Choosing Advisors for Your Early-Stage Startup

Advisors can be really helpful for your startup, especially when you're in growth mode with a smaller team. But it's all about finding the right ones for right now.

Here's how to think about it at pre-seed and seed:

Pick for your next 18 months Your needs will change fast. A great advisor for product-market fit isn't necessarily the right person for your Series A. Be intentional about what problem you're actually trying to solve today.

A helpful note for this: Set expectations with Advisors upfront about length of term, that way you can avoid awkward discussions about sunsetting their position after 18-24 months! The best Advisors will understand this inherently.

Prioritize operators over theorists: Someone who's been in the seat - built a team, raised a round, survived a pivot - will give you more useful advice than someone who's studied it from the outside. Lived experience matters. Nothing wrong with having a theorist here or there, but be thoughtful on what they're bringing to the table.

Less is more: Two or three advisors who are truly engaged will do more for you than a long list of impressive names and brands who never respond to your messages. Quality over quantity, always. I always use this rule of thumb: If a potential investor asked you what your communication cadence was with the Advisors you list in your deck, will you feel confident answering that question, or will you be a little embarrased?

This also makes Advisor management a lot more manageable. When you're super strapped for time and resources, managing large groups like an 8-person board can take away valuable time. Advisors aren't going to do their jobs for you.

Be clear about your process: We talked about setting expectations above we term length, same goes for the entire relationship. What does showing up actually look like? Monthly calls? Intros? Feedback on your deck? Spell it out before you sign anything. Ambiguity is where advisor relationships go sideways or it becomes difficult to have value activated.

Know the equity norms: Early-stage advisors typically get 0.1%-0.5% in options, vesting over 1-2 years. Tie it to a simple advisor agreement (FAST agreement is a common starting point).

Red flag: There's nothing I hate more than predatory "Advisors". If you have someone approach you for over 1% for being an Advisor, be careful. Even at 1%, they should be going above and beyond an average Advisor. And if an investor is trying to tie additional advisory equity to an initial investment, also be careful (there are exceptions to this, especially if you have an early Advisor who converts to an investor - this is a good thing!).

Advisors aren't the same as your Board: This one is important. An Advisory Board is not the same as a Board of Directors. Your Board of Directors is a formal governance structure that you should think about in Seed stage or later. We'll chat more about effective Board set up soon, but here's a quick rundown that could be helpful.

The best advisor relationships feel like a two-way street, they're invested in your success, and you make it easy for them to help.