Ethan Branzuela shoots sports photography for professional and collegiate athletes. When he was trying to get better, he sent cold messages to photographers he followed online. A few responded, and those conversations taught him more in a few weeks than years of tutorials ever did.
"That experience made something obvious," he said. "One real conversation with someone who has already done the thing is worth more than any amount of research. I kept asking myself why this wasn't easier for every student."
He started seeing the same pattern everywhere. Athletes who made it had coaches. Doctors who made it had mentors. Lawyers, engineers and founders almost all had someone older who showed them how things actually worked. Not from a book, but from real experience. That is the thing you can't Google.
The idea
So he built Mentino: a free platform where any student can find a verified professional in their field and just talk to them. No connections required. No luck needed.
"One day, a student should be able to click a button and instantly connect with the right mentor for their dream career."
If you want to become a CEO, you should be able to speak to one. If you want to become a doctor, you should be able to learn from one. If you want to work in sports, law, tech or science, you should have direct access to people already there.
Ethan runs the platform while still in high school. His photography work is at ebonthecam.mypixieset.com.
