Mikhail Sidakov – Meet the Mentor

Why did you decide to become a mentor?

My first mentorship experience came in 2022, when Techstars invited me to Deep Tech Momentum. It was a turning point - I realized how fulfilling it is to help early-stage founders with validation, pitching, and fundraising. What excited me most was the two-way learning: while I supported founders with their challenges, I also absorbed new perspectives, trends, and technologies from them. Mentorship, for me, is not just about giving back but also about continuous self-development. It allows me to stay close to innovation while sharpening my own knowledge and mindset.

How did you get your career start?

After completing my Master’s degree, I started with internships at Robert Bosch and Renault in their marketing departments. These early roles gave me exposure to customer-oriented product work and the dynamics of large corporate environments. I then joined Hyundai Motor as an analyst in the sales department, where I focused on market intelligence, competitor tracking, and executive reporting. This gave me a practical foundation in data-driven decision-making and international business operations. After Hyundai, I moved into consulting with BCG, where I spent over five years working on strategy and transformation projects, primarily within the industrial goods practice, with a particular focus on the automotive and mobility sectors. Eventually, I transitioned into entrepreneurship and launched two startups — one operated successfully for seven years before being sold to a strategic investor, while the other, an entertainment app, ultimately failed but provided a very valuable learning experience. I raised funding for this app from a venture studio and participated in Snapchat Bootcamp and Accelerator. In 2022, after these founder experiences, I participated in the Antler program in the Netherlands, where I was selected as one of 60 participants out of more than 2,000 applicants. Our project with the co-founder became a Top-5 startup within the AMS5 cohort, and we pitched to three VCs.

What do mentees usually come to you for?

Most of my mentees are professionals who want to make the jump from a corporate career to launching their first startup. They often come to me with questions about how to validate hypotheses, where to start with customer acquisition, and what the next steps look like on the founder journey. Others are existing founders who want to dive deeper into fundraising, investor expectations, pitching, and pitch deck preparation. I try to adapt to each mentee’s needs: sometimes it’s about reshaping a hypothesis, sometimes it’s about mindset and confidence, and sometimes it’s very practical - like preparing for investor meetings.

What's been your favourite mentorship success story so far?

One of my favourite success stories was working with Lidiia, who came from a corporate background and wanted to take her first steps into entrepreneurship. We started with the basics of venture building and lean startup methodology, focusing on how to validate and test hypotheses without overcommitting resources. I connected her with the ex-CTO of a similar startup, which gave her valuable, first-hand insight into the challenges ahead. Together, we refined her competitor analysis, business model, and approach to investor expectations - from understanding what traction signals matter to crafting a compelling value proposition. Seeing her progress from an idea to a clearer, structured startup journey, while building confidence in talking to investors and stakeholders, was one of the most rewarding outcomes of my mentorship experience so far.

What are you getting out of being a mentor?

Mentorship is one of the most enriching parts of my professional journey. It helps me stay at the cutting edge of innovation by exposing me to new ideas, technologies, and industries through the eyes of ambitious founders. It also sharpens my ability to explain complex concepts simply and builds empathy - qualities that are invaluable not only as a mentor but also in my corporate innovation role and in my work as a venture scout. What I particularly enjoy is sharing my own learnings from career transitions and building startups, especially by helping founders avoid the critical mistakes I made in the past. Turning those lessons into guidance for others feels both rewarding and impactful. Most importantly, mentorship reinforces the sense of community in the startup ecosystem - I believe that when founders and mentors share openly, everyone benefits.