Is it better to talk to brokers after you have a board for that particular industry?

yes, a board strengthens your Prescence

Okay, so while in theory, the board can give you credibility that you may lack, in reality, I just had a weird experience with a group that supposedly has a board consisting of incredibly connected and experienced individuals, including a former high-ranking politician and who is who of that industry, but when I spoke with them and dug a little bit more, I found that they don't have committed capital, their organization doesn't have a budget or pays salaries; they're just kind of loose group connected to some guy who looked like he was having a meeting from his mother's basement, and worse, the individuals that were in a meeting turned out not to have a basic idea of how the regulations in the industry work, because it's a heavily regulated industry and newest issues with those regulations and so on and so on, which is telling me just having board on its own doesn't mean much.