What is the best way to find potential board members for your startup?

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.

You need to create a profile on Linkedin and be active, post and comment on others profiles. It's a process but people help people they know. Executives are extremely busy people and they protect their time. Also try Facebook groups, again you'll have to join and interact- that's networking in social media. All the best.

The point of advising is to have fun but it's also to align with the upside of the business. So the things to consider / ensure are. - Are they venture backeable ... if they don't plan (or you don't see them being able to) raise venture capital, then being a formal advisor (with equity) won't matter. - Do you trust them. As an advisor, you're extended your brand and credibility to the team so you need to ensure they'll be good stewards of it. - Are they coacheable ... when you talk, do they listen and are open to the advice. Do they take action? As for compensation & commitment, here's what's normal. - 0.1-1% equity in the early stages .. usually over 2 years vesting monthly. - You make yourself available for 1-2 hour per month, and help throughout making introductions, reviewing documents,etc Personally, I think it's super important to ensure you tell what you won't be doing. Ex: I won't be accountable for a work product, as in - I'm not going to run your marketing / development team :) You never know what people expect, so it's best to discuss it upfront. Also, if you plan on doing formal advisory (for compensation) - it's ideal to get atleast 10+ companies to help out in that format to ever see a financial return ... your essentially acting much like a VC. So just understand, there's a very high likely hood that it won't go anywhere financially .. but it can be super rewarding. The key is that you enjoy spending time with the team and learning about their journey.

It’s pretty simple, your offering has a lot of issues for what and how you’re targeting - you product, money, it’s a “commodity” so why you, your money, your firm? - The big boys (public) have tremendous relationships with big, known, credible capital sources. - They’re sophisticated so they know your capital has to be roughly at the same costs as the many trusted avenues they currently have for capital - I mentioned “trusted” a few times as it’s KEY. Does the firm you represent have a well known brand or known trust elements? - They are public companies and risk adverse so the likelihood of them entertaining a cold call or cold email from an unknown capital source is very low. Why? All things being similar they’re much better off taking and announcing capital from a trusted branded bank or firm. - Trust: with all the capital scams out there triggered, especially online, they are likely also reacting to scam risk first. Unless you have a trusted product (brand, people, story etc) and a way to get in front of prospects in a trusted way (conferences v email) i think the odds are really tough the bigger the company. Perhaps your product offering fit smaller or growth stage companies who have less options and aren’t public facing where Capital brand is so important. B

Generally speaking for early-stage companies with less than $1m in total funding, boards function on a very bare bones basis. They would convene *at most* 4 times a year (and 4 would be atypical) to pass resolutions that require board approval. I believe you were the same person who asked about recruiting board members. If you have questions that remain upon reviewing my two answers, happy to do a quick call to provide you further clarity.