Mentoring Spotlight: Nicole Malofsky
Years of Mentoring Experience
Nicole Malofsky has been a mentor for about 2.5 years, starting in January 2022.
What Drew You to Becoming a Mentor?
Nicole's journey into mentoring began with a conversation with Antony Seppi in January 2022. Antony spoke passionately about growing Cincinnati's startup community from the ground up, a mission that resonated deeply with Nicole. Having grown up in Cincinnati and coming from a family of serial entrepreneurs, she was immediately drawn to this cause. Nicole wanted to give back to the startup ecosystem of her hometown. She also saw mentoring as an opportunity to test her engineering mindset and biotech expertise by providing insights to companies, whether they were within her technical expertise or completely outside her comfort zone. Additionally, Nicole found a strong sense of community in Morning Mentoring, from both mentors and mentees.
Favorite Parts About Being a Mentor
Nicole's favorite part about being a mentor is experiencing the diverse perspectives across the mentor collective. Morning Mentoring invites experts from various industries, each approaching startups or innovations from unique lenses. The mentors come from fields such as law, finance, intellectual property, R&D, marketing, strategy, military, entrepreneurship, healthcare, manufacturing, biotechnology, education, pharmaceuticals, operations, supply chain, and investing. This diversity allows Nicole to fill specific niches for companies within her expertise while learning from mentors outside her field. Nicole herself fits into the biotechnology and biomedical engineering niche. She has prior experience in R&D at P&G and biotechnology with an Israeli startup. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, focusing on developing infectious disease diagnostics for low-resource settings. Nicole also works as a Biotech Equity Research Consultant for CUREX Capital Advisors, a Nashville-based hedge fund investing in mid-cap life science companies.
Most Memorable Morning Mentoring Experience
For Nicole, the most exciting part of being a mentor is witnessing "brilliant synergy" among mentors and mentees during Q&A sessions after startup pitches. This synergy occurs when mentors collectively address gaps in the pitch or raise important questions. Each mentor builds on the prior comments, asking thought-provoking questions and brainstorming solutions across various topics such as customer discovery, market analysis, intellectual property, marketing strategies, finances, and more. Despite being a virtual meeting, the excitement is palpable, fostering an atmosphere of innovation and progress. Morning Mentoring is enriching for both mentees and mentors, truly fostering a collaborative community.
What Sets Morning Mentoring Apart
Morning Mentoring stands out due to its mentor collective. With a large group of individuals possessing deep experience across vastly different fields, the program fosters richer conversations, generating new ideas and problem-solving. The diversity within the ecosystem lends itself to creative lateral benchmarking, drawing connections across industries and leading to even greater innovation.