-
-
-
-
“These problems are too big for us to solve alone. We need to
collaborate like we never have before.”— Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer at GE -
THANK YOU ALL
Amazing guest lecturers. from Entrepreneurial Design Class. School of Visual Arts.
Many thanks to our...
1 - create a small pool of options that are just for advisors upfront. Keep it fixed. It will help you prioritize which advsors you want to bring on board.
2 - unlike employees, advisors may not be helpful as time goes on. They may become distracted with other things on their plate. that’s the most common thing. with employees, options typically vest over multiple years. It’s hard to use that type of vesting schedule with advisor but I would at least think about it in those terms. For example if you are willing to give an advisor .5% of your company and they will only commit to helping for a year then that is like giving an employee a 2% grant over a 4 year vesting schedule. Is that advisor worth as much as a senior employee getting a 2% grant?
3 - VCs invest cash for their equity. I often will suggest that advisors also invest a fractional amount which does 2 things. It qualifies their commitment and interest. It also it allows them to own more of the company than a straight option grant.
4 - Make sure you ask for other founder references! Ask other founders if that advisor was helpful. What did they do for the company? Did they make important introductions? Help with key hires? maybe fund raising help? Product feedback/insight?
[amazing post by Bijan. read the full post]
