Building a Volunteer Advisory Board

Some insights from today’s inaugural Imperial Venture Mentoring Service (IVMS) Founders’ Roundtable on advisors, with the indomitable Maxwell Munford of OSSTEC, Debra Babalola of Dotplot, Kourosh Sam Kamali of Myonerv, Melis Eda Ekinci of Woost and Lucy Jung of Charco. ✅ Advisors are best engaged on milestone/output vesting not input/time (albeit you will likely mention minimum time commitment). You might want to give a small piece of equity in the first instance, as a sign of goodwill, with the rest vested. This is a great way of reducing risk to the company, and ensuring equity gets to those who have helped it succeed. ✅ When engaging with potential advisors, sell your vision and how they can contribute. Be clear about what you want from them. Just asking someone to be advisor can be very hard to engage with. ✅ When agreeing initial timeframes, consider shorter ones, usually a year (or shorter). This creates natural goodbyes, if the relationship isn’t working, and natural reframing opportunities if it is. ✅ Whilst you don’t always need a formal contract with advisors, at least write down what you expect and are agreeing for them to be involved with, so it is clear to all parties. It will help them buy in, and ensure there is accountability on both sides. ✅ Some advisors will volunteer, but when raise, if they are still working with you and adding value, then you should be offering them compensation ✅ When considering how many options to give, benchmark against what the opportunity cost is for them to spend time working with you rather than a paid opportunity, so you can be competitive ✅ When you have a bigger team, you may not be the best connection for the advisor. If you have moved away from a certain area of the company, then the team who does focus on it day to day will gain more for you, the company and themselves, and the advisor is likely going to enjoy working with them more. ✅ Remember that they are there to advise, not make decisions for the company (that is YOUR job). It can be tricky when an advisor has a strong view, and feels you are ignoring it. One founder put it very well: “You can’t see out the whole windscreen so you don’t get to have your hand on the steering wheel.” ✅ Finding advisors can be cumulative, it can take a long time until you identify someone you think can have a significant impact on your startup, and usually starts to build momentum as you learn what works for you, and your network expands. ✅ When you are very early stage then you probably want to start with individual advisors. As you grow, it may make sense to create a board or even vertical specific boards. Whilst this takes more operational bandwidth, it can be rewarding for the advisors and your team. You can also have one of the advisors or one of your team take on the Chair role. ✅ Be flexible, there is no one framework for all startups, and different advisors want different things Imperial Enterprise Lab, Imperial Enterprise, Ben Mumby-Croft

One of the biggest questions I get from founders is, "How do I Build My Board?" Which is often followed by, "Do I Need One?" 💫 One of the most impactful steps a startup can take is to build a strong advisory board of humans they trust. Here’s how to make it happen 👉 💫 Action: Identify and approach potential advisors who align with your business goals. People you trust and admire in specific industries you need support on. 💫 Success Tip: Offer clear value propositions and defined roles to potential advisors to gain their commitment. Date before you marry! How to Get Started👉 💫Make a Hit List💫 -Look for those with the expertise and network complementing your business needs. -Focus on those who share your vision and can provide strategic guidance. -Look for people ten steps ahead of you (people who have been there and done that with real experience to support). -Fill in key areas of support for your business (Industry, Legal, Financial, Capital, Tech etc). 💫Say Hello💫 -No matter who it is, find a way to message, email, or ask a friend to introduce you to them and just say hello! -It's like dating, getting to know each other, and seeing if it is a good fit to build a formal relationship. 💫Craft a Compelling Pitch💫 -Clearly articulate how their involvement will benefit both your startup and them. -Highlight the value they bring and the impact they can make. -WHY do they or should they care to join you? 💫Define Their Role💫 (this is a big one) -Be specific about what you expect from them. -Whether it’s strategic advice, networking opportunities, or operational insights, make sure they understand their role and responsibilities. 💫Follow Through💫 -Show that you value their time and expertise. -This could be through equity, compensation, or other incentives that align with your startup’s stage and capabilities. -This could also be just by doing your homework. This means that if they give you direction, guidance, or an intro-FOLLOW THROUGH. 💫Maintain Engagement & Comms💫 -Regularly update your advisors on progress and challenges. -Schedule consistent meetings to keep them involved and informed. -Do not cancel and reschedule and cancel and reschedule. VALUE THEIR TIME. By building a strong advisory board, you’re not just adding names to a list or slide deck – you’re creating a powerhouse team that can help steer your startup toward success. #startupadvice #femalefounders #entrepreneurship #advisoryboard #businessgrowth #womeninbusiness

Continuing with my Advisory Board series, here's post number 2. You send some WhatsApps and emails to some prospects yesterday, right? And I'm willing to bet you had a positive response from everyone. You might find one or two prospects somewhat reserved if their schedules are already packed. That's ok. If this is the case, they'll be flattered to be asked even if they can't immediately commit. Today, it's time to work out the rough role profile. What are you expecting from an advisory board member? Take a maximum of 10 minutes and note down the rough set of responsibilities that you think will work. Be careful not to overdo it. The individuals you are targeting are unlikely to be able to commit dozens of hours of effort every month. I'd suggest that the most important feature of the role is being present for roughly 60 minutes every month for your advisory board meeting. This is the crucial aspect. This is where you'll hopefully achieve a melting pot of ideas, encouragement and insight - so it's all the better if everyone can join at the same time. Other role features to consider: ➡ Available on WhatsApp for general counsel across the month ➡ Available to take ad hoc quick calls from you or the management team ➡ Review ad hoc documents, pitches and presentations and provide timely feedback (you have to be careful not to overdo this) ➡ Social media support - occasional likes and comments on key posts from the company that you might highlight ➡ Introductions to relevant clients/contacts Many founders zero-in really quickly on that last point. Once again, don't overdo it. In time, your advisory board members will obviously make helpful connections for you. But pressuring for '10 introductions a month' or something like that will have them declining immediately! The last thing to consider today: Compensation. Again, many founders and CEOs I meet think I'm nuts when I'm suggesting that advisory board members should be compensated. You'll very quickly discover that everyone has other priorities if there is zero compensation. If you're not compensating, you're left to accept 'best efforts' when the advisory board member has done everything else that they have committed to do. Then they will think of you. So give some strong thought to the type of compensation that you can effectively and easily offer. I think there should be some cash component - even if it's 'peppercorn'. I think it is a good discipline for the company and a very good incentive for the advisory board members. For high-growth startups or scale-ups, I think options and/or shares, 'earned' over a period of months, quarters or years is also a good idea for aligning everyone. So take 10 minutes today and write out a rough role guide.

Considering forming an advisory board for your business? Interested in serving on one? Recently met with a purpose-driven company exploring this option. Sharing key elements of the conversation: As a company, why form an advisory board? - Battle against insular thinking through outside perspective - Expert guidance for a particular outcome such as a change in strategy - Supplement the leadership team with fractional talent - Gain knowledge in specific areas - Expand business network - Accountability partners - Provide opportunities to leaders outside your team What should you consider in your advisors: - They are extremely curious about you, your leadership team, your company, and your industry. You want an advisor that will apply their intellect and experience in the right context. This happens best when seeking to understand happens first. - Select deep knowledge in specific areas. Ex: governance, industry knowledge, marketing, engagement, etc. - They seek a balance between sharing and listening with the other board members. - They bring credibility of experience--anyone can give advice, choose someone that's been in the arena. - They are inspired and aligned with your purpose and path. If you've been asked to serve on an advisory board, consider these criteria: - Can you help: is it in your area of expertise or experience that you can contribute OR can you supplement the overall team for better problem solving? - Can you be the bridge that connects them to other experts in your orbit that can help? - Are you inspired by the company's people, mission/vision/purpose, product/service? In other words, do you believe in this company? - Is the company willing to listen and consider your ideas and perspective? This is NOT about a company taking your advice, it's about the company valuing your time through consideration. - Will this expand your ability to be a connector between other leaders? - Can this role deepen your understanding of an area that you need to grow in and support your team members/business? - Are you additive to the rest of the board? The meeting structure. There are a lot of different ways to structure the meetings, but I would advise an outside skilled facilitator to help the group stay on course. I would also highly encourage, when possible, an after meeting meal with the members. Ideally, you want this board to build on one another, like a jam band. To do this effectively, they need to know one another personally. If you have a board of advisors or are an advisor, what else would you add? Chris Hoffmann Gina Hoagland Frederick G. Falker Jessica Willingham

How do you know your advisory board is delivering the goods? Founders rightly spend significant time thinking about the best leadership hires to accelerate growth and prepare for scale. But a group of experts you really trust, Who can rise above the day-to-day and point the way when you aren’t sure yourself: Is fundamental. In my own experience, setting up Forme Partners’ advisory board was one of the most rewarding decisions I made in recent years. And today I speak to many founders who know an advisory board could help them. But aren’t sure how to put their intentions into action. A great advisory board needs: 1. Different and complementary skillsets. ↳ Optimise for competency gaps 2. A blend of tactical operators and strategic thinkers.  ↳ A mix of operator-advisors and founders/investors gives you real-time support with a big picture perspective. 3. A sense of distance. ↳ Advisory boards should meet quarterly, with one further quarterly 1-1 touchpoint between you as a founder and each advisory board member. Advisory boards don’t need to see how the sausage is made. Zooming out works best. 4. Committed, passionate supporters - not ‘vanity’ big names who can’t spare any time. ↳ Advisory boards are principally focused on sustaining and accelerating your growth. You need people who can show up, and who are excited to do so. I have seen founders hire huge industry stars to their advisory boards, but then suffer from sporadic communication and a sense that they’re never the priority. Your investors can help you shape and construct your advisory board, but founders should have the final say. The nature of your relationship, and your personal connection, matters.