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Mentorship

Startup mentorship: Don’t build alone.

One-on-one mentorship for startup founders and IT professionals. I build a company myself — so I share what works, not theory.

Apply → Is your idea ready?
Mentor and speaker:
  • PASHA Hackathon
  • Ministry of Youth and Sports
  • SUP.VC
  • INNOLAND
  • Openwave
  • IDDA Hackathon
  • ASAN Volunteers
  • Agrarian Development Volunteers
Nail Seyidov speaking about startups at a SUP.VC event
Talk at a SUP.VC event
Nail Seyidov giving the “Startups and technology” talk at INNOLAND
“Startups and technology” · INNOLAND
Nail Seyidov at a one-on-one meeting
One-on-one meeting
Experience

In the hall, at the hackathon, next to the team.

  1. 2026

    Openwave hackathon

    Hackathon mentor

    On the mentor panel of a three-day hackathon. 29–31 May, Azerbaijan Innovation Center.

  2. 2026

    Agrarian Development Volunteers

    “MVP and prototyping”

    A session and mentoring for participants of the “Farm2Tour” project.

    Agrarian Development Volunteers — “MVP and prototyping”
  3. 2024

    ASAN Volunteers · INNOLAND

    “Building a startup’s first website”

    Training for volunteers: how a startup’s first website is planned and built.

    ASAN Volunteers · INNOLAND — “Building a startup’s first website”
  4. 2023

    SUP.VC · INNOLAND

    IT mentor

    Work with a Sumgait State University startup team on the “Meliordism” and “Fastycar” projects.

    SUP.VC · INNOLAND — IT mentor
  5. 2022

    SUP.VC

    “Product Owner Marathon”

    Speaker at a marathon for product owners.

Hackathon mentor

  • PASHA Hackathon
  • Hackathons of the Ministry of Youth and Sports
  • Openwave
  • IDDA Hackathon
Who it’s for

Two paths, one approach.

With an SDU startup team · INNOLAND, 2023
With an SDU startup team · INNOLAND, 2023
01

Startup founders

We make the technical decisions together, from the idea to the first users.

  • Idea validationThe problem, who pays and the market: before writing any code.
  • MVP scopeWhat gets built and what waits. A version that fits into 6 weeks.
  • Web, mobile or PWAChoosing a platform that fits the budget and the use case.
  • Technical budgetWhat it will cost to build, run and grow.
  • Choosing a developer or an agencyWhom to hire, what to ask, what to watch out for.
  • First usersThe first 10 without ads, then the first 100.

What I don’t help with

  • Finding investors or negotiating with investors on your behalf.
  • Building the product for you — that’s a separate project with NS Studio.
Apply for this track →
With teams at a hackathon · Azerbaijan Innovation Center
With teams at a hackathon · Azerbaijan Innovation Center
02

IT professionals

From a course to a real project, and from there to a steady income.

  • Career mapWhich direction, in what order, over how much time.
  • Starting freelanceFirst client, pricing, contract, communication.
  • PortfolioThe 3 projects a hiring manager will look at: what to show and how.
  • Code reviewReal reviews of Laravel and Flutter code, real feedback.
  • Working on a real projectGit, deploys, servers, deadlines, teamwork.

What I don’t help with

  • A programming course from scratch — you should already know the basics.
  • Doing assignments and projects for you.
Apply for this track →
2-minute test

Is your idea ready?

Seven questions. At the end: your readiness level, 2–3 concrete next steps and posts on the topic.

Answers stay in your browser. It works from the keyboard too: pick with 1–3, Enter to go on.

Is your idea ready? 0/7

Before you start

7 questions. Answer honestly.

If you like, you can add your answers to a mentorship request at the end.

Formats

How we work.

01

1:1 session

A focused conversation on one specific question or problem.

Timeline60 minutes
ResultConcrete next steps
02

Idea audit

A written assessment of the idea, the market and the technical risk.

Timeline5 working days
ResultA written report and recommendations
03

MVP planning session

Feature list, stack, budget and release schedule.

Timeline2 × 90 minutes
ResultMVP plan and budget

The price depends on the format and length — we settle it together in a 30-minute intro call.

  1. Step 1

    Request

    You fill in the form: who you are, what you’re building, where you’re stuck.

  2. Step 2

    30-min intro

    We see together whether we’re a good fit.

  3. Step 3

    Plan

    The goal, the format and the order of the sessions.

  4. Step 4

    Sessions

    Work, feedback, fixes. Measurable progress.

From the blog

Mentor notes.

Startup posts →
Startups 5 min read

Let's build an IT startup, bro

I've got a great mobile app idea, bro, it's totally going to blow up. We just need a bit of money… Every line of this dialogue hides a mistake that sinks startups.

Web Design 2 min read

5 tips for making money with programming

Making money with programming is every developer's wish. Lately we hear the term freelance a lot. But this way of working still isn't widespread in Azerbaijan, while around the world many people…

Questions

Frequently asked.

For two groups: startup founders who want to build a product, and developers who want to grow their careers through real projects.

Not in mentorship. If the product needs building, that’s NS Studio’s job and we discuss it as a separate project.

Laravel, Flutter, PostgreSQL/MySQL, Next.js, server administration, CI/CD. For startups: choosing between web, mobile and PWA.

Online or in person in Baku. A session usually takes 60 minutes; we choose how often to meet based on the goal — most often weekly or every two weeks.

It depends on the format and length. I give the exact price after a 30-minute intro call, together with a plan that fits your needs.

Contact

Let’s talk.

If you have an idea, a company or a question, write to me. I usually reply within 24 hours.

Book a meeting → Mentorship