

ASK YC: How soon and where to find the best advisors for your startup? - shafqat

We're a small startup preparing for our alpha release. So far we've been self-funded and managed ourselves with the help of feedback from friends, family and fellow entrepreneurs. Now we're thinking of getting an advisory board together to help formalize our direction, but more importantly, help us with networking and introductions (generally developing our business). Any suggestions as to how to go about finding them? I'm the type that would just send out an email asking flat-out "Would you consider becoming our advisor?"... Looking for suggestions!<p>Shafqat (co-founder of NewsCred)
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pg
It's usually a sign of lameness to have an official advisory board. If you
look at the startups you admire, you'll find few have them.

Board members and (good) investors are always de facto advisors. And if you
seem promising, people in the startup world will help you out for free. But it
is not a good idea to have formal advisors who are neither board members nor
investors.

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nivi
I agree with all of pg's sentiments except for "it is not a good idea to have
formal advisors who are neither board members nor investors."

Lots of great companies have formal advisors who are neither board members nor
investors. I encourage entrepreneurs to turn proven smart + helpful people
into advisors.

The board's primary task is governance, not advice. Lots of great advisors
don't even want to deal with being on your board. pg is probably a good
example of that.

I would also argue that, to some degree, YC is effectively acting as an
advisor, not an investor. This is consistent with the fact that some/many? of
the YC grads say that they would give YC the equity for free, just to
participate in the program.

I'll write up detailed thoughts on Venture Hacks soon. I'm sure you're holding
your breath. =)

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sama
PG is right that having an 'advisory board' is a bad sign. However, I think
that sometimes giving someone smart and powerful a little bit of stock early
in the life of your company can be very helpful. We did it, and it got us two
very important deals.

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mrtron
Advisers can be amazing. At a friend's startup, they have a few advisers that
meet with them weekly and also do weekly intros to prospective clients. They
end up selling successfully to about 80% of those clients. How else could you
have that kind of success rate?

The wrong adviser is useless, the right adviser is priceless.

An actual board of advisers is a different situation, I don't know many
startups that have something like that.

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ALee
People we've met along the way have "advised us," but we are still hacking
away on finding the right prototype and the right market.

Lots of people believe in the mensch mentality. It's surprising how many
others have just helped us think through decisions. It makes them feel
important and on the off-chance you become successful, you won't forget them.

