I’ve always loved that saying, “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room”. Fortunately for me, this generally only happens when I’m alone.
I also dig the notion that we are the average of the five people we hang out with the most.
Mitch Harper (founder of BigCommerce) explains the value of advisors with an analogy. He says they’ve ‘seen the movie’. They know the plot. When when you’re stuck, it’s easy for them to give you simple, but powerful, advice on what you should do next.
If you’re building a startup right now, or you have a product idea, who are you surrounding yourself with? If none of the top five people you hang with own a successful startup, how do you expect to build one yourself?
Why you need advisors
For someone to invest in your business, they want to know you have people on your team with shitloads of experience in the market you’re looking to tackle.
You might be thinking, “my idea/startup is related to the industry I’ve been in for years, so why would I need an advisor?”
A lot of founders make this mistake. In reality, of you want to build a killer startup, you should aim to have the best of the best in your industry as your advisor. You’ll be surprised at how many people are willing to help you. You just need to ask.
What do the advisors get out of it?
Sometimes advisors will take a small slice of equity in your company or a retainer if you are already funded but, ultimately, they usually aren’t doing this for the cash.
These people are already wealthy and choose to do this because they feel excited by someone with a kick-ass project reaching out to them saying, “I want you!” So don’t forget to make them feel good. You’re reaching out to them because they’ve done epic shit, so make sure you commend them on their wins so far. Everyone likes a compliment.
Also make sure you continually show your appreciation. Be super humble! The more they feel like you appreciate their time, the less they’ll care about charging you for it.
NOTE: Be sure to vest equity with any advisors you bring on. Vesting means they get their equity in pieces over a couple years, instead of upfront which protects you from giving away chunks of your company and regretting it later. Also don’t hand out board seats to anyone until you know them intimately.
How do you lock them down?
Fear is the typically the biggest factor holding you back. You don’t try because you’re afraid someone will say no or think your idea isn’t good enough. Stop making excuses. If you believe you have a good idea, do your research, hunt down the right people, then reach out by email or LinkedIn.
If you want two great advisors, reach out to one hundred at least. Don’t be afraid to ask people higher than your reach. Expect a lot of rejection but don’t let it discourage you.
Keep your message to them short, simple and HUMAN. Especially if it’s on (spammy) LinkedIn! You won’t get cut through by sending long, templated messages. Add something unique and catered for that person to catch their attention.
So get out there and start hunting down the best people in your industry to be one of your advisors!