Meet the Mentee: How did mentoring benefit lawtech startup SeperateSpace?

We spoke to Lawtech mentee Amanda Bell , co-founder of award-winning legal startup SeparateSpace . The business offers users a new, affordable way to access support through divorce, using software, data and content to reduce the need for costly lawyer fees. Amanda took part in our mentorship programme in search of marketing advice. Read on to find out how Amanda found the experience.

Q: Could you tell us a little bit about how you got into the lawtech sector? How did you come to found your lawtech business?

A: Sure! I’m a lawyer by background. I worked as a divorce and family solicitor for many years and eventually I got to the age and stage where people around me were starting to get divorced. For most people, being able to afford a lawyer by your side throughout the whole process, being able to call them up whenever you've got a question, is totally unaffordable. Lawyers have a really important role, of course, but if we can help people to do a little bit more of the process themselves, and go to those lawyers at the important key moments, that's a really helpful tool. That's what we're trying to build.

Q: How did you hear about the Lawtech UK mentoring programme?

A: I came along to a Lawtech UK event in London initially. Then I had a call with on of your team, who was great at speaking me through the different programmes you have on offer to make sure we found the right fit. I think I sort of fell between two stages, the very early-stage programmes and the accelerators that you are running. So mentorship seemed to make sense!

Q: Did you have any specific goals or objectives when you started the mentoring sessions?

A: I’d asked to be matched with somebody with some marketing strategy expertise because at that stage we didn’t have anybody in-house running the marketing function. And so I was hoping to get some advice on that front, ideally from somebody who had worked with similar businesses in the past.?

Q: Did you find your mentor was a a good match? How was your working relationship over the sessions?

A: Yeah, she was brilliant! Really proactive. It felt really personalised to our business needs. She had worked with a business that does a similar thing to us in the tech space. So she had a really good feel for that in terms of the space, the sector.?

What we are offering is quite a tricky, in terms of marketing and messaging, it's actually quite a tricky area because we don't want to seem as if we're ‘selling divorce’. We just want to help people who've made the decision to move on in a calmer, more affordable way.

Our mentor just really got it. She spent four sessions with me, kind of led by me in terms of where we thought the gaps were —?and then her I thinking about what might be useful. So, for example, she went through my LinkedIn profile and gave me some really actionable tips around the marketing messaging piece. She and her team actually volunteered some time to work with us above and beyond the full mentoring sessions through you!

She was fantastic. I really liked her. She really liked what we're doing. It felt really positive. But beyond that, it was quite tangible in terms of the work we did together. And we’re still in touch.

Q: Amazing. Do you think you’re likely to take part in other Lawtech UK programmes down the line??

A: Yeah, I would love to. I would love to. I went along to a conference you held and it was really motivating. I think it's quite tough doing what we're doing, actually. In many ways. You're reminding yourself what is possible.

Q: Ok great, and finally, would you recommend the Lawtech UK mentoring programme to other lawtech founders??

A: Yes, absolutely! What a brilliant resource. And so I think if people know about it and know it's going to be a really useful way to spend some time, I can't imagine anyone not biting your hand off.

Our Lawtech Mentoring programme is entirely free — and matches startup founders with mentors to suit their needs. Visit our website to find out more.