Which advisor is better? (FINANCIAL ADVISORS?

What's the best approach for finding advisors for my start-up? What's the typical equity given? And what can one typically expect from an advisor?

• Answer:

  Suggest you develop a matrix of the skills/functional experience, etc. that you need to help execute the vision and seek advisors that fill it out. The key here is to find people that will provide long term input and guidance against an identified set of needs, rather than just plug some short term gap in your knowledge or skillset. Additionally, if you have a set of criteria for each advisor then its going to be a lot easier to identify and approach people that fit the need. To find advisors you need to sell identified individuals on your vision and the team - much like pitching a potential investor - and why they are key to your success. The ideal advisor is someone who also makes an investment! As regards comp - it really depends, but at the very early stage an equity grant of up to 2% vesting over 2 years is not uncommon for someone that will give you lots of valuable help. If you end up thinking you will need several advisors then you can drop that to a point each, again with vesting. Its also typical to pay any costs associated with meetings - esp if travel is involved. Finally you really want to make sure you capture your expectations in the Advisor agreement - i.e. how often you will meet, how much time they will give you, any specific deliverables, etc.