Building Your Advisory Board

searcher profile

June 24, 2019

by a searcher from Northwestern University in Melbourne, FL, USA

How did you guys and girls go about building your advisory board? I am having a hard time crafting the "right" ask.


I would greatly appreciate any advice and resources you can share.

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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Cornell University in Boston, MA, USA
I mean this in a productive way, but if I understand correctly what you are asking then your question scares me -- the normal answer is call a bunch of people you know, trust, and have a relationship with in the industry you are looking at and ask them to join your board -- should take about 10 minutes tops. These are the people you have worked with in the past who were great mentors, knew the industry, have great business instincts, etc. -- those people that you worked with in the past and said "he/she would be really knows whats going on in this industry and is great to work with." If you can't find that group of ~3-6 people who fit that criteria then I would seriously question whether putting in money with a personal guarantee is really a good idea. In this case, if I read correctly, you are also looking to build a board because you need help screening deals,in other words you either don't trust your own analysis or don't have your "finger on the pulse" of the industry. That worries me even more. Perhaps I am reading too much in, and I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer or question your ability, just pushing you to do more work on really being part of the industry and building your network ion the industry.
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Reply by an admin
from Stanford University in Honolulu, HI, USA
If you are interested in this post, please check out these Searchfunder Sessions:

* Developing Your Advisory or Company Board: https://www.searchfunder.com/event/view/276
* Constructing your cap table;
https://www.searchfunder.com/event/view/410
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