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Ask YC: Advisors

4 points by mrtron ↗ HN
Any comments on the relationship between startups and advisors?

More of a conversation starter than a list of specific questions, but issues like:

What is the norm in terms of compensation, frequency of meetings, etc? What do you look for in an advisor?

2 comments

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andrewljohnson
It's extremely variable.

An advisor could give you business advice or make introductions or review your code or discuss product strategy. You could meet with them every week or every month or twice a year, or everyday while your company is getting started.

The more they give you, the more compensation they get. An advisor might get .1% per year of service (in equity), or as much as several percent of the company.

numair
Expect advisors to give you advice - and only that. The best ones usually don't have the time/bandwidth to perform any sort of real action for you (including email introductions to their famous and important friends); if that were the case, they would be called "actioners" or something.

Separate the advice-givers from the action-performers, and seek out the best in both domains. The point should be to gain timeless insight that helps you grow as an entrepreneur, and which can be applied to all of your future pursuits - regardless of whether these pursuits happen to relate to your current project.

Oh, and try to hold off on bringing on action-performers as long as possible, if your business plan can allow for this. You'll eventually be able to pay action-performers by the hour, rather than via very-expensive equity. (You are building something of great value, aren't you?)