Product
Get 1:1 advice from experienced product managers and software developers.
Bryan Wilcox
Co-founder & CTO – Tovala, Y Combinator Alum
Bryan Wilcox is a co-founder and the former CTO of Tovala, a food-tech company that saves people time with a smart oven and paired meal service. Tovala has raised $70M in venture funding from Y Combinator, Comcast Ventures, Interplay, Origin Ventures and Left Lane Capital. Prior to Tovala,...read more
$125 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Tim Specht
Co-founder & CTO – Dubsmash, Consumer & Social Expert
Tim Specht is the Director of Engineering at Reddit and the Co-founder and CTO of Dubsmash, a TikTok competitor that he successfully started, grew, and sold with over 250M installs and 160M users. Specht has spent over a decade working with startups across the US & Europe, helping them exe...read more
$175 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Rogelio Choy
CEO - Cars & Bids, Former CEO - Eaze
Rogelio "Ro" Choy is the CEO of Cars & Bids, . Previously he was the CEO of Eaze from 2019 to 2022, a cannabis-focused on-demand marketplace, where he led it's growth from less than $2OM to $2OOM+ in revenue. Prior to Eaze Ro was the CEO of BitTorrent (acquired by TRON blockchain), CBO of ...read more
$250 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Sam Hodges
Founder – Vouch, InsurTech Expert
Sam Hodges is the co-founder and CEO of Vouch, a venture-backed commercial insurance business focused on serving the needs of high-growth companies. Previously, Sam served as co-founder and U.S. Managing Director for Funding Circle, a leading global lending platform for small businesses, w...read more
$350 / 30 mins
Available next Wednesday
Christian Busch
Mentor - Stanford GSB, Zero to One Expert
Chris is an expert in taking startup ideas from zero to one and in turning around underperforming corporate innovation teams. He has built product portfolios and SaaS platforms generating $750M ARR across disparate industries and technologies including AI/ML in Health Care, NLP, IoT and vi...read more
$175 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
T Zhu
Co-founder & CEO – Tellus, Fintech & Proptech Expert
T Zhu is the co-founder of Tellus, a smart savings platform powered by real estate backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Alumni Ventures and Decent Capital. He previously founded and scaled a number of companies, including Sodacan, a social consumer mobile app startup that released Sip, an anonym...read more
$125 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Praful Mathur
Founder & CEO – Sarama, Y Combinator Alum
Praful Mathur is the founder and CEO of Sarama, a deeptech startup that uses AI to determine intent from barks i.e. crude translation. He was previously the co-founder and CEO of Shotput, a Y Combinator-backed startup that built APIs for instant logistics. He raised capital from Nexus Ven...read more
$225 / 30 mins
Available on Friday
Panos Papadiamantis
Co-founder & CPO – PNOĒ, Hardware & Medtech Expert
Panos Papadiamantis is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of PNOĒ, a medical equipment manufacturing which enables health professionals to provide science-backed nutrition and training through breath analysis. PNOĒ has raised over $10M in venture capital from Y Combinator, Fifty Year...read more
$125 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Cristian Raygoza
Partner - Iluminar Ventures, Syndicate Expert
Cristian is Founding Partner of Iluminar Ventures, a Seed fund investing in LatAm with 35 investments in fintech, marketplaces, SaaS and supply chain. He's a Venture Partner at Gaingels, where he led the firm's Research team. Cristian founded TrueColors LatAm, the first non-profit for LGBT...read more
$225 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Lisa Curtis
Founder & CEO – Kuli Kuli, Forbes 30 Under 30
Lisa Curtis is the founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli, the leading brand pioneering the superfood moringa in the US market. She began working on Kuli Kuli while in the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa. As a volunteer in her village’s health center, she gained an understanding of nutritional cha...read more
$175 / 30 mins
Available on Friday
Omer Gotlieb
Co-founder – Totango, Enterprise SaaS Expert
Omer Gotlieb is the co-founder of Totango, a customer success software company that assists businesses in monitoring, tracking, and optimizing every stage of the customer journey. He is an experienced software R&D leader with a track record of leading the development of complex enterprise ...read more
$125 / 30 mins
Available on Friday
Carlos Camara
CEO – Metagreen Ventures, Scientist & Inventor
Carlos Camara is a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur. He has a Ph.D. in high energy density physics from UCLA and has extensive experience with R&D, technology transfer, and licensing of intellectual property. Co-inventor of a revolutionary new X-ray source, Carlos started a company to...read more
$225 / 30 mins
Available on Friday
Ilya Usorov
Co-Founder & CTO – BoldVoice, Y Combinator Alum
Ilya Usorov is the co-founder and CTO of BoldVoice, a Y Combinator-backed startup that provides accent training to non-native English speakers. He has eight years of software development experience, specializing in React Native mobile apps for iOS and Android, as well as practical knowledg...read more
$125 / 30 mins
Available next Monday
Charlie Depman
Co-founder & CTO – RidePanda, Mobility Expert
Charlie Depman is the co-founder and CTO of Ridepanda, a climate-tech mobility benefits platform that helps employers like Amazon reduce Scope 3 CO2 emissions, meet clean air mandates, offer their employees flexible commute options, reduce costs, and retain talent. He has over 8 years of e...read more
$100 / 30 mins
Available tomorrow
Erik Shani
Co-founder & CPO - Fyllo, Growth & GTM Expert
Erik Shani is the Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Fyllo. He's a 25 year veteran in the tech startup ecosystem with experience in multiple verticals (telecom, adtech, insurtech, and cannabis to name a few), across multiple regions (North America, EMEA, APAC), and business models. He...read more
$125 / 30 mins
Available on Thursday
What Is Product Development?
Every startup is based on an innovative idea for a new product or service. Product development encompasses the entire journey of designing and building these new products and services, from initial ideation to product launch. The new product development process can take many forms, including physical product development as well as digital product development for products like consumer apps or enterprise software systems.
To navigate the complex journey of product development in startups, founders often seek the guidance of product development mentors who can offer insight and feedback to steer them in the right direction. Product mentors use their expertise to help startup founders get the product development process right at each and every stage of the journey.
What Are the Stages of the Product Development Lifecycle?
The entire product development lifecycle can be mapped out in a sequence of steps. These established product development stages provide a convenient framework for startup founders to follow.
- Ideation - Co-founders collaborate on idea generation to identify potential opportunities, assess market demand, and brainstorm product ideas.
- Validation - Product development research is conducted and feedback from target users is gathered to establish product-market fit and learn more about the product’s odds of success in the market.
- Prototyping - A simple version of the product is built to test features and user experience, identify flaws, and secure investor buy-in.
- Marketing - A marketing strategy is planned and marketing materials are designed to create awareness and generate interest in the product.
- Development - A market-ready version of the product is completed and able to be produced, sold, and supported at scale.
- Launch - The product is introduced to the market, and focus shifts toward generating sales and gaining traction.
- Improvement - Performance metrics are monitored and user feedback is collected, both of which are used to make iterative improvements to the product.
What Can a Product Development Mentor Do for You?
A mentor can act as an experienced product development consultant who offers their support and guidance throughout each stage of the product roadmap. Product mentors have years of experience creating and launching successful products, and their expertise can help you make better decisions and avoid common obstacles.
Specifically, a product development advisor can help you:
- Define your vision for your startup’s product
- Plan an effective product development strategy
- Conduct insightful market research and analysis
- Make informed decisions regarding product pricing and positioning
Product development teams at startups are often very small, and your startup may lack the in-house resources or skills to complete the entire product development lifecycle without help. A mentor can guide you as you explore outsourced product development options, ensuring you find the best partners to fill essential product development roles and help you turn your product idea into a reality.
A product development mentor from Mentorcam can play a major part in guiding your decisions throughout the product development process. Each of our product mentors comes from an impressive background in product design and development and brings years of practical experience to the table, so you can feel confident that there’s no one better to show you how to develop a product.