100 Million Minutes of Mentorship : How ADPList is impacting lives

Back then - at that point of my life - I didn’t had the privilege to get a paid mentorship. ( even though I wanted it so badly )

It felt exhausting to explore the informations in internet and navigate through the design career during the initial stage.

I didn’t know about any bankable creators in design.

I didn’t want to blindly follow all the 'how-tos'.

I didn’t even know about NNGroup.

And I craved constructive criticism from a mentor, from someone who had more experience - who could point out - where I’m wrong - and how to improve.

Then I heard about ADPList from a random UX Talk.

I rushed to checkout this platform - eager to find a mentor - to get that much need criticism.

And booked my session with Melvin Thambi

It was one of the best conversation I had that time which opened up my eyes to things I wasn't necessarily considering before,

Which restored the confidence and belief in myself to strive forward.

Which set me on a path of self discovery, and to this day I am grateful for the insightful sessions I had with him.

Taking this moment to thank him and all the mentors for their time and wisdom.

Who took me from Point A to B - through their invaluable sessions.

What is ADPList?

Amazing Design People List - adplist.org

A platform where people can find, book and meet mentors around the world.

An inclusive space and supportive network for designers, product managers, and engineers to come together, learn from each other, to become better, to #BeMore

Don’t just take my word for it though.

2 weeks back ADPList celebrated a remarkable milestone in it’s journey.

How ADPList achieved this? ( in a scale where no one has done yet.)

I believe it's all about the values and vision.

ADPList was founded by Felix Lee and James Baduor with a firm belief that everyone should have the opportunity to learn, regardless of their background.

Addressing the problem - not everyone have the access to valuable advices. Giving the opportunity of - exposure and mentorship to anyone. Viewing it more - as a social network than an education company.

All by one simple yet clear and impactful vision

Facilitating valuable interactions, primarily through mentorship. And democratizing it - all for free!

Even though there are arguments and discussions on why free mentorship might be detrimental, the impact of ADPList speaks for itself.

100,000,000 Minutes of Mentorship Sessions.

Active in 140 countries, over 20,000 Mentors.

It definitely means, millions of lives impacted by 100 million minutes of knowledge transfer and guidance.

James Baduor says : “True mentorship requires passion, diversity, respect, inclusion, and experience. That's what our mentors at adplist represent.”

Felix Lee says : “ADPList is different. It was when it was founded, and it is today. And it's what people share here that amazes and inspires me every day."

I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Felix and James for building this platform that impacts so many lives.

Felix Lee has also shared some valuable lessons in building ADPList :

1. Be a contrarian.
2. Make 1,000 people love you. (YC calls this “doing things that don’t scale.” )
3. Great design is all intentional. It’s almost like the right things falling into the right place at the right time. And also great design is saying 'no' when necessary and asking these questions to yourself.Do people really need this ?Do they really need this now ?Why is this important for them ?How does this being here benefit them ?
4. Take risks and make bigger bets.
5. Small is beautiful; small is powerful.

Read more here :

100 Million minutes on ADPListThe hard-earned lessons and building an important future - Written by Felix Lee

Why small is beautiful and powerful?

What started just as a small spreadsheet is now a game changer in mentorship platforms. Today, ADPList is not just for designers. It has mentors in other fields like - Content strategy, Engineering, Marketing, No Code/ Low code, Product, Research, Sales, Business Development and Talent Acquisition.

And the future of ADPList is going to be beyond anything you can imagine.

Join ADPList now. #BeMore

For all those who seek advice and mentorship :

Here’s what I did and here’s what you all can do ( to make sure every session is meaningful. )

You don’t need to blindly follow all of this. I hope you are self aware to have a judgement of which stage you’re in.

• Choose your mentor carefully by analyzing their profile and content they create and share on socials.
• Prepare questions and concerns in advance by reframing them in the ‘right’ way.
• Keep your documents ready for presenting/sharing.
• Try to approach conversation casual to establish connection with the person on the other side.
• Take notes and reflect on the conversation.
• Send a thank you note and connect with mentors through socials - and engage with their content if you’re willing/ if its resonates/ teaches/ helps you.
• Follow up with another call to share updates and get feedbacks on the changes or improvements.
• Avoid fixating on just one opinion but also don't get overwhelmed by multiple opinions on the same purpose ( It all comes down to you and how you use the platform )
• Filter and analyze the advices and do your research.
• Also look how they give advice.
• It's the context and rationale what matters. Pay attention to that. Always!
• Be curious to ask ‘WHY’ in a respectable way.

Everyone's journey will be different.

Everyone’s path will be unique.

Share yours and inspire others.

Drop your early career experiences in the comments : )

PS : Repost this content. It might provide new information and help someone else out there!

Keep learning, Keep designing, Stay curious!