CoSTAR Network Mentor application guidelines

Mentors will come from diverse backgrounds, offering a wide range of experience and perspectives. All mentors must have: 

• An understanding the creative landscape: Having a solid understanding of the creative industries, including trends, challenges, and opportunities.  

• Practical Experience: Drawing on their own experiences and knowledge to provide valuable guidance and advice.  

We are looking for mentors with skills in a minimum of one of the skills and experience areas outlined below: 

• Experience as a business operator, either with successes or failures, participants can learn from that experience, who understands the growing challenges SMEs face in the creative sector and can support strategic growth plan development. 

• Business leadership including communication, delegation, and decision-making, problem solving, risk taking, building strong teams. 

• Market and opportunity Identification, developing strategies to enter new markets with an understanding of the sales, marketing and distribution plans needed to reach audiences, users and customers. 

• Funding, finance and investment professionals with operational experience of securing finance at the key stages of company growth. 

• Managing creative IP and the commercialisation models to realise success, including distribution models and future sales and revenue generation. 

• Specialists with oversight of regulation, standards, data & ethics frameworks. 

• Creative and technology skills (someone who is either creative or technology focused) who understands the technology stacks, tools and software deployed in industry from a creative and technical perspective in frontier technologies. 

• Social Impact mentors to support equitable opportunities for growth, inform the development of sustainable and scalable business solutions, provide advice and guidance, connect with resources, toolkits to embed best practice in diversity, inclusion and sustainability. 

CoSTAR Network Mentors will be promoted on public facing communications and in call publications, as being industry experts, leaders and specialists on CoSTAR industry Access Programmes. 

• Mentors will receive a summary of the skills and expertise gaps that have been identified in the company and that they are looking to build on the programme.  

• The Mentor will coach, challenge and support participants, but responsibility for implementation for the business rests solely with the Mentee. 

• Mentors typically operate during the working day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm, but the amount of time, location and duration is at their discretion. Meetings would typically take an hour and depending on the type of input the participant needs. 

• The mentoring relationship should be directly between the mentee and mentor. We want to empower the mentees to value their mentor relationship, sharing the responsibility of organising the mentoring sessions at the convenience for both them and their mentor. This relates to when/ where/ how mentoring discussions take place, online or in person. We can provide space in London/ Egham/ network labs where applicable for in-person mentorship. But this should only be at the request and convenience of the mentors and their relevant SME mentee. 

• During programme delivery, it is important to be monitoring the effectiveness of the mentors and their respective SME.   

• There will be a mandatory monthly ‘check in’ for all mentors to attend. This will enable us to understand any challenges that their respective SMEs are facing.  

• Mentors will provide an end of programme short summary of feedback for participants including any guidance, links, introductions, follow ups agreed and suggestions for next steps and priorities for the company going forward.  

• Mentees will provide feedback on their mentorship journey and experience in the end of programme evaluation. 

• All mentors must have a UTR number or work through a limited company. 

•  The CoSTAR EDI framework measures our success against the annual EDI Action Plan. One of the goals of that framework is to develop a CoSTAR infrastructure which is fit for a future creative industry that values diversity and inclusion for its commercial and societal value.  Therefore, Enterprise & Commercialisation programmes will monitor diversity across its range of participants, external experts and mentors we engage for delivery. All mentors are expected to bring an open and inclusive approach to their mentorship and a strong interest and background in supporting ethical and sustainable growth 

• Be encouraging and honest and meaningful in how you mentor. 

• Challenge the participant, when it is appropriate to do so. 

• Check in.  Do not always rely on the participant to come to you as they will get busy with other programme deliverables or may try to avoid difficult conversations. 

• If there is a lack of engagement, please let the programme leads know. 

• It is of paramount importance that the Mentor should not disclose any sensitive information obtained through the mentoring relationship. Mentor contracts stipulate the data protection obligations of the Mentors to preserve confidentiality and protect information. 

The CoSTAR National Lab  

The CoSTAR National Lab is the central hub of the CoSTAR Network that combines state-of-the-art facilities, technology research and an exciting series of industry and academic partnerships to fuel creative industries growth across the UK.   

The CoSTAR National Lab runs two Access Programmes for UK companies and partners to access the infrastructure and expertise of the entire CoSTAR network: the Enterprise and Commercialisation Programme and the Prototypes and Pilots Programme. Each programme will offer unique and focused development opportunities on behalf of the  CoSTAR Network throughout the year. 

Introduction to CoSTAR E&C  

CoSTAR Enterprise and Commercialisation enables the growth of highly capable, inclusive, and sustainable creative technology businesses.  E&C programmes have been designed to lower the barrier to entry and build capacity and the right capabilities in businesses through targeted support for IP and enterprise innovation and development.  

Programmes take the shape of 6-month incubation models, 3-month acceleration models, online short intensive deep dives and workshops and 1-2-1 bespoke support. 

Our CoSTAR E&C Objectives are to:  

• Identify, support, and catalyse high value early-stage innovation through market validation and exploration.  Ensure high potential research does not get left on the bench.  

• Incubate and support ‘high potential’ new IP, software, tools, and services, building robust, scalable, sustainable, and inclusive business from the ground up. Build on the right foundations.  

• Accelerate capacity and capabilities in UK businesses that have the potential to scale innovative creative or technical solutions globally. Building competitive advantage in an emerging market.  

• Unlock investment into new IP and the capital required for sustainable growth. Support long term business expansion.  

• Scale up high potential creative enterprises, with a focus on international distribution opportunities and building international markets.  Seed opportunities in international markets.  

• Connect our CoSTAR enterprises with the best tech and creative executive mentors, investment expertise to deliver world leading creative technology IP, content, products, and services. Create the right relationships to broker success.  

• Build strategic networks that ensure CoSTAR is at the forefront of global research and industry developments Stimulate wider innovation in the sector.  

An early diagnostic session with each company, before they start on a programme, will determine their exact mentorship needs and mentorship will be aligned accordingly on a programme-by-programme basis.