Entrepreneurship Is Not An Individual Sport
There was a standing room only crowd today at the TAG-ATDC Entrepreneurs Society
meeting. ATDC General Manager Tony Antoniades used an innovative format to present best practices on why to entrepreneurs need advisors, how to recruit them and how to use them.
Antoniades advised against recruiting celebrities to your board, recalling an ATDC company who during the bubble had Jimmy Buffet on their advisory council. When seeking to recruit a prospective advisor, Antoniades said, “don’t pop the
question on the first date. In most cases, it makes sense to first develop a
rapport with a prospective advisor first while still demonstrating your serious
interest in pursuing them as a prospective advisor.”
It is critical to sell advisors on your business. If you can’t, you have a very uphill battle in developing a successful
growth venture. Good advisors can provide invaluable assistance and offer
knowledge and experience critical to growing a successful business.
The presentation
is here and for more tips, including a fairly detailed ATDC best practice paper
on how to Recruit and Manage Advisors, visit the Entrepreneurs Resource Center.
This was an invaluable workshop. I found all three panel members to be very well-informed and Mr. Antoniades did a great job of moderating the discussion. One of the key insights that I took away from the event is the distinction between a mentor, a board of advisors, and a board of directors. As it was explained to me, a mentor is someone who is on the same trajectory that you are on but who is 2 years ahead of you (e.g., a graduate of the ATDC program if you are a current ATDC firm). A board of advisors is comprised of business advisors who have a commitment to your business and who may be compensated for their participation, but their role is to give advice, not to make "director" type decisions or to vote. Finally, the board of directors has a fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders and may be liable in the event of a lawsuit against the company.