Business mentorship built on honest practice
Where real guidance meets structured work
Humypaa connects people who are building something with mentors who have actually done it — not just studied it. We started in Dublin in 2014 and have stayed close to the practical side of business ever since.
Mentorship only works when both sides are honest. We design our workshops and programmes around that principle — giving participants real assignments, specific feedback, and the kind of challenge that reveals what still needs work.
What shaped how we work
Mentorship in business has a reputation problem. Too much of it is vague, inspirational, and hard to act on. We built Humypaa to fix that.
Our workshops are structured around assignments — not lectures. Participants leave each session with something to do, try, or test. Mentors give feedback on actual work, not hypothetical scenarios.
We keep cohorts small deliberately. A group of 8–12 people creates enough friction to be useful and enough trust to be honest. Most of the learning happens in that friction — when someone challenges an assumption or points out a gap in a plan.
We work with people at different stages: founders figuring out their first hire, managers stepping into leadership for the first time, and experienced operators who want a sharper outside perspective. The format adapts; the commitment to specificity does not.
The people behind the programmes
A small core team designs and runs everything. Mentors come from industry — they are not full-time educators.
Orlaith Fennelly
Programme Director
Orlaith designs the assignment structure for each track. She spent twelve years in operations before moving into education — which means she has a low tolerance for content that sounds good but cannot be applied on a Monday morning.
Ciarán Duff
Mentor Lead
Ciarán manages mentor selection and matching. He looks for people who can disagree constructively — not just validate. His background is in early-stage company building, and he runs a cohort himself twice a year.
Mentors are selected through a referral and review process. We look at their track record, how they give feedback, and whether they can commit to a full cohort cycle — not just a guest session.
Common questionsThree things that shape every programme
Assignments over slides
Each session ends with a concrete task. Not homework for the sake of it — something that tests whether the session's idea holds up in the participant's actual context.
Mentor matching by context
We pair participants with mentors who have worked in a comparable industry or at a comparable stage. Generic advice is easy to find — relevant experience is harder.
Peer accountability built in
Cohort members review each other's work between sessions. This is not optional participation — it is part of how the programme is structured. Most participants say this is where the most useful feedback comes from.
If you want to understand what a cohort looks like week by week, the learning programme page walks through the full structure.
Programme details