Building a good board of advisors

by Steven Fisher on February 9, 2006 · 54 comments

This session of Perfect Pitch is focused on the Board of Advisors.

There is a lot of talk about Boards of Directors and Boards of Advisors. While you have your core team, or maybe it is just you, you are going to need advice. If you are starting out, you need help in many forms and this is best accomplished with a Board of Advisors. This is what I always advise companies or friends thinking about starting companies.

There is a certain amount of prestige and ego to being on an advisory board. It means that your knowledge is valued and in exchange your bio will add value and help validate the venture.

A Board of Directors is very different and is more relevant when you recieve funding.

First a couple of quick definitions:

A corporate board (or Board of Directors) is a legally constituted body comprised of directors who are elected by the shareholders and charged with the responsibility of serving the interests of the shareholders. The position of corporate director is, therefore, an extremely important one from both a strategic and legal standpoint. As such, a corporate director, along with senior executives, is potentially at risk in the event of litigation directed against the company.

An advisory board (or Board of Advisors), on the other hand, is a group of industry executives and professionals that are appointed by the company executives for advice and support as the company grows. The advisory board is not a legal body and does not have any of the legal duties that are the responsibility of the corporate board. The advisory board does not generally get involved in issues that involve the administration of the company and should, as a rule leave such matters to the corporate board. An advisor, therefore, does not generally risk any of the potential liabilities that a corporate director takes on.

Ten Tips to Help You Build a good Board of Advisors

1. Do not appoint your friends and relations to the board
2. Pay your advisory board members well
3. Aim high with the people you approach for advisory board positions. They can only say no!
4. Do not populate the board with founders and other insiders.
5. Negotiate on how much time they will commit to as an advisor – on paper is worthless. They must know the business and when interviewed in the due dilligence process should be able to address their contribution.
6. Appoint independent advisors who can help you with your key strategic goals.
7. Appoint your first advisors early.
8. Hold monthly advisory con calls to get the advisors all on the same page and connect them with one another.
9. Keep accurate and concise notes from the meeting.
10. Get the most out of your advisors– use them!

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