I can't stress how helpful a mentor is to kickstarting a development career.

I was lucky enough to have a friend that was willing to take me under his wing. We both had jobs at different companies, both underwhelmed by the tasks we were given, and both looking for a little more. We worked together for almost 5 years on nights and weekends because of this drive.

We would sit around and building things we thought were cool. Solve problems we felt hadn't been solved well enough. One of the two of us would have a hair brained idea and we would build into the wee hours of the morning. It was glorious.

I learned more from working closely with a mentor than I ever could have any other way. I really can see how live coding on LiveCoding.tv could accomplish this same thing. The motivation, the interactivity, and the sharing of knowledge.

Well said. For anyone really looking to up their development game, if you haven't been a mentor or mentee, I'd highly recommend it.