Toki Labs Software Factory
Explore how Toki Labs' commitment to mentorship has not only empowered individuals but also driven significant business growth, innovation, and a stronger company culture.
I still remember the conversation that changed everything. We were struggling to find a mid-level React developer for a client project, and our usual recruiting channels weren’t yielding the right fit. During a team meeting, one of our senior engineers said, “You know, I’ve been chatting with this junior developer who’s really eager to learn React. They’re sharp, just inexperienced. What if we taught them?”
That question sparked what became one of our most successful business strategies at Toki Labs. Not just hiring talent, but growing it.
What started as a practical solution to a staffing problem has evolved into something much bigger. Our mentorship program isn’t just a feel-good initiative we do on the side. It’s become a cornerstone of how we operate, innovate, and grow as a company.
Most companies approach talent acquisition like they’re shopping for groceries. They have a list of requirements, they go to the market (job boards, recruiters), and they try to find the exact item they need. When they can’t find it, they either compromise or keep looking.
We took a different approach. Instead of just hunting for the perfect candidate, we started asking: “What if we could create them?”
The idea wasn’t entirely altruistic. In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, finding someone with the exact skill set you need can be like finding a unicorn. But finding someone with the right mindset, work ethic, and learning ability? That’s much more achievable.
Our mentorship program pairs experienced engineers with promising individuals who might not have all the technical skills yet but have the potential to develop them. We don’t just teach coding - we teach problem-solving, collaboration, and the kind of critical thinking that makes someone truly valuable on a team.
What surprised me was how quickly the program started paying dividends, and not just in the ways we expected.
Take Maria, for example. She joined our program as a self-taught developer with a strong foundation in HTML and CSS but limited JavaScript experience. Six months later, she was contributing meaningfully to client projects. A year later, we hired her full-time. Today, she’s one of our go-to people for complex frontend challenges.
But here’s the thing - Maria didn’t just become a great developer. She brought fresh perspectives that challenged how we approached certain problems. During one project, she suggested a completely different way to structure our component library that ended up saving us weeks of work. Her beginner’s mind, combined with her growing expertise, led to innovation we wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.
This pattern repeated itself over and over. We’ve had over 50 people go through our mentorship programs, and while not all of them joined our team permanently, they all contributed something valuable during their time with us.
Five of them became full-time team members, but honestly, that’s not even the most important metric. The 30+ people who found jobs elsewhere in the industry? They’re part of a network now. They recommend us to potential clients, they refer talented people our way, and they’ve become ambassadors for the kind of thoughtful, collaborative approach we believe in.
The most profound impact wasn’t on our bottom line - it was on our culture.
When you’re actively teaching and mentoring, you create an environment where questions are not just tolerated but encouraged. Where admitting you don’t know something is seen as the first step toward learning, not a sign of weakness.
I watched our senior engineers become better communicators because they had to explain complex concepts clearly. They became more patient, more empathetic, and frankly, better leaders. Teaching forces you to really understand what you know and identify the gaps in your own knowledge.
The mentees brought energy and curiosity that kept the rest of us sharp. They asked “why do we do it this way?” about processes we’d never questioned. Sometimes the answer was “because that’s how we’ve always done it,” which usually meant it was time to reconsider.
One of the most rewarding aspects of our mentorship program has been watching the ripple effects. People who went through our program often become mentors themselves in their new roles. They take the collaborative, supportive approach they experienced with us and spread it to their new teams.
I got an email last month from someone who completed our program two years ago. He’s now a senior developer at a startup, and he told me he’s started a mentorship program there based on what he learned with us. That’s the kind of impact that goes way beyond any individual business metric.
Here’s what I think most companies get wrong about mentorship: they treat it as an add-on, something that happens in spare time or as a side project. At Toki Labs, it’s integrated into how we operate.
Our senior team members allocate time for mentorship as part of their core responsibilities. We factor it into project timelines and resource planning. We recognize that the time invested in teaching pays dividends not just in the long term, but often in the immediate project.
When a mentee is working on a real client project (under guidance), they’re not just learning, they’re contributing. They’re doing research, writing code, testing solutions. The mentorship becomes a force multiplier, not a distraction.
Clients don’t just get the benefit of working with experienced professionals. They get teams that are constantly learning, questioning, and improving. They get fresh perspectives alongside seasoned expertise. They get solutions that are informed by diverse viewpoints and approaches.
More importantly, they get stability. Teams built through mentorship have lower turnover because people feel invested in the company’s success. They have better knowledge transfer because teaching and learning are built into the culture. They have more resilience because everyone is comfortable with not knowing everything and figuring things out together.
Mentorship as a business strategy requires patience and faith. You’re investing time and resources in people who might not stay with your company forever. You’re teaching skills that make people more valuable, which means they might get offers from other companies.
But here’s what I’ve learned: when you genuinely invest in people’s growth and success, most of them remember that. Even if they leave, they leave as advocates. They become part of your extended network. They refer business your way. They recommend talented people to you.
And the ones who stay? They stay because they want to be there, not because they have to be. They stay because they’ve experienced what it’s like to be truly supported and developed, and they want to pay that forward.
Our mentorship program has taught us that the most sustainable competitive advantage isn’t having the best people, it’s being the kind of company that helps people become their best.
We’re not just building software. We’re building careers, relationships, and a community of people who believe in doing good work and helping others do the same.
That’s not just good for business - it’s good for the world. And in an industry that’s constantly changing, having a network of people who trust you and want to see you succeed is the most valuable asset you can build.
The best part? Every person we mentor becomes capable of mentoring others. The impact multiplies exponentially. That’s not just a business strategy - that’s a legacy.
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