Business Startup Advisor: 10 reasons why most startup advisors suck
This is a detailed article on why most startup advisors provide zero value whatsoever, outside of repeating what you already know from the usual business books. I'm honestly tired of "business advisors" who pretend to be gurus and then label themselves as "startup advisors". And so I wrote this article out of utter disappointment and hope that we become better sources of wisdom for startup founders around us.
Table of Contents
The main problems with rookie startup advisors (TLDR)
More talking, than listening
They talk more than they listen. This makes them feed founders their preconceived notion, which is often more harmful than anything else. Without having the right context into their product and the initiatives undertaken by the founders so far, the startup advice is either mediocre or un-relatable.
Too much "strategy", but no practical steps
The typical startup advisor may also provide "high-level strategic" advice which is often times just general business advice wrapped up in a shiny exterior. They don't act as a valuable resource and are quite obvious in most cases.
As an example, if you're struggling to find more customers, an obvious piece of advice would be: "Find more customer acquisition channels that work for you and double down on the ones which do. " Yes, Dave. We know that. But how? What do you recommend avoiding given your past experience? What's the fast-track way of accomplishing this?
Mentors need feedback too, you know?
Amongst other items, the other issue is mentors not encouraging feedback from mentees on the effectiveness of their sessions and not keeping them accountable.
I've made it clear to Sparrow's advisors that they are to (a) ask founders for how effective they found their sessions and (b) make it clear to bluntly obvious that the founders are responsible for acting on their checklists. This encourages accountability which is crucial to getting good work done in the startup world. No other alternative to consistency. 90% of startups fail and our mission is to lower that number.
Why startup founders don't step up
Emotionally, it's tough
It's honestly very tough for any individual to stand up for themselves, especially in the presence of someone who is supposedly 5x better or more skilled at than the founder in question. Emotionally, it's hard to tell a startup advisor their advice shouldn't be considered.
On top of that, there's the "years of experience" that comes into play. As a first-time founder, it can be intimidating telling a startup advisor with 2 decades of experience to "reconsider" the frame of their advice or to "pause and think" before providing advice to the founder. It just feels awkward.
"Motivation" in place of effectiveness
Another point is that some startup founders feel heavily energized and motivated listening to good advice.
The problem here is that there's 500 lines of "shiny" great advice that a startup advisor can give you. But is it relevant? Does he know what you've tried vs. didn't? Is he aware of your background and what skills you currently lack?
Without these nuances, almost every piece of advice will sound horribly fantastic - only to have little to no relatability to your startup and your immediate team around you. In other words, your startup advisor should be 10% Tony Robbins (motivation) and 90% Amar Ghose (effectiveness).
If you want to feel motivated enough to run your business, maybe you need a few sessions with a life coach. Psychotherapists have a stigma to their profession, but a few hours with one can really help you dig out what drives you, why you're depressed and lack motivation.
Founder Imposter Syndrome (FiS)
And lastly, it's the fright of being "called out" by your startup advisor as someone who has no idea what they're talking about. I understand where this comes from. But my 2 cents are this:
Every founder (like you) must question the value and correctness of the advice they're given. If you feel that your startup advisor is missing context, be gentle and let them know. Better to get 15 minutes of good, relatable advice than 30 minutes of bad ones. This also helps build your advising relationship to be transparent.
Recruiting advisors isn't easy. And whether you want someone to join your advisory board or just give you solid advice on the fly, you must always ask for clarification when you're confused. A good advisor will always be receptive to person who asks twice.
The 10 most useful tips a startup advisor must use
(If you're short on time, check out numbers 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10.)
And btw, before we start, remember that you can always cold email startup founders you admire and request them to become your coach, mentor or advisor - it works! And here’s a guide to help you through this process.
Everything that I've mentioned below is based on my work as the founder of a mentorship platform for founders (Sparrow). Our founders love us. I respect every startup advisor who has joined us to help startups scale.
Additionally, I've spoken to a dozen folks who constantly talk smack about their "bad startup advisor" and "dumb mentor" and I really think we all need to learn what's missing and how to make our experience better for both the mentor and mentee.
The following are directed to the startup advisor, but if you're a founder, you can direct them to this article or just handpick points you want to bring up with them! I took the "here's why they suck" and turned them into "here's how to be better" so this article actually ranks on Google.
And lastly, some (not all) of these points may apply to individuals on the startup's advisory board as well. LFG!
Number 1: Be transparent about your shortcomings
As a responsible startup advisor, you owe it to the community to be honest about what you don't know.
Whether or not someone is paying for your time, being open about what you haven't done in the past and or what your experience doesn't cover does the following: (a) it gives the person a good idea of what questions and topics to skip and (b) it builds trust in you for the long-run.
Number 2: Never guess, never assume
I came across a startup advisor or two who are great at talking and wow-ing you but won't pause for 2 seconds to get additional context on what I've done so far, who's on my team, what my shortcomings are the moment, etc.
Advice without context is useless.
At Sparrow, till date, I've always conducted the context gathering for the advisor prior to the first session. Here's a link to my personal list of questions I always ask founders to qualify them for Sparrow. They can be modified to fit your actual sessions as well.
Number 3: Always do your homework
Out of respect to your mentee, you should read up on their story before committing to being their startup advisor. This means asking for their social media accounts, blogging material, company newsletter, etc. so you can search online and provide subject matter advice and industry knowledge that'll benefit their current and future state.
The more you'll know about their business, the less questions you'll ask.
This saves time for both parties.
A lot of startup advisors try to sound smart and provide advice on the fly, during a live call. But this really is worthless most of the time, unless you're in their exact industry with a hyper relevant understanding of their laser-specific issues. That's rarely the case.
Number 4: Assign pre-reads (when possible)
One of the ways I filter for a potential startup advisor is by sensing what they require of me even before their official commitment to help me. This includes them asking me to digest pre-reads or online resources before engaging with them.
A good startup advisor plays on your team and deeply wants you to succeed. This includes them having expectations that will likely be above where you currently are in your business.
As a founder you must welcome this attitude. And as a startup advisor you must embody the importance of being accountable to yourself and making your mentee become more and more accountable to their own actions.
Number 5: Think long-term (or not)
Depending on the type of person you are, and the kind of companies you like to talk to as a startup advisor, I recommend asking yourself if you want to engage for a longer or shorter term with them.
If you're in for the long haul, worry less about how much an hour with start X makes you, and more about how 5 extra minutes could probably help the founder summarize his key takeaways today at the end of her call. Care deeply.
Do it for karma or do it because you can imagine the impact they could make thanks to you! :)
On the other hand, if having mentoring sessions is more of a short-term goal for yourself and you care deeply about the money and your time - be sure to align your expectations.
For instance, let them know that you have a hard stop at the 60th minute of the call and that the founder needs to come in prepared and ready to answer X Y Z questions about their business.
Number 6: Put yourself in their shoes, every time
Ask yourself, "Given that they are this mature/early stage startup, do they really get what I'm trying to say?" I do this in my personal and professional life. I'll usually explain something with a short-hand phrase and then go a bit deeper into explaining it with longer phrases and more obvious wording. This helps everyone in the room grasp the topic fully.
As a startup advisor you should be no different. Over time, you should gauge your founder's level of understanding of topics and adapt your communication so they're able to intuitively understand what you mean.
This takes time.
But builds a great, deeper relationship between you and your mentee.
Number 7: Help them setup the agenda
For many founders, seeking advice may often be a first for them! Perhaps they've just gotten their first customers and now want to learn to scale their business before approaching potential investors. It's your responsibility (as well as theirs) to setup the agenda for the call.
But providing them with a little push can make them (a) more confident about getting on calls with you and (b) help them become more organized over time. Here's Sparrow's secret (jk) agenda document that founders fill in and send their advisors before getting on their official calls.
I recommend sharing this template with your founders 3-4 days before your call so they can think through the topics before sharing the completed version with you.
Number 8: Networking connections and engaging their whole team
Mentoring / advising on growth doesn't stop with your phone calls. The most effective mentorship relationships go farther into (a) connecting founders with potential partners to form strategic alliances, hiring, etc. and (b) extending your mentorship to other members of their startup.
The first point [a] around providing warm introductions is something that can go a long way for many founders. When a customer comes to Sparrow who I can't help, I always do 3 cold outreaches for them on LinkedIn to people who I think can help.
As their startup advisor, you don't need to know the right answer to every question but you can always point to someone who can. Generally, I set up the expectation for the person I introduced to set aside 15-20 minutes for the founder over a call. That way there's less confusion on expectations.
The latter point [b] helps ensure that your words as a startup mentor is reaching the operators who'll act on it! Making sure they're on the same page during a live conversation with you, will help everyone realize blindspots and get deeper context much faster.
Number 9: Step away if you think you've fulfilled your role
Sometimes it's unclear if the startup advisor can still provide valuable feedback to the founder after spending X hours with them. The advice may seem repeatable, the founder may seem like they're not learning anything new - there's different signs that you as their startup advisor need to be aware of!
I personally suggest you do any of the following: (a) reach out to your mentorship platform owners (me for Sparrow e.g.,) and ask them to assign a new startup advisor to guide the startup in their next phase, (b) find someone in your own personal network as discussed in number 8 above or (c) simply just tell the founder that it's time to move on!
Regardless of the option you choose, please make sure you help them with the off-boarding process to your fullest extent. This means (a) helping them close the loop on any open issues and risks they had brought up with you, (b) following up on any short or long-term initiatives that were in-flight so the founders know what to do vs. not do next or (c) just sending chocolates to the founder's HQ or house as a final thank you for trusting you with their business.
Or maybe, you want to graduate from being a startup advisor on Sparrow to being on their official advisory board! One of our advisors did this with her first client. Great success story.
Let's not treat mentorship as a “money earned per 60 minutes” gig,
but rather see it from a “money earned per result” perspective.
Number 10: Be patient, and kind. Please.
Most founders who'll want to consult you as their startup advisor will do so because they're X years behind you. This comes with a lot of responsibility on your end as you'll have to mentor, teach and walk them through topics that might seem obvious and boring to you.
I strongly suggest you think about point 6 above, and slow down when explaining topics that might seem heavy/complicated to the other person. Remember, you're not a celebrity and they're not your bitch. They're here to learn and have trusted you to teach them to do something important to them.
The show is about the customer. Not you.
So act like it. Be kind and patient when explaining complex topics and if you feel that they should read up on a topic, rely on number 4 above and set a clear expectation for them to read into said topics and review them prior to engaging you for questions or concerns.
Templates for startup advisors and founders
After having the privilege (yes, really) to speak with founders building cool products and many a startup advisor who have accomplished great things, I've decided to open-source our templates we use internally. Use them. Share them. Modify them. LFG.
Pre-Read for Advisors - Download here
What: Fill in this document and send it to your startup advisor prior to your session.
Why: This gives them a complete picture of the goals/challenges you’d like to discuss on your call.Goal and Challenge Tracking - Download here
What: Use this sheet to keep track of your startup goals and challenges.
Why: Stay organized when discussing the most urgent topics on your Sparrow sessions. Not meant to be shared with advisors.Questions for Founders (Advisor edition) - Download here
What: Questions that advisors should ask founders before officially advising them.
Why: Gives the startup advisor a clear idea of what kind of guidance the founders actually need.
Closing thoughts
I write these blog posts for hours because I genuinely want to help you succeed. I've spent months trying to reach the best advisors to invite to Sparrow and on top of that, learn directly from them on how to create a better learning platform for founders like you! And so you being here, reading this article and sharing with others who'll find this useful means the world to me.
Take care and thanks for trusting us with our advice.