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MenuWhat is the best strategy you know to build an advisory board?
We are creating a leveraged community of visionaries and entrepreneurs from around the globe and need to build a strong advisory board for this venture.
How would you best do this?
Answers
OK someone actually flagged me for spam??? I wrote a book on how to build advisory boards. It directly answers the question posed. I don't make my living off my book. I wrote it to help entrepreneurs. if you want help, then contact me. If not, then good luck. Wow!!
There are three stages to consider when deciding to build your advisory board.
1.) Design your board. Considerations at this stage include: your current stage, the vision, mission, and current strategy of the venture, the areas of expertise that you would like to gain access to, annual calendar of meetings, mission of the advisory board expectations of advisors, board compensation, and etc.
2.) Establish your board. Considerations at this include: prepare legal documents from the advisory board charter to NDAs and indemnity agreements, identifying who you wish to pursue to invite and carrying out the invitation-interview processes, establishing an on boarding process that is well thought out and thorough to ensure you maximize the opportunity for parties.
3.) Facilitating the engagement of your board. Considerations at this stage are: honoring the annual calendar of meetings, being thoroughly prepared, disseminating information 1-2 weeks prior to each meeting, allowing the board members time to be prepared for each meeting, best practice to use a non-executive chair for facilitating the meetings, enabling the ceo/founder/leadership to be fully engaged in the meeting and not worried about running the meeting. Carrying out regular peer reviews of all advisors and leadership engaged with the board. Additionally it is important to cultivate relationship by being a great communicator sending out regular updates with the team and connecting with the advisors individually (and/or corporately).
Looking forward to discussing further >>
An entrepreneur can use an advisory board to weather current challenges and opportunities. For example, a chef entrepreneur about to open a new restaurant may decide to form an advisory board to gain expertise in marketing, human resources and construction and design -- skills that a culinary type would not necessarily possess. In forming the advisory board, the entrepreneur should carefully consider his or her critical knowledge gaps to identify appropriate advisors. No entrepreneur needs yes men disguised as advisory board members.
The most ideal advisors have the entrepreneur’s best interests at heart. And so, they are not afraid to give advice -- even if it contradicts the thinking of the entrepreneur. Because the feedback can be brutally honest, entrepreneurs may wish to avoid picking advisors who are close friends or family members. Initially, identifying potential advisors can seem like a daunting task. These individuals are familiar with the owner and likely would be willing to serve as advisors. To the extent a particular need cannot be met by someone in the entrepreneur’s network, referrals can seek. After identifying potential advisory board candidates, the entrepreneur should carefully vet them to ensure that they would be a good fit. Advisors should not only have the technical knowledge but also a desire to help the entrepreneur. Plus, there should be good chemistry between a potential advisor and the entrepreneur. While advisory boards are generally less formal than governing boards, the entrepreneur should protect his or business. Advisors will be privy to highly confidential information about business plans, intellectual property, and trade secrets. They become involved because of their desire to help the entrepreneur -- and perhaps feel good about mentoring someone in need of their expertise. Advisors who feel appreciated will put forth their best effort. Entrepreneurs should seek out three to five advisors with the necessary skills to meet the current challenges. Then the entrepreneur can seek new advisors with the needed skills. Advisors who are no longer relevant or contributing as needed should be retired. Asking advisors to step down is not easy. So, setting term limits for advisors is a good approach. This will result in less drama and stress and allow the entrepreneur to easily rotate advisors as needs change. Advisors can provide valuable feedback and recommendations -- if they are prepared before meetings. All relevant information such as business plans, financial statements and other reports should go to advisors well in advance of board meetings. If the entrepreneur provides advisors interim information such as monthly financial and other reports, however, board members can remain informed.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Related Questions
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What are the best incentives a startup can offer to an advisor or to an angel investor that will guide the company with the fundraising process?
Having been in the position as an advisor, this is what I think an advisor expects: a. Equity Ownership. This depends upon how much involved an advisor into the start-up. b. A flat fee and a percentage pie on every transaction the stat-up makes(Not the profit margin) c. At my early stage, all I want is a testimonial from start-up n how I helped this business. In my early stages of adviosrship, I want good customer testimonials. This is a win-win situation for both of us. I get to learn from him many things which I couldn't have done myself. d. It is strategic importance to my own idea and I would love this company to scale and raise the funding and in this case I would expect a contract from the company which I helped.TK
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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.LU
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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!TW
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What are some good ways of finding mentors and advisors for you and your product?
Like anything to do with a startup, it's about proactive outreach. AngelList is a great way to research what people have done before. You want to optimize for relevant experience. AngelList however is very ineffective for making cold connections. Instead, I use LinkedIn and ensure to always write a personalized introduction with my connection request explaining why my company is something they would be interested in. After the connection is accepted, I then follow-up with a personalized email thanking them for accepting the request and then asking to buy them a coffee or schedule a meeting. I have built a great network of both formal and informal advisors and investors through this process. Formal advisors really should be limited to just a few. In these cases, granting options to purchase equity between 0.5 - 1% is standard for great advisors. But reimbursing expenses is far less standard. I'll always offer to pick-up the tab as a sign of respect for their time, but other than that, advisors (myself included) are generally happy to pay out-of-pocket unless for travel. Just like any relationship, be sure that you want to make a long-term commitment in equity before formalizing the relationship. Often, good advisors where there is a mutual chemistry will be happy to do many meetings without anything committed. Lastly, I would caution you to be wary of people who approach you to act as an advisor and/or people who are actively operational and also on many advisory boards. I limit myself to a handful of formal advisory relationships at a time and it's usually owing to a longstanding friendship that I am an advisor. You want your advisors that you're paying equity to to really be engaged. Happy to talk any of this with you in a call.TW
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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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