#GiveFirst is a Techstars mantra.

Simply put, it means giving—advice, resources, assistance, etc.—with no expectation of getting anything specific back. When a network of people, such as a global community of entrepreneurs, live in a #GiveFirst way, each is helpful whenever they can be. This builds a powerful network of caring people, all flourishing because they are all giving to each other. A #GiveFirst perspective asks, “What small thing can I do to help this person?” rather than, “What can this person do for me if I help them?”

This may all sound very abstract and idealistic, but #GiveFirst is unmistakable when you see it in action. And it works.

The Most Meaningful #GiveFirst Experiences

For Michael Maylahn, founder and president of Stasis Labs, “The most meaningful #GiveFirst experiences I’ve had have been when I’ve been the one giving.”

Michael and his co-founder Dinesh Seemakurty went through the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator, Powered by Techstars in 2016, and have since mentored “tons and tons” of founders through the Techstars network—despite being well under 30.

That’s one mentor myth laid to rest: mentors do not have to be older than you. What they do have, regardless of age, are experiences that pertain to your problems, and a willingness to share their time and expertise.

Michael recalled one such experience, when a member of an accelerator class was paired with him, an alumnus. Her startup was setting up a pilot with a major healthcare network, and everything looked lovely. Then a large incumbent announced a new module that filled the same function as her product. Literally overnight, her business opportunity disappeared.

“For her, having someone to talk about it with was great,” Michael said. “Selfishly, it was also great for me. I got to peek under the covers and see how it was going down: not as an investor, employee, or customer, but just as another founder who wanted to help.” He got to be involved in the process of a 180-degree pivot and is glad to report that the company is doing really well.

This unique perspective that Michael got was hugely helpful to him. He had the chance to see how another terrific founder handled this brutal situation, and learn from it himself, with much less pain.

Mentoring hasn’t just given Michael ringside seats to difficult entrepreneurial situations. It’s also taught him the value of teaching. “In order to mentor well, I’ve had to solidify my viewpoints on fundraising, product management, hiring, marketing, and more,” he explained. “When you have to break it down and explain it to someone else, you end up understanding it better yourself.”

“In many ways, the more I’ve mentored, the more I’ve realized how mutually beneficial it really is,” Michael said.

“I Wouldn’t Be Where I’m At”

While today Michael is enjoying the benefits of mentoring, he’s had a long history of being on the receiving end of #GiveFirst. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at if hundreds of people hadn’t lined up to give their time and teach me how to run a company,” Michael said, with great certainty.

Michael and Dinesh are engineers. They started Stasis Labs as college students, and even before Techstars they were receiving the benefits of #GiveFirst: “I would talk with anyone who would give me 30 minutes,” Michael said.

To illustrate his younger self’s cluelessness, Michael remembered an excruciating exchange, when a well known investor asked him what the ROI for his customer was, and Michael had to respond with, “What’s an ROI?” He literally didn’t know what the acronym meant, let alone how to answer the question.

It is the hundreds of people who helped him that Michael is honoring every time he answers a basic—or not so basic—question from an entrepreneur. But he’s quite clear that he doesn’t see it as a transaction. He’s not mentoring because he’s in their debt. He Gives First because he sees the power of a network built on this principle, and because it’s the kind of person he wants to be.

Michael is grateful to Techstars for so much—for the chance to understand the opportunity for the product in the U.S. market, for help from all the Techstars mentors, for the enormous access with medical executives, directors, and VPs, all of whom gave him invaluable feedback on Stasis—and also for #GiveFirst.

“Techstars has given me a medium to #GiveFirst to others and for others to #GiveFirst to us,” Michael said. He’s going to keep Giving First, because it’s right, and because he learns so much from doing so. And he knows that when he needs help, the Techstars worldwide network is there for him, and ready to #GiveFirst.

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