Forming an Advisory Board
January 21st, 2008 Theresa Shafer
Forming an advisory board: “it takes a village to make a startup” advises Richard Weber of Semifore. Part of trick to “finding your village” is get into the habit of regularly presenting plans and results to at least kitchen cabinet from day one.
An advisory board is different from a formal board of directors that is created as you take on outside funding (or prepare to take on outside funding). They may be friends, unpaid advisors, or consultants who advice you value and whose expertise and experience typically fills a blind spot in your current founding or executive team. For stock compensation several attendees suggested options in the range of 1/10 of one percent to one percent of the common pool. Advisory boards may meet monthly, or one or twice a quarter. Half of the value can be in the preparation the startup team goes through to present results and plans for next time period, so prior preparation is one of the keys to making advisory boards effective.
Entry Filed under: Consulting Business, Startups, Rules of Thumb, tshafer
2 Comments Add your own
1. SKMurphy » Focus On Your&hellip | February 1st, 2008 at 9:41 pm
[…] Moreover, many successful entrepreneurs can see their particular path as the only path, and they in effect tell you “stay on this path, it worked for me.” I think forming an advisory board from folks whom you trust and who have relevant business experience is one of the keys to success. You can’t just go it alone all the time, you have to be able to expose your plan and your thinking and get knowledgeable feedback. If you don’t have a plan, how do you know what to tinker with to evolve your business model (or what you are changing when things are not working out). […]
2. SKMurphy » Common Q&hellip | July 16th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
[…] An advisory board is a formal or informal group of advisors who give advise, contacts, and feedback. Unlike the board of directors they do not have a fiduciary responsibility but are critical for start-ups. Also see Forming an advisory board. […]
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