Advisory Boards - An Entrepreneur's Secret Weapon

We met with a young Entrepreneur a couple days ago who was making great progress in commercializing his technology. He had locked down his IP, sized his large addressable market, secured some strategic relationships and was well down the path of turning a discussion into a revenue generating pilot. As we turned to analyse his Go to Market strategy something jumped off the page - the calibre of his Advisory Board. To date he had surrounded himself with family, friends and service providers. These linkages were critical to the early days of his incubation but clearly progression to the next level would be impaired without the right support. Our advice was simple - take a critical look at what your company will be facing in the next 12 months and map that to the talent of your Advisory Board - do you have what it will take to accelerate your growth path? Some of the more popular roles include:

• Do you have a "CAPY"- someone who can help you raise your next round(s) of Capital?


• Do you have an "Indy" - someone with deep industry Domain knowledge?


• Do you have a "Connector" - someone with Contacts and connections?


• Do you have the "Devil" - someone who will always play the alternative advocate?


• Do you have the "Seasoner "- someone who has been there and done it before?

All of these roles will be critical to any early stage company looking to get to the next level.

Does your company have what it will take?