially compensated as this demonstrated the value of the service to them both personally and professionally.
• made it easier for some mentors to free up or carve more time out of their busy schedules and other commitments to devote to the mentorship programme and to contribute to the Techscaler Programme effort — that is, some mentors said they might have been/be more selective regarding their involvement if they were not paid.

“Mentors are highly experienced, offer a wide variety of skills and experience that save founders a lot of time and money (especially the early-stage founders). As mentors we've made the mistakes and we've learnt. A one-hour session saves them months of work, heartache, confusion and more. Plus the network we can connect mentees with, it's hugely valuable.”

“It is actually more work than the hour as you tend to think about the business between meetings — so a form of compensation recognises this effort.”

“While my primary motivation for mentoring isn’t financial, the financial compensation does allow me to commit more time to it. It means I can take on multiple sessions in a week knowing that my time is being valued both financially and through the personal satisfaction I get from mentoring. Like all mentors and mentees, my time is valuable, so this structure creates a win-win for everyone involved.”

“The focus to have in-business mentors is a great approach. In order to make that work, it helps if there is a financial incentive commensurate with consulting rates. Personally, I see this as a bonus, not an essential, but for others this may make a bigger impact.”

5.4 Mentor application process and initial engagement

The survey found that mentor satisfaction with the application process and with initial engagement with CodeBase was mixed. For example:

• 74% of mentors who responded to the survey were satisfied with the ‘Interview discussion with CodeBase’ following submission of the mentor form.
• 35% of mentors who responded to the survey were satisfied with ‘The online interest in becoming a mentor’ form.
• there were a lot of neutral responses.

This mixed level of satisfaction was further reflected in mentors’ qualitative feedback.

Some mentors said the application and onboarding process for Techscaler mentors worked well in practice — they said programme processes, communications, and the ability to shadow an experienced Techscaler mentor before undertaking their own mentoring session for the programme were effective. Others considered the time taken from submitting their online application form to discussion, or from mentor discussion to confirmation of onboarding, or from onboarding to delivering their first mentoring session prolonged.

Almost all (95%) mentors who responded to the survey rated CodeBase’s relationship management approach as either ‘good’ or ‘very good’. Survey feedback intimated that mentors were broadly happy with the contact they have with CodeBase, the team were approachable and easy to interact with, and things have improved over time.

“It felt well managed, and I felt well supported with the opportunity to shadow an existing mentor.”

“It was fluid and natural, easy to connect and onboard.”

“I was delighted to be able to get involved. It was a work in progress when I joined, and I can see it has really improved over time.”

“When I first started there were less materials setting expectations, these have since been developed.”

The follow-up interviews with mentors raised additional points that are worthy of further mention.

Mentors suggested that CodeBase’s customer or relationship management approach could be improved, and that a single point of contact could help mentors (and the founders/companies the programme supported) as:

• CodeBase is a large organisation — mentors said this has posed challenges for effective and efficient communications and for building supportive and trusted relationships.
• some mentors have not always felt their feedback to CodeBase has been listened to, reflected on, or acted upon — for example, mentor notes made in the Google Sheets, etc. They partly attributed this to CodeBase staff not having direct experience of starting and scaling tech companies, ineffective processes and mechanisms to learn and understand where companies were at, and a perception that CodeBase was not open to feedback.

“Some aspects of the on-boarding were a little opaque.”

“No response for a long time after application, then almost the opposite once engaged, so much information, just an overload.”

“Greater clarity and communication upfront about some of the expectations of timing and frequency would help. What mentors should or shouldn't expect. Without that you don't know what the internal limitations or parameters are.”

5.5 Mentor training and support

Around one-quarter of mentors who responded to the survey said they had received mentor training and/or other support since becoming a Techscaler mentor — all who had said the training and support has either been ‘useful’ or ‘extremely useful’. As noted above, the ability for new Techscaler mentors to shadow an experienced Techscaler mentor was welcomed and valued.

The vast majority of mentors (76%) who responded to the survey indicated they have not received any mentor training and/or other support since becoming a Techscaler mentor or were ‘unsure’.

Our experience from evaluating other mentoring programmes (for example, Mentoring Network in Ireland) is that effective mentoring projects and programmes in part rely on training and ongoing support for mentors such as regular check-ins, effective feedback mechanisms, and sufficient opportunities for peer learning and support.

That being said, around 60% of mentors who responded to the survey indicated they have attended/participated in the Techscaler Programme online ‘mentor meet-up’ and/or ‘mentor mixers’ get togethers — and a positive finding was that all other mentors said that they ‘plan to do so in the future’. These mentors said that opportunities for bringing Techscaler Programme mentors together:

• were welcoming and friendly sessions that encouraged a good level of conversation and discussion among mentors.
• provided opportunities for Techscaler Programme mentors to meet, connect and network with their peers/other mentors, and helped to expand their professional networks.
• provided opportunities for mentors to share experiences, stories, ideas, and learning.

“The in-person events are great. Chance to share the wins and learnings, it's great to spend time with other mentors and learn how they deal with situations. There's something nicer about in-person but I also value online — just doesn't fit my schedule well so I've been missing them recently.”

“Putting a face to name, knowing who I should recommend to my mentees who are interested in mentorship outside my expertise.”

“Sharing and understanding other mentor's backgrounds and focus areas — some networking and often lively discussions.”

The follow-up interviews undertaken with mentors confirmed that mentor-to-mentor connections and networking also take place on a more informal basis initiated between the mentors themselves. Some mentors said they have signposted their mentees onto another Techscaler Programme mentor for advice and guidance if the specific issue or challenge was outside their own expertise.

Some of the mentors’ suggested improvements to relationship management have been reflected in the narrative above — for example, a single point of contact (someone who has been through it), more effective communications, constructive two-way dialogue, feedback loops, regular check-ins, etc.

Wider feedback from mentors who took part in an interview included that CodeBase could look to:

• draw on and harness the wealth of knowledge, insights and learning mentors have to support the continuous improvement of the Techscaler Programme — both from their involvement in the mentorship programme and from their broader mentoring and other experience. They suggested that mentors could be proactively encouraged and supported to provide feedback and to share lessons learned.
• more proactively tap into mentors’ experience to help identify people and companies with potential to grow and scale.
• schedule mentor meet-up sessions in the diary at the outset of the year rather than on a more ad hoc basis — to ensure mentors have sufficient notice of when these will take place.
• encourage increased participation in mentor meet-ups from across the Techscaler mentor network. Wider suggestions included more structured facilitation, topic based discussions, asking mentors for discussion topics, reporting back on how feedback shared by mentors has been reflected on/actioned.
• more proactively recognise, celebrate, and share mentorship successes.

“Engagement (across the extensive mentor cohort) seems low with commitment (appearances) from only a small, core group.”

“We could maybe do a bit more to learn from one another but that is on both mentors and CodeBase, neither one alone.”

“The dates for all the session are too last minute, often with only one or two weeks’ notice, needs to be much more than that, it’s one reason I've been unable to attend most.”

“The mentor meetups could benefit from facilitation. I attended a few and I felt that often a few strong voices dominate the conversation. This results in a lack of participation and limited perspectives on issues raised.”

5.6 The matching process

The majority (65%) of mentors who responded to the survey said the matching process worked well in terms of CodeBase connecting mentors with suitable and appropriate mentees, Table 5.2. This is reflected in feedback was said CodeBase has a good understanding of mentors’ backgrounds, strengths, areas of interest, expertise, and specialisms, and that matches with mentees have been relevant and appropriate.

“I'm getting the right sorts of individuals and companies to mentor. They have challenges that I can help and support with.”

“I always feel that mentees are aware of my skillset and roughly how I can help in advance of the meeting which makes for a constructive meeting.”

“I can always see where I can help and in what areas and have the option to turn down opportunities if I don’t see the right fit.”

Table 5.2: How do you feel the matching process works in terms of CodeBase connecting you with suitable and appropriate Techscaler mentees?

Response	Number	Percentage
The process works well	28	65%
The process is ok	10	23%
The process could be improved	5	12%

Source: EKOS mentor online survey. Base=43.

Over one-third (35%) said the matching process ‘is ok’ or that it ‘could be improved’ in some way.

Other mentors who responded to the survey and who took part in a follow-up interview said their experience of the matching process has been more mixed.

“The founder/mentor matching might not work very well. I have had very few mentees so far. But it is hard for me to know where I am ‘losing’ potential mentees in the funnel.”

“Timing. Sometimes notice of mentee matches are a bit last minute.”

“I get a lot less matches than I used to and I’m not sure why.”

“The frequency of matching and opportunities could be improved.”

“Mentors or mentees choose to do different things, so it could be a case of I felt it was a great match and session but maybe the mentee didn't. Or maybe the mentee may have thought that someone else just fitted and suited them better. That’s all fine but again I don't know because that's not communicated”.

While mentors have had appropriate matches, they confirmed this has not always been the case — a common message from the interviews was that mentors have ‘not always had the right ones’ in front of them. These mentors talked about being matched with mentees:

• with barely formulated ideas.
• who did not know their product, market and/or customers.
• who did not like risk and who were not open to listening to constructive feedback.

“Pretty basic stuff from a business perspective — that doesn't need one to one mentoring.”

These mentors also felt that mentoring was not what these mentees needed at that time as their ideas were ‘at far too early a stage’ — mentors said they could tell very early on in the mentoring relationship:

• whether a mentee’s idea/product would ‘fly’ or not.
• whether the person has something special or exceptional about them, and has the necessary resilience, robustness, and appetite for risk to succeed.

Further, these mentors suggested the upfront filtering or ‘weeding’ process for the mentorship programme could be improved, and this could benefit from direct input from people/mentors who have been there and done it themselves (that is, started and scaleup companies, etc.).

Wider feedback from these mentors included that CodeBase could:

• offer group mentoring sessions where relevant and appropriate.
• review the mentor pool — it was suggested there may be too many Techscaler mentors and there could be a renewed focus on ensuring mentors have direct experience of starting and scaling companies to maintain high-quality mentorship.
• ensure mentees were clear on the role and purpose of mentoring support — some mentors suggested there might be a misunderstanding among some mentees that mentors would be an investor or unlock investment — when the reality was that they needed to do many other things first.
• share more information on the founders/companies involved in the programme so that mentors have good visibility of who has been supported and in what ways, etc. — to help mentors see where they could add most value through mentoring support.

“Follow-up discussions and meetings between CodeBase and mentors to ask mentors to feedback directly how they think it is going, give a review of the mentee, and discuss options, etc. That could then help mentors better understand the ‘kitbag’ that the Techscaler Programme has as it evolves.”

“Ways to improve the consistency of meeting new startups. I would be delighted to help with new cohorts, either onboarding or post onboarding, creating workshops, sessions, relevant sales and marketing support in line with the goals of the Techscaler Programme.”

“The one-to-one nature of mentoring is a beautiful thing, we have a direct view of the impact the programme is having, something I feel could and should be shared with the CodeBase team. You are genuinely changing people’s lives for the better, improving their businesses and products. It'd be great if this was shared as wide and loud as possible.”

5.7 Mentee benefits from Techscaler mentoring support

Survey feedback shows that mentors have helped mentees in a wide range of ways, see Figure 5.1. This has included listening and providing constructive challenge (93%), providing an independent perspective (88%), and helping mentees to focus on key issues and development opportunities (86%). Further, 44% of mentors who responded to the survey said they have signposted their mentees to other forms of Techscaler Programme support (this has largely been to education programmes).

Source: EKOS mentor online survey. Base=43. Multiple response question where respondents could select more than one option and all that applied. Percentages may total more than 100% as a result.

Mentors who took part in a follow-up interview suggested the most effective and impactful mentoring relationships happen where:

• clear goals and expectations have been established and understood.
• supportive and trusted relationships have been developed between the mentor and mentee.
• mentees were proactive and actively engaged in the process (driven, inquisitive, attentive, etc.), and open to constructive and honest feedback from mentors and to hearing different viewpoints and perspectives.
• mentors have a good understanding of the other programme support accessed by mentees — so that they can encourage mentees to tap into other forms of support as appropriate.

These mentors also highlighted the importance of mentoring programmes, such as the Techscaler mentoring programme, having sufficient in-built flexibility:

• to ensure eligibility criteria for mentoring support was not overly rigid or prescriptive.
• to allow for regular mentor check-ins with mentees to maintain focus and momentum, to check in on progress, as well as to identify any pressing issues or challenges (as tech companies were said to be looking to move quickly, make decisions, and get stuff done).
• to recognise that some mentees might require monthly (or less frequent) mentoring sessions while others might benefit from more frequent sessions and/or check-ins, or that some might benefit from more than a one-hour session.

“An hour a month is not enough if you are a serious business and far too much if you are just a person with an idea. There's no distinction between those two companies because they have been defined at a particular stage.”

“If there was more of a feedback loop between mentor and CodeBase, I think that would help — using the mentors experience more.”

“There is a real underswell of need for people that to get actionable advice.”

Mentors who responded to the survey reported that mentees have derived a range of personal and professional/business benefits and impacts from their involvement in the mentorship programme, see Table 5.3 and Table 5.4.

The main mentee benefits reported by mentors were:

• personal benefits:
• improved knowledge of startup and/or scale up fundamentals (91%).
• helps them to focus on key issues and prioritise actions/next steps (91%)
• being challenged in a supportive manner/environment (81%).
• business benefits:
• support with strategy development and implementation (90%).
• greater confidence in company resilience/sustainability (83%).
• enhanced investor readiness (71%).

Table 5.3: What do you consider the main personal benefits to mentees who are supported by the Techscaler mentor network?

Response	Number	Percentage
Improved knowledge of startup and/or scale up fundamentals	39	91%
Helps them to focus on key issues and prioritise actions/next steps	39	91%
Being challenged in a supportive manner/environment	35	81%
Increased confidence	34	79%
Access to an independent objective perspective on growth	33	77%
Improved mindset	31	72%
New relationships, contacts, and networks developed	29	67%
Increased motivation	21	49%
Higher quality pitches	20	47%
Other benefit	2	5%

Source: EKOS mentor online survey. Base=43.

Multiple response question where respondents could select more than one option and all that applied. Percentages may total more than 100% as a result.

Mentors also spoke of mentees having benefitted significantly from their extensive networks and from connections made, as well as from their ‘actionable advice’ and ‘tricks of the trade.’ These points are further reflected in the mentor quote below.

“You cannot buy that level of value. That doesn't come from a playbook. It comes from humans.”

Table 5.4: What do you consider the main business benefits to mentees who are supported by the Techscaler mentor network?

Response	Number	Percentage
Support with strategy development and implementation	38	90%
Greater confidence in company resilience/sustainability	35	83%
Enhanced investor readiness	30	71%
Improved understanding of ecosystem support	22	52%
Improved access to ecosystem support	18	43%
Funding raised/secured	17	40%
Increased number of funding deals completed	14	33%
Other benefit	8	19%

Source: EKOS mentor online survey. Base=42.

Multiple response question where respondents could select more than one option and all that applied. Percentages may total more than 100% as a result.

5.8 Additionality of the support

Circa half (47%) of mentors who responded to the survey reported that either all, almost all, or most of the benefits and impacts they reported above could be attributed to the Techscaler Programme mentor network.

5.9 Mentor benefits from involvement in the Techscaler Programme

Mentor benefits

Circa 90% of mentors who responded to the survey reported at least one personal or professional benefit as a direct result of being a Techscaler Programme mentor.

The main benefits reported through an open-ended survey question, were that mentors have:

• achieved a sense of satisfaction from helping to nurture and support startups and scaleups — from building trusted relationships and helping others to develop personally and professionally.
• achieved a sense of self-fulfilment from sharing their own knowledge and experiences with mentees — it was considered a rewarding thing to do.
• increased confidence among new mentors, as well as sharpened mentoring and interpersonal skills.
• strengthened their own knowledge — from connecting with their peers, sharing experiences, and learning from other Techscaler Programme mentors.
• been inspired and learned new things — including from listening to the different perspectives of their mentees.
• felt part of the wider tech ecosystem or community.
• further built upon and expanded their own professional network or enhanced their own profile.

“I love being part of the ecosystem and working with new founders and with scaling founders. I get a real sense of satisfaction.”

“Inspiration from every founder I meet. Huge satisfaction from helping achieve fundamental mindset changes and ‘light bulb’ moments.”

“I really enjoy working with the mentees. In almost all cases, they have challenges that I recognise (been there, made that mistake) and I can help. The feeling that I have relevance and can positively contribute to improving business outcomes in Scotland is very rewarding.”

“I enjoy working with a range of founders at different stages of their journey. It has grown my own confidence and ability to support leaders with a balance of asking questions and guiding them through key parts of the startup journey.”

“Increased professional network, improved awareness of the startups and wide range of products they have is very impressive. I personally enjoy talking to them and trying to help them think about something they might not of otherwise.”

Extent to which the mentorship programme has met mentors’ expectations of involvement

The vast majority (85%) of mentors who responded to the survey considered their involvement in the Techscaler mentorship programme has either met or exceeded their expectations. In further support of this positive rating, many mentors said that:

• they have been matched with a good range of interesting founders and companies who they have enjoyed working with and supporting.
• most mentees have been proactively engaged in the mentoring process and relationship.
• they have seen first-hand the positive and tangible impacts the mentoring support has had for some of their mentees — it has helped them to overcome challenges, progress in their career/journey, and helped to improve their businesses, products, market fit, etc.
• they attached value to being part of the Techscaler Programme and ‘community’ and have gained a lot from connecting with their peers/other mentors.

To what extent has the Techscaler mentorship programme met your expectations from becoming involved?

• It has exceeded my expectations (40%).
• It has met my expectations (45%).
• It has fallen short of my expectations (15%).

Source: EKOS mentor online survey. Base=42.

“This was the first programme I have been involved in and I wasn't sure of the impact I could have on the people involved. Having followed and supported businesses over many months now, I can see first-hand how they have progressed and how my mentorship has been key on their journey.”

“Techscaler is a fantastic programme, and the mentorship team are amazing. I just expected more frequent Techscaler mentoring sessions.”

Where involvement in the Techscaler mentorship programme has fallen short of mentors’ expectations the main points raised have been reflected in the sections above. This includes, for example, limited flexibility in the mentorship programme’s design and structure, inappropriate matches, feedback mechanisms and loops, etc.

Further, some mentors who took part in a follow-up interview felt that:

• there was a lack of meaningful metrics to monitor, evaluate and demonstrate the impact of the Techscaler mentoring programme — and that measures of success should go beyond capturing the number of mentors, the number of mentees, and the number of mentoring sessions delivered.
• Techscaler Programme processes and systems to capture and action insights and learning from mentors could be strengthened — including ‘founders or companies to watch’, lessons learned, areas for improvement, as well as ensuring stronger feedback loops with mentors more generally.

“There are no north star metrics. This is needed for everyone to understand and get behind.”

“Has this company made any progress in the last six months? Has this business shown signals of change in the last three months? Is this founder an exceptional person who is going to overcome the extreme chaos and difficulty of building a company?”

5.10 The role of failure in entrepreneurship

Mentors who took part in an interview often said failure was an important and integral part of the entrepreneurship journey — in that it could provide valuable lessons, build resilience, and pave the way for ultimate success. Some emphasised that whether failure was viewed in this way could, however, ‘depend on the founder, their background, their culture’, and that ‘in some places/countries entrepreneurship was seen as risky and failure frowned upon.’

“They'll jump back up, do something else and come back with something better.”

A mentor suggested that there could be a programme workshop on failure.

“Failure can be really important. And there is such a fear of it. My mentor once said to me, failure is the first attempt in learning. If you are not failing in life, you're not learning, you're not progressing. I have used failure to push myself, to learn something new.”

5.11 Mentor involvement in other aspects of the Techscaler Programme

A positive finding was that the majority (64%) of mentors who responded to the survey have been involved in other aspects of the Techscaler Programme over and above the mentorship programme.

Mentor survey feedback was largely positive, and wider programme involvement has ranged from mentors being a speaker or panellist at events (or similar) to running workshops as part of education courses and delivering workshops and webinars, and from running a pitch desk session to attending events and conferences.

The remainder of mentors (36%) who responded to the survey have not been involved in other aspects of the Techscaler Programme, and the main factors at play included that these mentors said they:

• faced time constraints which could affect their ability to be more involved in the wider Techscaler Programme effort.
• have not been approached by CodeBase and/or were not aware of opportunities to support other aspects of the Techscaler Programme.

5.12 Would mentors recommend the Techscaler mentorship programme

The Net Promoter Scores (NPS) relating to the mentorship programme are presented below.

• Mentors would recommend being a Techscaler mentor - NPS of 72 which is considered 'excellent'*
• Mentors would recommend being a Techscaler mentee - NPS of 46 which is considered 'great'*

Note *: A NPS of -100-0 (needs improvement), 1-29 (good); 30-69 (great); 70-100 (excellent). A detailed description of NPS is provided in Chapter 3.5.

5.13 Effectiveness of Techscaler Programme support

The mentor online survey asked mentors ‘How effective or otherwise do you think the Techscaler Programme support is for tech startups and scaleups?’.

Points to note from the survey feedback included that:

• a majority of mentors who responded to the survey considered the Techscaler Programme support effective for tech startups and scaleups — mentorship was considered the most effective support (100% rated it either ‘effective or ‘very effective’), followed by education courses (89%) and funding readiness support (89%).
• a majority of mentors who responded to the survey considered regional hubs and international programmes effective — however, 30% felt they were ‘average’ and a further 27% said they were ‘not effective’.

Wider qualitative feedback from mentors has been presented below. The following themes emerged but were not necessarily unanimous.

The accessibility of Techscaler Programme support to founders and their teams in Scotland was considered a key strength of the programme, and mentors said the programme appears to have engaged with a large number of individuals and businesses across different stages of development.

The overall concept and intention of the programme was considered good, for example, widening the funnel was also explicitly mentioned.

“The proposition is fantastic — it really puts Scotland on the map for entrepreneurship support.”

“Scotland has a great ecosystem for early stage founders. I think it's getting better for women, and I think it's getting better for people of colour.”

“I wish I'd had access to this when I was starting out.”

But there was also perception among some mentors that:

“Techscaler, which in my view, is now a generalist.”

Mentors said that helping founders to develop the necessary theory and basics of starting a business was vitally important for those at a very early-stage in their startup journey.

However, some considered theory/‘playbooks’ not the thing that would make the biggest difference to help accelerate the growth of startups or help Scotland have more growth and scaling businesses. There was also a perception that some founders might have accessed education courses simply to access the support they actually needed (mentoring) and suggested that different entry points into and through the Techscaler Programme could be helpful (see below).

While mentors agreed with the need for, and the original intent of, the Techscaler Programme they said that more focussed and targeted support alongside access to more practical advice and guidance from industry experts was needed to help achieve the best results/maximum impact — rather than a ‘one-size-fits all’ approach. These mentors emphasised the issues and challenges faced in practice were often very unique and specific to each founder’s business in support of this viewpoint. The new Catalyst Programme and Entrepreneurs in Residence (introduced in 2025) were considered helpful changes to the programme offer.

Mentors said that increased access to tailored one-to-one Techscaler Programme support for the ‘right’ people/founders/companies had the potential to add most value in the long-term as this would:

• connect founders to individuals who have direct experience of startup and scaleup — those who know the various issues, challenges, and pitfalls they might come up against, and who could provide practical advice, support, tools and tips to help them navigate challenges.
• ensure access to industry experts who could help founders/companies at the right time — and which recognised the fast-paced nature of growing and scaling companies.

Mentors felt that CodeBase could be more sophisticated in its approach to defining and segmenting businesses by stage — and that this could recognise two businesses of a similar size and scale could be totally different, operate in different markets, have different customer types, and face very different problems — and so should not be treated the same. Indeed, some felt the revised approach to defining business stage was ‘poorly defined’.

“You can have great companies pre revenue, you can have companies that have no revenue but have raised significant amounts of money, you can have companies that have raised money in the wrong way”.

Mentors said that the Techscaler Programme felt overly bureaucratic, structured or rigid at times — and that it could benefit from having greater flexibility in delivery as well as different entry points for individuals and companies. The point made was that not all founders need the same support at the same time.

“Two companies at the same stage might have very different needs, and some founders spend and waste time learning things that they may already know and do not need.”

Further, some mentors felt that CodeBase could do more to proactively engage and connect with funders and investors, including angel and investor networks in Scotland — suggestions included arranging more opportunities for funders and investors to be in the same room as founders/companies.

Feedback on the international programmes included that mentors were not always clear on how the application or assessment process worked in practice, and that there could be value in seeking mentor/others input (from those who have been there and done it) to these processes to ensure that founders/ companies who would benefit the most were proactively targeted for involvement.

Mentors mentioned the Techscaler physical hubs have perhaps not created the ‘buzz/community’ throughout Scotland as anticipated at the outset — some questioned the continued relevance of the current approach.

Finally, mentors suggested that CodeBase could explore ways to improve its reporting on the impact attributable to the Techscaler Programme as a whole going forward — and that it would be important to measure the right kind of things.