Como construir um conselho consultivo que atraia investidores?

In the early days at our startup, we had gaps in the founding team that we weren't ready (or able) to fill with full-time roles. To de-risk our ideas and go-to-market, we identified (5) key areas where we needed advisors: market, product, clinical, sales, and regulatory. For each of these areas, we made a list of 2-3 people in our networks who might be a good fit and where we needed intros. The more specific the better. We scoped out engagements with 5 initial advisors across those functions. Each had 1-2 hours / month, including deep dives, customer discovery, and intros where it made sense. The right advisor can help you see hidden growth levers and anticipate risks in your company's journey. But it starts with knowing what you need.

Advisory boards can often become dormant if their mandate, structure and mode of engagement with leadership are not well articulated. It’s essential to define the engagement plan from the outset prior to setting up an advisory board. First, establish if the board will be set up to meet periodically and engage with each other or whether there’ll be a flexible arrangement whereby the executive or founder(s) will engage with them as needed. These expectations must be well articulated in a terms of reference or engagement letter.

First, determine what specific expertise and connections you need from your advisory board to advance your business. Align your goals with what your potential investors are looking for. Next, look for individuals with a strong track record in your industry, a history of successful investments, and a network of contacts in your target market. Consider approaching industry veterans with deep domain expertise or successful entrepreneurs with experience scaling businesses with relevant connections in your industry or market. Finally, when approaching potential advisors, be clear about the value they can bring to your company. Use your pitch to show how their expertise and network will benefit your business and their investment.

To attract investors via an advisory board, select members with diverse, relevant expertise, and strong industry reputations. They should bring complementary skills and networks that can open doors and add credibility. Ensure they're motivated to advocate for your company. Structure the board professionally, aligning with investor expectations, and highlight the board's strategic value in investor communications, underscoring their role in driving growth and mitigating risks.

The goals will not just provide focus, purpose, and accountability to an advisory board but also help to get clarity on who to bring on to the board, how often to meet, what are its strategic priorities, how it aligns with the overall mission and vision, what and how to measure its effectiveness, and how it can respond and adapt to changing circumstances. The board may need to bring in specific experts in the interim to help it in specific instances as well. Clear goals contribute to the board's effectiveness and ability to serve the organization much more effectively.

There are professional advisory board groups, such as the Advisory Board Center, which have a group of carefully chosen and qualified advisory board business leaders for evaluation and selection. Each of its member is an industry expert, have diverse and extensive business experiences, and are trained and continuously updated on the advisory role, scope, challenges, and the best practices of being a great advisory board member. The end focus is each of its members is committed to helping the board and the business to become more successful.

It's not enough to just identify advisory board candidates. Once you are clear on what gaps you need to cover to reach strategic & operational goals for a specific period (12 to 36 months horizon) between your employees and existing board members, the most important task is to get the potential advisor excited to join hands with you. Whether it is passion, purpose or prior history that binds you to them, the advisors need to feel "ownership". This goes beyond the 0.25 to 1 percent equity you may offer in return for their advisory position. After all, they are lending their credibility & name to be on your cap table (and potentially website). This "ownership" has been instrumental in go/no-go decisions in a few of my own experiences.

Consider advisors with investment experience who can offer insights on positioning an appropriate engagement or pitch deck to investors.

Provide a clear insight into the unique challenges your start-up is facing that aligns with their expertise, showing them the direct impact and value they could bring. Articulate not just the benefits but also the commitments and expectations involved. This shows respect for their time and sets the stage for a constructive relationship. Offer multiple avenues for engagement, from formal positions to casual coffee chats, catering to their comfort and availability. Engagement is a two-way street. Encourage them to share their vision for your start-up and their potential role in it. This can lead to a more invested and active advisor who sees their potential impact on your business.

Potential advisors with the skillset and experience required are usually very busy and inundated with many requests. One way to approach and engage with them is to attend professional events where they are likely to be. Attend their sessions and ask questions. They are more likely to remember and respond to emails or LinkedIn connection requests that way.

Simply, 1) Equity 2) Accurate DCF forecast Show prospective investors clear metrics of your ARR, rate of growth, legitimate TAM, and clearly represent why equity in your company has value. Investors join advisory boards where their time and expertise has a high probability of yielding a return It’s also useful to outline your intended path to IPO, RTO or M&A - when you clearly share the projected path forward you’re efficiently sharing data to aid in investor decision making

This will also ensure that the individuals who make up the board understand the level of commitment required, the modes of engagement, and the time they need to dedicate to the role.

A formal, serious, effective agreement would also include how the advisor would be remunerated, either by cash, by shares, or by any other way such as some sort of honorary titles that would benefit the advisor. Failing to include such remuneration information, the company might treat the advisor as a slave or servant, or someone who has incurred some amount of debt to the other party of the agreement in either this generation or prior and is here to pay off the debt.

The values of the Advisory Board extend beyond having meetings, debates, and strategic thinking for the business. Experts in the Advisory Board each have capabilities and resources that can be of enormous use, benefit, and relevance for the company and the leadership. The key is engaging, developing, and leveraging each expert on the board.

- Consider advisors who will have started and scaled businesses themselves and can offer insights on the journey from a first-hand experience and help identify major pitfalls to avoid. - Keep an advisory board small and impactful. The ideal number should be anywhere between 3-5. Consider advisors that have various experiences from multiple industries; for instance, one person can have both the industry experience required and also be a legal expert.

Great contributions! In our particular case, we had a clear goal and strategy, but our founding team was sales and marketing heavy. We looked for investors that had previous relationships and experiences with us, but that had experiences and expertise that were complementary. Additionally, to align with current and future funding needs, we looks for advisors that themselves had funds for current and future rounds. Naturally, advisors investors, leverage their own networks if their investment is sound and has potential.

Clarifying the difference between the Advisory Board and the Board of Directors and the key objectives of the Advisory Board is critical. This clarity will also help decide the type of Advisory Board to develop, whether project-based, corporatized, startup, or business growth. This mandate will help clarify what the Advisory Board should focus on and how it can be efficient and effective for the leadership and the business. The focus should be strategic, longer-term, constructive debates and seeing things beyond the operational busy matters of the business.