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MenuWith our product being developed, we are looking for a good team of advisors - we need input, challenges and connections, how can I find them?
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Great advisors are driven by 3 primary variables: the industry/sector of your product, your existing network, and where you are physically located.
Industry - Your industry may or may not be network driven, in the sense that industry members regularly come together organically (venture capital) or stay relatively separate (accountants). If they regularly come together, industry events are great ways to building your network and eventually finding advisors. If they do not, this is where the value of your network comes into play.
Network - Your network is the first place to start, going first through 1st degree connections and then to 2nd degree connections. 2nd degree connections can ultimately be more helpful as the individual has less of a personal relationship with you and may be more amenable to a business relationship that is more objective than your close friends could ever provide.
Physical Location - While this may be difficult to permanently change, your location matters, and your proximity to the circles you care about matters. If you are not already in the center of where you want to be, it may be worth a trip to where the highest number of potential targets are if you can stack enough meetings together.
Happy to further expand on a call if you'd like.
The way I have found works best to get very good advisors in the past is to reach out to other entrepreneurs who have already done what you want to do very successfully, or at least something very similar. I simply start scouring LinkedIn to find the best entrepreneurs who have done something similar to what I have done and I message them asking for 5 minutes of their time. Basically all I do is ask for 5 minutes of their time for some advice on a new business you want to start. Then, once I get on the phone with them, I ask all of the questions I want answered. If they seem like a good person and like they want to help you, then I flat out ask them if they would be interested in becoming an equity advisor.
An equity advisor is someone who gives you 4 hours per month (1 hour per week) to literally be a part of your team and collaborate on a weekly call or meeting. In exchange, they get about 1% of equity.
If you have any questions or want to know about some of the other ways I find quality advisors, just message me and I'll share my experience with you.
I also recommend to check out the reviews on my Clarity profile to see that my calls and advice are extremely helpful.
I look forward to speaking with you!
There are likely a few ways to do this. Reaching out via your network for those individuals/organizations that can provide the input you need is an easy way and likely one you've already thought of. Another is to hire a connector, whose job it is to find these advisors for you. This person/organization could also determine which input is valid and worth considering versus what is fluff. Connections are also easier made when you have a broker of sorts finding them for you. I do a lot of that. Let me know if I can help!
In our area, we have several different incubators which are also an excellent place to find advisors. I have also used Meetups to network with people with similar interests in both my field and markets.
You can use social listening to find almost anyone and anything on-line. Look for those people who already influence your customers and other entities in your niche or industry.
You can begin by reading the custom-post below and continue by booking a call with me. Chances are that I know a few of the experts you are looking for, which could help you to launch faster.
"Can This Entrepreneur Find Advisers for Their New Venture?"
http://wp.me/p3tZZw-7MH
What's the product? Does it have the right name? tag line? domain(s)? landing-page copy? marketing verbiage? sales pitch?
If you want feedback or assistance in those areas, then hello.
Related Questions
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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.TW
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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).MB
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What are the best strategies for a company to attract & compensate formal advisors on a board? What normal? Is it money, or equity - etc?
Mark is correct that the best advisors should have skin in the game but that advice is applicable only when you and your business are obviously investable. I've engaged advisors at times when I knew I wasn't ready to ask for their money and I've often begun advisory relationships in the earliest of stages where I like in and believe in the entrepreneur and the idea but they don't yet meet my investment criteria. Also, the old adage is true: Ask for advice, and you might just end-up with the person offering or even asking to invest. This has happened to me again on both sides of the table. In terms of compensation, I have a chart that spells out specific advisor expectations and stage-appropriate equity based compensation that I can email anyone who DM's me here through Clarity. Mark's answer is lower than I would accept for a start-up that isn't well funded. But anything above 1% would be really unusual and would have to be a really, really hands-on advisor or partial contributor as a team member. It should never be money on a retainer basis. I now have several people who call me regularly through Clarity to talk through specific things but other than that, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect cash compensation in a formal advisory role. And I would personally be vary of that because if they're not taking equity, then they really, much to Mark's point, have any skin in the game. I have a standard template that I use as an advisor (it was originally given to me by a company I advise) and I know use it with my own advisors, so happy to pass a stripped version of that agreement as it's the best one I've seen and is clearest for both parties. Just DM here via Clarity if you want it.TW
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Just wondering how a board advisor is compensated? Is this typically in a form of equity, compensation, or just mentorship?
I've had many "Advisors" over the years and I like to break them up into 2 groups. 1) Formal Advisors These are people who strategic insights into the business and would create value for the company by having them listed on our site, and have access to them in an ongoing way. I typically engage them well before anything formal to see if they would actually be helpful and that we both get along. Compensation is usually around 0.1% - 0.5% ... if the person is amazing and will also help with the fundraising process, then I would go as high as 1%. 2) Personal Advisors These are people who I turn to for specific advice around tactics and strategy on an infrequent basis (maybe once or twice a year). Things like SEO, Internationalization, etc ... I typically try to create value for them every time we chat, so that it's win/win and I don't compensate with equity. I've personally never paid for formal advice, although I do often via Clarity .. but that's different. The great thing about Clarity is I can avoid spending the time or equity to get similar quality advice in usually a faster time period, however both approaches (list above vs. using Clarity) are totally different affinities to the person and the company. Call if you need more.DM
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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.MC
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