# The Brutally Honest Mentor

> The Brutally Honest Mentor (TBHM) gives startup founders an honest, experienced read on their company and helps them decide what to do next. A brand of Brutally Honest Oy, Helsinki.

The Brutally Honest Mentor is the founder brand of The Brutally Honest, the trading name of Brutally Honest Oy, a Finnish limited company (business ID 3574434-1, VAT FI35744341), Koroistentie 4 F 1, 00280 Helsinki, Finland. Co-Founders: Ozan Sonmez and Alperen Zeki Gokmen, both based in Helsinki. Ozan mentors founders. Alperen builds the platform and the AI and automation behind it and runs the mentor network; he is not one of the mentors and does not take sessions. Contact: team@thebrutallyhonest.co

## The founders online

- Ozan Sonmez: https://mrozansonmez.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozansonmez
- Alperen Zeki Gokmen: https://alperenzekigokmen.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/alperenzekigokmen

## Brand family

- The Brutally Honest Mentor (TBHM), for startup founders: https://brutallyhonestmentor.com
- The Brutally Honest Angel (TBHA), for angel investors and mentors: https://brutallyhonestangel.com
- The Brutally Honest Innovator (TBHI), for corporate innovation teams: https://brutallyhonestinnovator.com
- The Brutally Honest Ecosystem (TBHE), for accelerators, incubators and funded startup programmes, including EU-funded and government-funded ones: https://brutallyhonestecosystem.com
- The Brutally Honest, the company behind all four: https://thebrutallyhonest.co

## What TBHM offers

- TBHM Growth: a four-week online programme for founders with revenue, customers and six to eight months of runway. Eight live Zoom sessions, four private 30-minute mentor calls, ten startups per cohort and a one-page written verdict. Sessions are not recorded. 1,200 EUR per company, VAT included, one payment, co-founders included. Pre-revenue companies are not accepted. We take no equity. Dates and mentors: https://growth.brutallyhonestmentor.com/
- The Brutally Honest Startup Assessment, founder edition: every co-founder answers separately, in about 90 minutes each, and can save and come back. Four dimensions: Current State, Scalability & Fund Raising, Road to Revenue, Competitive Landscape. Five overall levels: Emerging, Developing, Validating, Scaling, Market-Ready. The team report shows the team average, alignment per dimension and the co-founders' answers side by side. 950 EUR per team, VAT included. The co-founder who pays also gets a 30-minute call with our AI voice mentor, which has read their report. https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/assessment
- 1:1 mentorship: a 60-minute Zoom session with a mentor matched to your situation. 200 EUR per session, VAT included, paid at booking. https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/mentorship
- The Brutally Honest Mentor AI: an AI voice mentor trained on Ozan Sonmez's method, not Ozan in person. The first 20 minutes are free, then 20 EUR for 20 minutes, 27 EUR for 30 and 35 EUR for 40, VAT included. The call is transcribed, not recorded. It is the free first step before a paid session: https://assessment.brutallyhonestmentor.com/brutally-honest-mentor
- The Honest Startup: a video course by Ozan Sonmez in thirteen sessions on how investors decide, traction, the six gaps that break a fundraise and running a round. 59 EUR, VAT included, one-time payment, lifetime access. https://assessment.brutallyhonestmentor.com/courses/honest-startup

## Track record

15+ years of mentoring across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America. 5,000+ startups mentored. 250+ startups accelerated. 13 startups invested in. Work in 25+ countries. Startups our mentors have worked with: https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/portfolio

## Where we work

Online worldwide. In person in Europe, Türkiye and the Middle East.

## Questions founders ask

- How do I get honest feedback on my startup? Start with the free 20 minutes of the Brutally Honest Mentor AI, or book a 60-minute session with a mentor for 200 EUR, VAT included.
- What is the Brutally Honest Startup Assessment? A structured assessment that each co-founder answers separately, in about 90 minutes each, and can save and come back. The report scores the startup on four dimensions and shows where the founders agree and where they do not.
- How much does the assessment cost? 950 EUR per team, VAT included. The co-founder who pays also gets a 30-minute call with our AI voice mentor, which has read their report.
- Does a good score mean we will raise money? No. The assessment shows where you stand and where the team disagrees. It does not predict funding.
- Who is TBHM Growth for? Founders whose company has revenue, paying customers and six to eight months of runway. Pre-revenue companies are not accepted.
- Does TBHM Growth take equity? No.
- Is the AI mentor a real person? No. It is an AI voice mentor trained on Ozan Sonmez's method.
- I run a fund, an angel network, a startup programme or a corporate innovation team. Which page is for me? Angels and mentors: https://brutallyhonestangel.com/assessment. Accelerators and funded programmes: https://brutallyhonestecosystem.com/assessment. Corporate innovation teams: https://brutallyhonestinnovator.com

## Pages

- [Home](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/): what TBHM does and for whom
- [1:1 mentorship](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/mentorship): format, mentors, price and FAQ
- [Startup assessment](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/assessment): what it measures, price and FAQ
- [How the assessment works](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/assessment/how-it-works): the four dimensions, how the answers are scored, the five levels, what the reports show and which edition fits whom
- [Portfolio](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/portfolio): startups our mentors have worked with
- [About](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/about): who runs TBHM, the two Co-Founders, the brands and the company details
- [TBHM Growth](https://growth.brutallyhonestmentor.com/): the programme for founders with revenue
- [Apply to TBHM Growth](https://growth.brutallyhonestmentor.com/apply): the application form
- [The Honest Startup](https://assessment.brutallyhonestmentor.com/courses/honest-startup): the 59 EUR video course
- [Free AI mentor](https://assessment.brutallyhonestmentor.com/brutally-honest-mentor): a free 20-minute voice call
- [Startup assessment answers](https://assessment.brutallyhonestmentor.com/library): plain answers on how the Brutally Honest Startup Assessment works, what it costs and what happens to your answers
- [TBHM Growth answers](https://growth.brutallyhonestmentor.com/library): plain answers on what TBHM Growth is, who it is for, what the four weeks hold and what it costs
- [Privacy policy](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/privacy-policy), [Terms of service](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/terms-of-service), [Sub-processors](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/sub-processors)

## Newsletter and channels

- Founders Shift by TBHM, a bi-weekly newsletter: https://brutallyhonestmentor.substack.com
- Short audiobooks for founders, on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2f3O27ZDpbGVgRFMo4jSUC
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebrutallyhonestco
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebrutallyhonestco
- X: https://x.com/brutallyco

## Machine files

- Prices: https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/pricing.md
- The Brutally Honest: https://thebrutallyhonest.co/llms.txt
- Sitemap: https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/sitemap.xml

## Library

Worksheets, checklists and straight answers for founders whose startup already has revenue: runway, raising and the numbers investors read first. Every post is also available as Markdown at its URL plus ".md".

- [How much runway does a startup need when it already has revenue?](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/library/how-much-runway-startup-with-revenue): The old 18 to 24 month rule is for the day after a round. With revenue and six to eight months of cash, check if you are default alive and date your plan B. By Alperen Zeki Gokmen.
- [The ten numbers an investor reads first, for founders with revenue](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/library/ten-numbers-investor-reads-first): The ten numbers we read on a company with revenue, from revenue and growth to burn, runway and the round, each with how to work it out and an example. By Ozan Sonmez.
- [AI wrapper or AI company? What investors ask an AI startup with revenue in 2026](https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/library/ai-wrapper-or-ai-company): Are AI wrappers dead? What investors ask an AI startup with revenue in 2026: defensibility, third-party models, margin, and the paper they check in diligence. By Alperen Zeki Gokmen.

- Feed: https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/library/rss.xml
- Index: https://brutallyhonestmentor.com/library