Get career guidance from someone who has made the move
Vetted GrowthMentor mentors who help founders, operators, and consultants pick a direction at a fork in the road. Every mentor below wrote their own take on the work.
- 62,000+
- Sessions booked
- 750+
- Vetted mentors
- 4.8/5
- Avg session rating
Peter Murphy Lewis
5.0 · +48 more
Blaine
Founder · Permit Hound
"I don't want to walk through an uncleared minefield without someone who has walked it before."
Hamel Shah
Co-Founder · CarrotsAndCake
"GrowthMentor enables us to swiftly get a world-class expert to give us guidance on any marketing issue or…"
Lena Sesardic
Product Manager
"Knowing I can always book a call to help me clarify what I'm doing is the best feeling in the world."
Minh
Solo Founder · SEOmatic
"I like to set my own strategies and then get help from experts to improve on them and check if I'm on the…"
Nicola Rubino
Growth Marketing Consultant · nicorubino
"It gave me fast access to expert-level insights that I couldn't get from academic research or user surveys…"
Annie Chen
Head of Marketing · DOWN Dating App
"Sometimes I'm stuck at one step and all I need is someone who can share experiences of what they did when…"
Carlos Terol
Co-Founder · Bagmaya
"I enjoy having pretty much instant access to a pool of worldwide, expert mentors who are keen to share their…"
Luka Karsten Breitig
Co-Founder · The Happy Beavers
"Imagine a world where everything you read was written by a subject-matter expert."
Flora Bui
Co-Founder · Acie
"My favorite thing about GrowthMentor is how it allows me to expand my network globally in a very short time…"
Maria Ledentsova
Digital Marketing Manager · magier
"Whatever problem I have, there's a friendly and incredibly helpful mentor ready to help."
Kate Bojkov
Head of Growth · EmbedSocial
"How quick and easy I can find somebody who had my problem and is willing to talk with me and openly share…"
Supriya Agarwal
Co-founder · BiosectRx
"Being able to connect with any expert across the globe at the click of a button. No network or previous…"
Anastasia Rubleva
Head of Growth · Rapid Dev
"I love the ability to receive valuable feedback from mentors who have been in the industry for decades."
Andrew McBurney
CEO & Co-founder · Review Robin
"You should cut out 99% of the things that you're thinking about."
The mentors, in their own words.
49 mentors available
Peter Murphy Lewis
🕸️Fractional Chief Marketing Officer | 📺 TV Host | 🎧 Podcaster |🐒 CSO Zoo | Founder 🚲 | 👠Ultra-Marathoner
I’ve gone from HIV clinics to professor to travel startup founder to CMO to bank board member. Now I help others chart their own path. I wrote *Interns to A-Players* to show how smart systems and a little belief can change lives. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve made every career move by listening, experimenting, and helping others rise with me. If you're stuck, I can help you see what’s next—without pretending there’s only one right path.
Ward van Gasteren
Freelance Growth Consultant @ GrowWithWard.com 🟠 | Startup Founder @ GrowthOrange | Always happy to help!
I am one of the first Growth Hackers in Europe and have always worked as a freelancer, so after 10+ years I get a lot of questions from people how to work as a freelancer, how to get freelance clients or how to grow as a growth consultant. Ask me anything & I'm always happy to help!
Aggelos Mouzakitis
Private advisor to tech founders & solopreneurs · licensed psychotherapist
Navigating your growth or product career path can be a complex journey, especially in the fast-paced tech industry. Whether you're looking to advance in your current role, transition to a new field, or find your true calling, my career guidance can provide clarity and direction. By leveraging my experience in mentoring professionals across various sectors, I can assist you in identifying your strengths, setting achievable goals, and developing a strategic plan to reach your career aspirations.
Louis Camassa
Director of Product Management @ Rithum | Expertise in 0-to-1 & Scaling Enterprise SaaS | 2 Successful Exits
Navigating between being a founder or being an employee? With 20+ years of experience, founding seven companies, and facilitating two successful exits as an employee, I've mastered the art of career navigation. My journey through successes and failures, combined with interviewing hundreds and guiding team members to major career advancements, equips me to offer nuanced career guidance. Whether you're aiming to start your venture or seeking growth in your field, I can help chart your path.
Josh Boone
Advisor to restless founders | Clarity under pressure | Growth without burnout
We step back and ask the harder questions most people avoid. Are you actually in the right role and business, or just running on momentum? Is what feels “off” coming from the work itself, the business model, mission, or how you’re treating your body, mind, and relationships? What are you optimizing in your life? What does success look like? We'll dive into all this to uncover what your best next steps are to get you on a path that balances fulfillment and wellbeing with growth and impact.
Swati Shukla
Ex-McKinsey & Amazon PM | 50+ Startups to Series A | Product, Strategy, GTM
I help individuals assess their skills and interests, explore career options, and develop strategic plans to achieve their professional goals. This includes resume reviews, interview preparation, and networking strategies to enhance their career prospects.
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Say what you're stuck on. We line up the right person.
A session
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Live, one on one
30 min
Talk to someone who's done it. Thirty minutes, recorded.
After the call
Lulu Minovska
Recording
You came in with
"Six years, one company, stuck."
You left with
"Six years isn't loyalty, it's a habit."
16:04 / 30:00
Jump to the moment
Keep the recording, summary, and takeaways. Yours.
What a career mentor does
A career mentor here is a senior operator who has already made the move you are weighing, and who can tell you which path fits your background and when to commit. You get a 1:1 call with someone who has stood at the same fork.
Most calls do some version of these four things:
- Redraw the path. You arrive with a blurry sense of where you are heading. You leave with the next move named, and the one after it, drawn out clearly enough to act on.
- Reframe the trajectory. What looks like the obvious next role often is not. A mentor helps you see the move you want, which is frequently a different one.
- Reposition your background. The experience you have is usually your biggest asset and the thing you undersell. A mentor helps you lead with it instead of burying it.
- Help you commit. Most people on this page have half-decided already. The call turns 'I should probably do that' into a specific thing you start this week.
The value is direction: which way to go, and a credible second opinion that you are not making a mistake.
You also leave with a record. After each call, the takeaways are written down for you, ready to keep or skip:
Sergi GarciaStay-or-go sanity checkSet the one trigger that has to be true before you quit, a signed retainer or six months of runway, then stop relitigating until it fires.
Lead with the ten years of operator experience, it belongs in the first line, not the third resume bullet.
KeepSkipAim at one role level, Head of Growth, so the interview prep and the pitch both get concrete.
KeepSkipGive the stay-or-pivot call a two-week deadline, another month of circling is the real cost.
KeepSkipWhen you're at a career fork
The biggest question people bring to these calls is the stay, pivot, or exit decision. You are doing fine on paper, and you still cannot tell whether to keep going, change direction, or leave.
A mentor who has stood at the same fork helps you work the trade-offs instead of looping:
- Stay and double down. sometimes the right move is to stay put and go deeper, and you just need someone credible to confirm it.
- Pivot the function or industry. a deliberate change of direction is on the table, and you want to pressure-test it before you commit years to it.
- Exit the thing you built or joined. walking away from a startup or a role is the hardest call to make alone, and the one most worth a second opinion.
- Wait, but with a trigger. not yet is a fair answer, as long as you name what has to be true before you move.
Most of this cohort has already half-decided
People rarely arrive blank. They arrive having worked the decision in their own head for months, stuck at the last inch. The fastest unlock is a straight read from someone who has made the same call before.
Leaving a job to go independent
A large part of this audience is at the threshold of going independent: leaving a salaried role to found a company, consult, or freelance, often for the first time. The fear is rarely the work. It is the money bridge and the question of whether now is the right moment.
A mentor who has made the jump can help you think through the parts that keep you up at night:
- Timing the quit. whether to jump now, build on the side first, or set a number that has to land before you go full time.
- The income bridge. how to line up the first clients or revenue so the gap between salary and independence does not sink you.
- First clients from your network. almost every new independent starts here, and a mentor helps you do it on purpose instead of waiting for an introduction.
- The identity shift. going from a title at a company to your own name on the door is a real adjustment, and it helps to talk to someone who has been through it.
You do not have to make this call alone. That is the whole point of the conversation.
two moves, in order
Line up the first client
wait for an inbound intro
ask ten warm contacts this week
Set the date to quit
leave when it finally feels safe
leave once three months of retainer is signed
A dated exit, not a someday
You leave on a date you chose, with money already landing. The jump stops being a gamble.
The order matters: line up the income before you name the date.
Breaking in or moving up
Part of this audience is on the more classic career track: trying to break into product management or marketing, land the next senior role, or get recognized for a promotion they have earned.
A mentor who hires for these roles, or who has made the same transition, can help you with the specific steps:
- Transitioning into PM or PMM. the most common ask on this track. How to make the switch from an adjacent background and position yourself as a credible candidate.
- Interview preparation. how to prepare for a product or marketing interview, and how to present your background so it reads as a strength.
- The role and title to target. which job title fits where you are, so you aim at the right level instead of guessing.
- Getting promoted where you are. how to get recognized and make the case for the next step inside your current company.
The right mentor here has sat on the other side of the table for the exact move you are making.
Mentors start diagnosing before the call. A typical first exchange after you book:
Kate BusbyYour background as an edge
The most common situation on this page is someone carrying an existing career into a new context: a senior PM stepping into a founder role, a technical person pivoting industries, a corporate operator going independent. The instinct is to treat the old experience as baggage. It is usually the asset.
A mentor helps you stop hiding your differentiator and lead with it:
When you reposition the experience you already have, the niche, the pitch, and the price all start to fall into place behind it.
Pricing your independent work
Once the path is chosen, the practical question is how to charge for it. Almost everyone going independent prices too low at first, out of fear that nobody will say yes at the real number.
A mentor who has run a consulting or freelance practice can give you a straight read on the mechanics:
- Raising your rates. most new independents are underpricing, and the fix is usually faster and less scary than it looks.
- Pricing pilots and first deals. how to price early engagements so they open the door without anchoring you low forever.
- Packaging the offer. how to package consulting or fractional work so a buyer can say yes without a long negotiation.
- Productizing what you do. if you want off the hourly treadmill, how to turn a repeatable service into a defined offer.
Getting the number right early is worth far more than discounting your way to the first few yes answers.
Almost no new independent charges too much. The move is always up, and a mentor who has set rates knows how far.
Niching without closing doors
The other recurring tension once you go independent is whether to niche down or stay broad. The fear is that picking a lane shuts out work. In practice, staying broad is what makes you hard to choose.
A mentor helps you find the wedge that wins without painting yourself into a corner:
- Pick the wedge first. a sharp niche makes you the obvious choice for a specific buyer, and you can always widen later from a position of strength.
- Differentiate in a crowded market. how to find the one angle that separates you when everyone claims the same thing.
- Define the buyer, not just the service. narrowing who you serve is often more powerful than narrowing what you do.
The goal is to be the clear answer for someone, not a vague option for everyone.
a niche statement, x-rayed
Fractional growth, nothing else1. For seed-stage B2B founders who just raised and have no marketer2. I stand up the first paid channel and hand it back running3. Booked two months out at a rate nobody haggles4.
The service
Three words, not a menu. A service a buyer cannot restate is one they cannot choose.
The buyer
One stage, one moment. "Founders" is not a niche; "seed-stage founders who just raised" is.
The repeatable outcome
The same result delivered the same way, not a bespoke project every time.
What narrowing bought
A full calendar and no haggling. The narrow lane is what filled it.
Narrowing did not close doors. It is what filled the calendar.
Getting unstuck when you know
The most common pattern on this page is not missing information. It is being stuck at the last inch with a decision you have effectively already made. You know the move. You keep circling it instead of starting.
A mentor closes that gap by being the credible second opinion you do not have in-house:
- A straight read on your instinct. you often already know the answer and need someone who has done it to confirm your read is sound.
- From circling to one next step. the call turns endless analysis into a single concrete action you can take this week.
- Naming what is blocking you. sometimes the block is a fear you have not said out loud, and naming it is what frees the decision.
- A reason to stop second-guessing. you stop relitigating the niche or the plan and finally commit to the version in front of you.
This is the payoff. You walk out with a direction and a credible person who has told you that you are not failing. No call guarantees the outcome, but this is usually the thing that finally gets you to move.
When to book a call
You do not need a giant existential question. Bring the thing you would ask a colleague who has made the same move five times. The most useful moments to book:
- You are at a fork between two paths. stay, pivot, or exit, and you cannot tell which one is right from inside the decision.
- You are weighing the quit. you are thinking about leaving a salaried role to found, consult, or freelance, and want a straight read first.
- You are making a pivot. a change of function, industry, or identity is on the table and you want to pressure-test it before committing.
- You have an interview or negotiation coming up. you want to position your background and walk in with a plan, not improvise.
- You are pricing a new independent offer. you are setting rates or packaging consulting work and do not want to underprice yourself out of habit.
A focused 30 minutes with the right person beats another month of working the decision alone.
What a mentor can help with
The people who take these calls are senior operators, not careers counsellors. They have made the same fork-in-the-road decision and can tell you which path fits your background. Because they do this work daily, the help spans far more than a resume review:
- Founder transitions. stepping from an operator role into founding, and bringing your background into a new domain.
- Going independent. consulting, freelance, and fractional work, from the first client to a repeatable practice.
- Product and marketing moves. breaking into PM or PMM, landing a senior role, and earning the next promotion.
- Positioning and niche. how to present your background, pick a wedge, and stand out in a crowded field.
- Pricing and packaging. rates, pilots, and offers for the new independent or fractional model.
- Leadership and confidence. growing as a leader, managing a team, and building the confidence to act on your own judgment.
You can also run it in reverse: post what you are stuck on as a help request, and mentors raise their hands to take it.
What people book career calls about
Rarely what they end up solving. The ask on the booking form is usually a symptom, and a mentor who has stood at the same fork recognizes the pattern underneath it. Three that come up again and again:
walked in as, walked out as
Walked in as
A title problem
I want the Head-of title.
Walked out as
A scope problem
Own the outcome, the title follows.
Walked in as
A job-search problem
I keep getting passed over.
Walked out as
A positioning problem
You bury the edge that sells you.
Walked in as
A salary problem
I need to be paid more.
Walked out as
A leverage problem
Build the outside option first, then ask.
Three calls, one mechanic. The problem that leaves the room is never the one that walked in.
Why GrowthMentor
Every mentor on GrowthMentor is vetted before they are accepted. Fewer than 5% of applicants get in. They are senior operators and founders who have made the same fork-in-the-road moves, not career coaches selling a framework.
Because the network is broad, you are not stuck with one person for the whole transition. You can pressure-test the quit this week, position your background for the interview next month, and set your first freelance rate the week you go independent, each time with someone who has done that exact thing.
Calls this month
Book the fourth call, or the fortieth. Nothing on this receipt changes.
People who were exactly where you are.
GrowthMentor enables us to swiftly get a world-class expert to give us guidance on any marketing issue or question in a matter of days.
Hamel Shah · Co-Founder
Read Hamel's storyKnowing I can always book a call to help me clarify what I'm doing is the best feeling in the world.
Lena Sesardic · Product Manager
Read Lena's storyI like to set my own strategies and then get help from experts to improve on them and check if I'm on the right track.
Minh · Solo Founder
Read Minh's storyIt gave me fast access to expert-level insights that I couldn't get from academic research or user surveys alone.
Nicola Rubino · Growth Marketing Consultant
Read Nicola's storySometimes I'm stuck at one step and all I need is someone who can share experiences of what they did when they were in my situation.
Annie Chen · Head of Marketing
Read Annie's storyI enjoy having pretty much instant access to a pool of worldwide, expert mentors who are keen to share their expertise and help others.
Carlos Terol · Co-Founder
Read Carlos's storyAsk ChatGPT
Don’t take our word for it.
Ask ChatGPT what it really knows about career guidance mentors and GrowthMentor, then decide for yourself.
Before you join
What people ask before their first call.
This is the single most common question people bring to these calls. The trade-offs are easy to loop on from inside the decision. A mentor who has made the same call helps you weigh staying and going deeper against pivoting or exiting, and gives you a straight read on which one fits where you are.
It depends on your runway, your network, and how ready your first clients are. A mentor who has gone independent can help you think through the timing, the income bridge, and whether to jump now or build on the side first, so you make the call with the trade-offs in front of you.
Transitioning into PM from an adjacent background is one of the most common asks here. A mentor who hires for or has made the move can help you position your existing experience as relevant, prepare for the interviews, and aim at the right level instead of guessing.
Most people lead with the wrong angle and bury the thing that makes them valuable. A mentor helps you reframe your existing experience as the asset, so your background reads as the reason to choose you instead of something you apologize for.
A mentor who has sat on the other side of the table can tell you what they look for, help you frame your background as a strength, and run through the questions you are likely to get. You walk in with a plan instead of improvising.
Almost every new independent underprices and waits for clients to appear. A mentor who has run a consulting or freelance practice can help you set rates that match the value, package your offer so buyers say yes, and turn your existing network into your first deliberate source of clients.
Staying broad usually makes you harder to choose, not safer. A mentor helps you find a sharp wedge that makes you the obvious answer for a specific buyer, with the option to widen later from a position of strength.
Yes, and this is the most common situation on this page. Most people are not missing information. They are stuck at the last inch with a decision they have effectively already made. A credible second opinion from someone who has done it is often exactly what turns circling into a concrete first step.
It is closer to a working session with a senior operator than to traditional career coaching. The mentors here have made the same fork-in-the-road moves you are weighing. They give you a practitioner's straight opinion on your specific situation, not a generic framework.
Yes. Most people who book these calls are founders, operators, and consultants at a fork, not entry-level job-seekers. Whether you are stepping into founding, weighing an exit, or deciding what to do with the career you have built, this is the right conversation.
One specific question and any context that helps: the decision you are weighing, your background, the two paths you are torn between. The people who get the most out of these calls show up having done their thinking already. You do not need a polished plan, just a real question.
GrowthMentor is a membership. Once you are a member, calls are included and most mentors offer their time for free. Browse the mentors above, read their profiles and reviews, and book a 30-minute video call directly on their calendar. Many members book the same mentor again as they move through a transition.
Still have questions? See all FAQs →
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Every face here has already solved what you're working on in career guidance. You're one call away.