Being a startup advisor or mentor doesn't require knowing all of the secrets to building a unicorn. If you know enough to prevent a founder from making a bad sales hire, spending boatloads of cash on unnecessary legal work, or choosing the wrong technology tools, then you should become a mentor - and I'll tell you how, as someone who has mentored more than two dozen startups.

But first, why become a mentor? Working with early stage founders has allowed me to meet and learn from world-class founders and investors, get a lot of personal fulfillment from seeing founders achieve their goals, and even earn extra income as a consultant.

Unfortunately, even with all of these benefits many people still don't become mentors! Let's take a look at the top reasons why.

You think you don't know enough.

Beyond that, I've heard that becoming a mentor is hard because:

• You don't know where to meet founders

• You don't know how to help founders you do meet

• You don't know how to structure your work with companies

• You don't understand how mentorship can lead to consulting

Despite these common problems, I have good news - since I've overcome each of these problems, I'm going to help you do so too!

Here's how, step by step:

Step 1: Identify the combination of things you enjoy doing professionally with things others find valuable

Since you'll be volunteering in your spare time, it's important for you to enjoy what you do, as well as add value as a mentor.

So, if you're a spreadsheet nerd and enjoy building financial models, you could help a founder make her projections ahead of a fundraise. Or, if you're a design geek, you could help to polish a web or mobile app. You can also help a founder run their first recruiting process with a background in people operations, or land their first customers using your sales and marketing experience!

Step 2: Find local events or organized programs.

Many people think the best way to become an advisor is through hard work or good luck - messaging a lot of founders, or waiting for someone to reach out to you. But there's a much easier way!

I recommend asking the organizers of day or weekend-long startup events if you can help out. When I first started in 2015, I participated, volunteered, and then mentored at Techstars' Startup Weekend, a 3-day event designed to help people start companies, as well as Mount Sinai's Healthcare Hackathon and MIT's Hacking Medicine. Since then, I've mentored for the Techstars NYC and LA cohorts, as well as WeWork Ready to Raise. Both of these are months-long programs where you get a chance to meet with multiple companies and work with founders on a longer-term basis.

Step 3: Add value such that founders want to work with you beyond the length of the event or program.

Whether you worked with a founder for a day, weekend, or months-long program, your goal is to get down to the nitty gritty of specific challenges and opportunities in their life and see how you can help - that could mean working in the weeds on a plan or spreadsheet, making introductions to people who might have answers, or simply being a supportive ear as they talk through possible solutions.

After that, ask them if they'd like to continue working together! I generally like to have worked with a founder for somewhere between two and four meetings beyond a formal program before asking to formalize the relationship with an advisory agreement that entails equity or cash compensation. In those two to four weeks, I check to see that I can actually add value by doing work or making introductions. That helps the founder get comfortable with making you the goal of this essay - a startup mentor!