---
title: 'Arguably the most important skill for mentors? Empathy'
date: '2019-02-07T07:20:11-08:00'
type: post
word_count: 264
char_count: 1878
tokens: 344
categories:
  - Mentoring
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - 'brad feld'
  - empathy
  - 'foundry group'
  - mentoring
  - mentors
  - Startups
  - techstars
---

# Arguably the most important skill for mentors? Empathy

I’m lucky that I get the opportunity to sit at [the nexus of passionate founders building early stage companies and the community of mentors who wants to support and bolster those founders](https://piepdx.com "PIE") as they strive to build the next great Portland company. While we all recognize that [building a startup is ridiculously difficult](https://siliconflorist.com/2019/02/05/dear-startup-founder-are-you-taking-care-of-yourself-what-about-your-mental-and-behavioral-health/ "Dear startup founder, Are you taking care of yourself? What about your mental and behavioral health?"), sometimes we forget that founders are suffering from any number of stressors and pressures, despite the stiff upper lip they project.

That’s why I loved [this reminder to mentors from Brad Feld of Foundry Group and Techstars](https://medium.com/@bfeld/mentors-18-18-have-empathy-remember-that-startups-are-hard-bcbf8fb9177f "Mentors 18/18: Have Empathy. Remember That Startups Are Hard").

> I want you to replay your joy and fears again for a moment. Having empathy requires you to feel what the other person is going through. To put yourselves in their shoes and feel their fear. And to not immediately try to fix it. Remembering your own hopes and fears will help you have empathy. And this is critical as a mentor because startups are extremely hard.

For more guidance on being an empathetic mentor, read [Mentors 18/18: Have Empathy. Remember That Startups Are Hard. For more insights and mentoring on mentoring, read the whole ](https://medium.com/@bfeld/mentors-18-18-have-empathy-remember-that-startups-are-hard-bcbf8fb9177f "Mentors 18/18: Have Empathy. Remember That Startups Are Hard")[Techstars Mentor Manifesto](https://feld.com/archives/2018/01/techstars-mentor-manifesto-detail.html "Techstars Mentor Manifesto").