Loading...
Answers
MenuWe are in the process of bringing on our first rock-star adviser - what can i expect?
Answers
It can be as simple or as complicated as you need it to be.
For my first startup we have a few board members, compensation was .5 to 1% equity for monthly meetings vested at 1 year.
They are advisors and as such you should ask them what they expect from you, you from them and provide a framework of the future together - let them know what to expect - don't waste their time and only bring them in for meetings when you are absolutely confused in your immediate path or long term goals and have them provide feedback & their network
I have served on over 40 corporate boards and advisory boards. What you can expect from any advisor depends on the advisor's experience base and character. Some advisors take all the air out of the room and require massive amounts of care and feeding. Others are nearly invisible. Probably so long as you understand what you want from the advisor and communicate it to them clearly, you will have good results. Let me know if this was helpful and if you would like to discuss the matter further.
You can expect the following things from your Rockstar advisor:
1. Make clear and specific recommendations and explain how their recommendations will help you meet your goals.
2. Explain the risks involved with every investment they recommend.
3. Answer your questions about investment products and strategies.
4. Keep your personal information safe.
5. Get your permission before buying or selling investments on your behalf, and confirm it in writing (unless you have a discretionary account or you have given someone else trading authority or power of attorney over your account).
6. Send regular account statements and meet with you at least once a year to review your information, progress and update your plan, if appropriate.
Apart from those above you should not expect these things from an advisor:
1. Guarantee market performance.
2. Buy or sell investments with unclear instructions.
3. Achieve unrealistic expectations of profit or always recommend profitable products.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Related Questions
-
How can I be a good startup advisor/mentor?
I was born a maker, and I've been an Entrepreneur for six years now (and a wannabe for much longer before that) and I think the worst advice I've got was from people who had never taken a step of the journey. People with academic (or other) credentials who advise you based on theory and completely miss the point of entrepreneurship. They know about the theory of sales funnels and marketing strategies and much more but they've never made a cold call. Or a sale for that matter. The best advice I received was from my godfather, who is an entrepreneur and salesman. That advice was simple, brutal and actionable: "If you can't sell it to a customer, how do you expect to sell it to a salesman ?". That made me realize that you don't stand a chance at success if you can't convince anyone. A good startup advisor understands all of the field he's advising about and knows what a startup is. He knows how to apply his knowledge to the constraints a startup faces and how to deliver that wisdom in regular words to support the startup's decision process.Ludovic UrbainLU
-
What are your tips for gaining advisory/board positions?
Approach it as if you were applying for a position in an organization. You will want to find the right industry, the right management team, the right opening on the board [either governance or advisory], the right person to help you. Next create a statement that says why you on this board. Then sell it.Michael CavittMC
-
What is your best piece of advice for a first-time startup CEO?
Surround yourself with people who have done it before. Not consultants, not coaches, people who have walked the path you are embarking on. The good news is that the startup community is the most helpful business community of any industry, by miles. I'd be happy to do a call to help you figure out how and where to identify these supporters and champions. Good luck!Tom WilliamsTW
-
What is the standard equity stake for an advisor of a pre-funded and pre-revenue mobile app startup?
Standard here is 1% with a 12 month vest, assuming the kind of involvement you're describing. message me your email on Clarity and I'll send you the standard docs which also spell out involvement. I've answered this exact question before so I would suggest to all new Clarity members that you use the search to see if the answer to your question already exists. I would caution you that an advisor shouldn't be responsible for things that fall into the "execution" bucket.Tom WilliamsTW
-
What does a good advisor bring to the table for a startup?
A good advisor can help a startup in various ways. Here I describe what I do: I work quite a bit with pre-angel/pre-seed/pre-accelerator US-based tech startups (or sometimes even executives/scientists/technologists in corporate jobs toying with a startup idea that they'd consider leaving their jobs for), and have done this now for well over a decade while founding/growing my own companies. Most of these founders come to me from hearing about me from another founder, so I am assuming that founders are finding some value in their interactions with me. At this early-stage in the game, one of the key things I try to do is to separate founders' assumptions about various aspects of the business from facts that they have validated. Another thing founders find useful is examples/ideas of how other startups solved a similar business problem in a creative manner (my voracious reading helps a lot here.) Finally, I also try to take the devil's advocate position on key assertions that the founders make (e.g. why are they & their product uniquely suited to tackle this problem in face of competition) in order to point out counterarguments with the eventual goal of helping them strengthen their case. My engagements with founders tend to take the form of intense 30-75 minute brainstorming sessions (1-3 sessions), which typically provide them with enough food for thought to start executing on various fronts. A small percentage of these startups continue to make great progress over a period of 3-9 months and keep me in the loop via brief email updates. Those ones, I help by providing them critical feedback on their pitch decks (multiple iterations until I think that it is crisp and powerful) and then bring on the radars of my early-stage investor contacts (US-based).Mahesh Bhatia (Early-stage pitch decks)MB
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.
