I have always believed in mentoring. Having experienced it first hand when I was at Goldman Sachs in the private wealth management team, they have a brilliant internal mentoring programme and I had an incredibly senior partner who mentored me one-to-one for three hours every month. We set a goal in the first session which was a financial goal for me to achieve within my business and he helped me hugely in achieving it within a six month period. I also had him to ask any questions I wanted and it was the highlight of my month! I set up Rockstar in 2007 because I believed there was a market for such structured mentoring by similar high profile entrepreneurs. Seven years on, we are still here and growing faster than ever.
Well, the idea for the company name came about as I used to be the lead singer of a rock band for three years in my early 20s and knowing my chance of becoming the next Jon Bon Jovi were slim, I thought I could use it in another way! When I did research on the name, I read somewhere that the word ranked in third as the most "memorable and drawing words to us in a positive sense!" I can't remember where that survey came from but it was good enough for me! Good news is it has worked! It certainly is a memorable brand! The other day we had a client call us up and say "I saw you speak at an event five years ago, I wasn't ready then for a mentor, but I am now."
Why would a company want to tie up with Rockstar Hubs ?
Rockstar Hubs is our latest venture within the Rockstar Mentoring Group. It is a state of the art co-working space in the city of London that has in it every element that growing companies need to be even more successful. It is for existing mentees' businesses, companies that we have personally invested in and, of course, new companies who want to run their businesses daily being surrounded by some of our big name mentors whom they can ask for sessions whenever they wish.
What are the benefits and does a potential client need to be a certain size?
An ideal client for the hub is a team of 1-10 people within a company, who need a base to run their company from but also like what is on offer for them on a daily basis that they can tap into as much or as little as they like. Some of the key benefits are: top in-house mentoring (one-to-one and group sessions) by over 16 different in house mentors, free meeting room space, their own receptionist, in-house marketing and sales teams to help their companies, in-house book keeping plus a lot more, including the ability to feature on a Sky television programme and promote their business to over half a million people.
What are the key steps in a client/Rockstar Hub relationship?
The first step for the client is to book in a time to come and visit the hub and have an initial mentoring session with one of the in-house team. If they then wish to come on board, they choose their work station and commit to either a three-month or six-month programme within the hub (which they can of course renew but we wanted to give the client flexibility). Once they are in, we introduce them to all others in the hub and add their email to our regular correspondence telling them of the weekly activities and who the mentors are each week to book sessions in advance. We would also encourage them to attend their first "Rockstar Thursday" which is informal drinks hosted by me and the team at a different bar around the Hub's city location in the evening.
Can you arrange funding or does the group invest directly in the client's business?
Yes we do invest in businesses and there are already such companies who are based in the hub. We plan for that number to increase this year. The companies we invest in are typically online service based businesses run by great people and who have already achieved proof of concept. They are mentees who have been in the hub for at least three months and are seeing the value in growing their business with our support. Our minimum investment is £100k up to £400k for first round funding.
How do you manage to make such heavyweight mentors available to your client base?
At first it was through the right type of advertising and connecting with the right people. Our mentors are our biggest asset and we therefore do all we can to keep them content by offering a steady flow of relevant and fun businesses for them to work with as a mentor. As the years have gone on, most of our mentors these days were brought through by existing mentors which is great to see.
A word on costs?
The costs for a rockstar mentor start from only £197 and full-time places in the hub can start from only £600 per month.
How do you see Rockstar Hubs developing over the next five years?
If we can get it right and carve out our niche in this market, ideally we would like to purchase another two hubs in London before expanding to other parts of the UK. At a portfolio of five, we would be keen to float the business. All of that to take place within a five-year period. But for now our focus is our clients in the first Rockstar Hub. Get their businesses growing faster and the rest should take care of itself!
For further information visit www.rockstarhubs.com
