I want to talk to you about why hiring a protege can be beneficial not just for them but for you!
One of the best things I did after university was to call up a successful entrepreneur I knew and ask him if needed help with anything. Luckily for me - I was on the next plane to Singapore and following him around for 3 years.
For me it was a once in a lifetime experience where I was invited into rooms of high level CEOs, politicians, government teams and areas I would have never seen without shadowing someone who had access.
This is me speaking for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce as a fresh university grad
Not just that, I received so much 1-on-1 mentoring by watching him run investor meetings, sales calls, hiring top talent etc.
A+ Talent at Graduate Salaries
However, for him - he was able to get a highly capable young person who could get the throughput of 5 people for the price of a grad.
Prior to joining him, I had taught myself to code, create marketing campaigns, design fairly well and just get a high level of individual contribution work done. You’d be surprised how many young folks - put the effort to building a lot of skillsets by themselves.
If I received a message from him at 5pm asking for a deck to be done by tomorrow morning - he knew it would be done well and on time.
If you want A+ talent, you have 2 options:
Hire experienced A+ players who can get stuff done and know exactly what to do and pay them A+ rates.
Hire diamonds in the rough who have the potential of being A+ and you hire them early for a fraction of the cost of an experienced B player. You’ll realise their growth rate is so quick your ROI is positive within months.
🌍 P.S If you want to hire offshore talent at a fraction of the cost but still get A+ quality - hit up Athyna. (Bill and the team are amazing!)
The Protege Boost
However, since then - having switched over to the mentor side, I’ve noticed another underrated benefit of having a protege.
You perform better!
When I was first raising for EntryLevel, I brought my protege at the time - Caleb Maru (who is now running one the largest tech newsletters in Africa!) to the meetings.
I felt more confident, more encouraged to be at my A game so I could impress him and actually make it valuable for him. Also me treating it more like a coaching experience than just trying to get funding - made me feel almost more at ease.
This is known as the “Hawthorne effect” where humans modify their behaviour when they know they are being watched. To me - this is a version of it which we can call the “Protege Boost”. Knowing that someone, who is intending to learn from you, is watching - makes you perform better and takes a little bit of the pressure off the situation.
Caleb is now one of my best friends and business partner in Proximity VC.
I’ve had many proteges that have helped elevate my game, performed really well for me and have succeeded in their own game:
Theon who is now a software engineer at a huge company
Jennifer who grew her newsletter from 0 to 14k subscribers in 2 weeks
Daniel who had 3 years of product management experience (with me) before even graduating university and
Alvin who co-ran an international bootcamp with me and now works as a sales engineer at a startup
and many more!
To my proteges - thank you for making me better ❤
Cheers,
Ajay
🧠 Ajay’s Resource Bank
A few tools and collections I’ve built (or obsessively curated) over the years:
100+ Mental Models
Mental shortcuts and thinking tools I’ve refined over the past decade. These have evolved as I’ve gained experience — pruned, updated, and battle-tested.100+ Questions
If you want better answers, ask better questions. These are the ones I keep returning to — for strategy, reflection, and unlocking stuck conversations.Startup OS
A lightweight operating system I built for running startups. I’m currently adapting it for growth teams as I scale Superpower — thinking about publishing it soon.Remote Games & Activities
Fun team-building exercises and games (many made in Canva) that actually work. Good for offsites, Zoom fatigue, or breaking the ice with distributed teams.
✅ Ajay’s “would recommend” List
These are tools and services I use personally and professionally — and recommend without hesitation:
Athyna – Offshore Hiring Done Right
I personally have worked with assistants overseas and built offshore teams. Most people get this wrong by assuming you have to go the lowest cost for automated work. Try hiring high quality, strategic people for a fraction of the cost instead.Superpower – It starts with a 100+ lab tests
I joined Superpower as Head of Growth, but I originally came on to fix my health. In return, I got a full diagnostic panel, a tailored action plan, and ongoing support that finally gave me clarity after years of flying blind.
