MentorCruise
4.97/5 across MentorCruise
Trusted by 10,000+ mentees

A mentor who actually stays in your corner.

Work 1:1 with Anton Kazakov, a Director of Engineering at casavi, ex-Canonical. Weekly interview reps and real loop prep – mentees who put in the work are usually running real loops at their target companies in 3–6 months.

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Your mentor
Anton Kazakov

Anton Kazakov

Director of Engineering
casavi, ex-Canonical

Helps mentees with

Engineering Leadership Technical Leadership Career Growth Scaling Teams Growth Strategy Public Speaking

5.0

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Meet your mentor

A 60-second intro from Anton.

Why mentees come here

What people actually work on with Anton.

Most mentees arrive with one of these goals. If you see yourself in the list, you are in the right place.

  • Land a role at FAANG or top tech

    Prep the full loop – system design, behavioural, negotiation. You want a mentor who has actually hired at the bar you are targeting, and you want weekly reps, not a one-off mock.

  • Level up in your current role

    Mid to senior, senior to staff, IC to manager – or deciding which of those paths is even right. Someone a couple of steps ahead points out what actually moves the needle vs. busywork that doesn't.

  • Make a career switch without starting from zero

    Change domains and find the angle where your existing skills are the differentiator, not the obstacle. Works with hard constraints too – "not sales", "not freelance", "not management".

  • Land your first engineering role

    Break in without the traditional CV. Portfolio, story, outreach and screens – all the things that get skipped in courses but decide whether you get the offer.

  • Ship a side project or indie launch

    Get a real project shipped instead of stuck in setup-mode. Scope, pricing, positioning, the unglamorous middle months – get pushed through them by someone who has already been.

  • Scale your engineering org past the founder-as-bottleneck stage

    For tech founders and engineering leaders past traction – hire the senior team, fix the ops, stop being the person every decision routes through.

Not quite your situation? Mention what you are working on in your intro and Anton will tell you if they are the right fit – or point you to someone who is.

Why pay for this

Yes, there are free options. Here's the honest difference.

Most of what you'd pay Anton for is the parts the free options don't do – context that builds week over week, and someone who actually pushes back when you're about to do the wrong thing.

vs. YouTube + courses

Great when you don't know what you don't know. Useless once your blocker is specific to your situation – and the answer to "what should I do next" is whichever video the algorithm serves you.

vs. ChatGPT

Endlessly patient, instantly available, and will never tell you the plan you just shared is bad. Anton will. That feedback is most of what you came for.

vs. one-off coaching calls

Fine for a single decision. Less great when the work is iterative – every call resets, your coach re-learns who you are, and the accountability disappears the second the call ends.

vs. volunteer mentors

Good for one introductory chat. Hard to ask a volunteer to keep showing up for you every week, review your work, and hold you accountable for months. Paid mentorship is for that.

vs. asking friends

Friends are kind. Anton is honest because that's the job. The unblocked version of you a few months from now is mostly built on feedback that wasn't comfortable to hear.

vs. doing it alone

Possible, but the failure mode is silent: you drift, you avoid the hard parts, you don't know which feedback to trust. Most of what mentorship gives you is the part that prevents the year you wasted figuring this out yourself.

What you actually get

Goals in months, not years.

Mentor vetting, cadence, and accountability are the parts long-term progress quietly depends on – and the parts the free options don't do.

Top 5% mentors, hand-picked

We interview every mentor personally. You work with someone already doing the thing you want to do.

Recurring 1:1 sessions with context

Anton keeps the long-term context on your goals, work, and career. Every session is sharper than the last – no re-explaining yourself, no starting from scratch.

Async support between sessions

Message Anton directly when questions come up. Tighter feedback loops mean faster progress, not a week-long wait for the next call.

Structured, goal-aligned plan

Weekly targets you work on together. Built-in accountability keeps you from drifting – the thing most self-learners quietly lose to.

Mentee outcomes

From engineers, PMs, designers and founders who stuck with it.

Every review comes from someone who paid for mentorship on MentorCruise and wrote about the experience afterwards. No incentives, no editing.

More mentees from across MentorCruise

Reviews from other MentorCruise mentees about their own mentors.

“Leoson is an excellent data science coach who helped me significantly with my project building and preparation for Python and SQL interviews. He explains concepts clearly and focuses on practical, real-world application…” “Leoson is an excellent data science coach who helped me significantly with my project building and preparation for Python and SQL interviews. He explains concepts clearly and focuses on practical, real-world application rather than just theory. His guidance made complex topics much easier to understand and apply in coding and interview scenarios. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to strengthen their data science and technical interview skills.”

— Monica, mentee for 11 months

“I cannot recommend Tosh highly enough. As someone stepping into a new role as a Technical Partner Manager, working with him has been genuinely transformative. First, the generosity he brings to every session is remar…” “I cannot recommend Tosh highly enough. As someone stepping into a new role as a Technical Partner Manager, working with him has been genuinely transformative. First, the generosity he brings to every session is remarkable. We consistently run over time, and it's always because he's making sure I leave with everything I need — asking follow-up questions, giving thorough answers, and checking in to make sure nothing is left unaddressed. That kind of investment in a mentee is rare. But what's really set Tosh apart is how fundamentally he's helped me reframe how I see my role. I came in thinking of myself as a Sales Engineer supporting a Partnerships team. Through our conversations, I've completely shifted that mindset — I now think of myself as a connector and relationship-builder whose job is to help our partnership organization scale from a technical perspective. That sounds like a subtle shift, but it's changed everything about how I show up at work. The results speak for themselves: I've taken on significantly more responsibility, I've become much more vocal about how I want to define my role and what I believe matters, and I've set — and achieved — entirely new kinds of goals. I'm more confident, more strategic, and more effective than I was before we started working together. Tosh is an exceptional mentor — brilliant, warm, easy to talk to, and clearly invested in your growth. If you get the chance to work with him, take it without hesitation.”

— Greg, mentee for 1 month

“Working with Kaan is one of the best decisions I've made for how I sell. Every time I bring him a problem, he has a clear, practical answer, and he keeps me honest about doing the work between sessions. What surprised m…” “Working with Kaan is one of the best decisions I've made for how I sell. Every time I bring him a problem, he has a clear, practical answer, and he keeps me honest about doing the work between sessions. What surprised me was how much he tailors the advice to me. He read my situation, my strengths, and what actually motivates me, and built the approach around that. He also pushed me toward outreach I'd never have tried on my own, like handwritten letters, and it worked. If you want a mentor who gives you real tactics and holds you to them, I recommend him without hesitation.”

— Alex, mentee for 1 month

“Carolina helped me build the foundations of my project and made the entire process feel much more manageable at a time when it initially felt overwhelming. Her guidance gave me clarity and direction, and she consistentl…” “Carolina helped me build the foundations of my project and made the entire process feel much more manageable at a time when it initially felt overwhelming. Her guidance gave me clarity and direction, and she consistently encouraged me to think more deeply before taking the next step rather than rushing into decisions without a clear plan. Beyond being an excellent mentor, Carolina was also my first introduction to this environment and way of working. I genuinely looked forward to our meetings, which often felt like friendly conversations about both challenges and opportunities ahead. She created a space where I felt comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, and exploring different perspectives. On a personal level, her encouragement and supportive words meant a great deal to me throughout the journey. She had a unique ability to keep me grounded while still motivating me to move forward with confidence. I'm incredibly grateful for her guidance, patience, and kindness, and I would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone looking for a thoughtful and supportive mentor. Thank you Carolina once again :)”

— Anita, mentee for 8 months

“David is way beyond what i can call a great mentor. he is literally the best person i've meet this year. David is not just teaching me but putting my life and career path in order. God bless the day i met him. I don'…” “David is way beyond what i can call a great mentor. he is literally the best person i've meet this year. David is not just teaching me but putting my life and career path in order. God bless the day i met him. I don't ever want to be separated from him as my mentor. He is providing me knowledge and materials i can't gain from from anywhere else. He really is that guy ! ”

— Olumide, mentee for 1 month

“When I started my own fractional product business, I had twelve years of experience leading product at major tech companies, but running my own practice was a different challenge entirely. I'd landed my first clients an…” “When I started my own fractional product business, I had twelve years of experience leading product at major tech companies, but running my own practice was a different challenge entirely. I'd landed my first clients and suddenly needed hands-on, one-on-one support that was equal parts tactical, strategic, and business-building. That's exactly what I found in Renee. What sets Renee apart is her range. In a single seventy-minute session she can move from helping me frame client expectations, to working through go-to-market strategy, to getting into the technical weeds of building out a seed-stage B2B SaaS company. I've worked with coaches who are strong on strategy but vague on execution, or sharp on tactics but unable to zoom out. Renee does both fluently, and she shifts between them exactly when I need her to. That strategic-to-technical versatility has been the most valuable thing she's given me. Just as important is who she is. Renee is warm, easy to talk to, and genuinely personal. Our sessions never feel transactional. They feel like working through hard problems with someone who's fully in your corner. After a month of meeting weekly, I'm consistently surprised by how much ground we cover and how much clearer I feel afterward. If you're building something on your own and need a mentor who can meet you wherever the problem lives, whether strategy, tactics, technical, or the messy reality of running a business, I can't recommend Renee enough.”

— Alicia, mentee for 1 month

Trusted by thousands of mentees since 2018.

How we'd work together

Try free for 7 days. Decide after.

One simple plan. Try the full experience for 7 days. Cancel before day 8 and pay nothing.

Most chosen

Standard

Best suited to address complex topics at a good pace: leadership upskilling, career planning, etc.

What's included

  • 2× 1:1 video calls/mo with Anton (60 min)
  • Unlimited chat (<48h response)
  • Hands-on review of your real work
  • Weekly goals tracked together
  • Month-to-month, cancel any time
Try free for 7 days

Anton walks you through the plan that fits your goals once you start. No card required up front – cancel any time during your 7-day trial and pay nothing.

Questions

What you're probably wondering.

Still unsure? Email [email protected] and we'll personally walk you through it.

Your move

Get a mentor in your corner.

Try mentorship with Anton free for 7 days. No credit card required, cancel any time.

Try free for 7 days

7-day free trial · No credit card required · Cancel any time

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