How long did you go before getting a coach?

Agree so much with Frank Donovan above.

I've never had a coach. Also never had a mentor in the way that most people in the WF mean it. But I certainly have had a few mentors throughout my career. These were usually bosses, coworkers, friends or family who were better at something than I was, but who I could rely upon for help, tips and guidance when I got stuck. In particular I remember one of the VPs in the IT department where I first worked who gave me programming lessons when I was getting started as a young developer.

I should note that in none of these cases did I pay for a mentor -- in fact, since many of these mentors were at my workplace, usually I was the one getting paid. I'll also say that these weren't "hold hold my hand and tell me what to do step by step" relationships. I put a lot of effort in on my own, spending late nights working, reading books and documentation and just trying things out on my own. And the truth is I think it's this self-direction that brought me to the attention of my best mentors. They recognized that I was a hard worker and that I had talent and so they were willing to invest their own time in me.

To me, this is the best type of mentorship. As Frank said, the best entrepreneurs use their own initiative more than anything else. So if you need someone to hold your hand and walk you through things step-by-step, entrepreneurship probably isn't for you anyway. (This is also why I'm skeptical of so many step-by-step methods that people seem to hawk around here.)

But if you just need a little help from time to time, if you need someone to give you a fresh and outside perspective, a mentor can be really helpful. But I do think most people would do better getting regular jobs and learning from senior staff and really paying attention to the ins and outs of how a real business operates than hiring someone to be their coach.