Paying dividends: mentee hired full-time by mentor two years after program partnership

When Davis Marklin, Eng '18, participated the 2016-17 MUAA Mentor Program, he was looking to create a “personal board of advisors” for his company, Skilline, to accelerate his learning. Fortunately, he was matched with mentor Scott Kitun, Comm '06, host of the Startup Showcase on WGN Radio and CEO of Technori, a Chicago based-company that provides startups and growth companies with access to capital, strategic advisory and tech support. The organization has also raised more than $1 billion in venture capital.

As a student entrepreneur, Davis found Scott’s insights to be beneficial very quickly. “I went to him every time I had to make a major decision either in my business or personal life,” Davis says. “I made sure to always model the different scenarios ahead of our calls so when we actually spoke, all I had to do was lay out what I already knew and Scott could show me how he viewed them. It enabled our relationship to flow naturally and not feel ‘forced.’”

"We spent many hours on the phone discussing his business maneuvers and key decisions," Scott recalls. "I shared a few core principles I live (and operate) by as well as met him and his co-founders several times to better understand their end goals."

Their formal MUAA Mentor Program partnership was valuable from October 2016 - April 2017, so they mutually agreed to continue their conversations casually.

"After we closed Skilline, I continued to go to Scott from time to time as I made decisions," Davis says.

A few months later, Davis started Euphrates, a blockchain consultancy with clients such as Catholic Financial Life and Lucas Milhaupt. Recognizing the value, insight and creative thinking Scott provided, Davis kept Scott abreast of his latest developments.

As Davis approached graduation from the Opus College of Engineering in December 2018, their topics included full-time employment at Technori.

"When I graduated, Scott asked me to join him at Technori to build out their new technology services arm," Davis says. "It was a natural fit because it aligned with my work at Euphrates and Scott and I had already known each other for more than two-and-a-half years."

Since they first worked together as mentor and mentee, Davis recognizes the significant impact Scott has made. "Without a doubt, my relationship with Scott has significantly improved my career trajectory," he says. "For mentees, my three main pieces of advice are:
1) understand clearly what you want. In my case it was to improve the success rate of my decision making.
2) Use the opportunity to learn as much as you possibly can from your mentor.
3) Establish early on how your mentor benefits from the relationship and always look for ways to add value."

As much as Davis has benefited from the partnership, Scott has found mentoring and learning from students like him to be equally rewarding.

“I began mentoring in 2016 to help students like myself at that age - skilled, but either unsure of my career objectives or unmotivated due to a lack of clear direction," he says. "I met students that could benefit from my experiences and help shape their roadmap to success by talking through their skills, passions and resources."

Working with Davis provided more opportunities, too. "I took a more active role with Davis as my first mentee, advising on actual real-world experiences he was having as a young business operator," Scott says. "He was eager, passionate and fully transparent about what he wanted in his career and how he felt I could help him get there - which I appreciated."

Beyond providing Davis support, Scott recalls he was looking to find inspiration and better understand the challenges facing young business leaders like him. 

"Davis taught me that no matter what your level, the most committed wins," Scott says. "Nobody was going to give him a break just because he was a student and if you want to succeed you’ve got to learn from the feedback you get from your customers."

I've had several mentees and each have provided a different value proposition, but I think that's what makes the mentoring experience so great. Sometimes you’ll meet someone in which you have little in common and it's nothing more than a sounding board. In other cases, you might have similar backgrounds and all they need is to hear your perspective as they make important choices, and for mentees like Davis, well, they graduate and come work for you!

2018-19 MUAA Mentor Program Resource Guide