Hot answers tagged advisors
4
I'll recommend you separate the role of legal counsel from investor so you get objective legal advice to prevent conflict of interest. I've heard of inexperienced entrepreneurs who ended in a jam because they signed non-diluting terms with their legal counsel (who was also an investor).
No harm with trust, but better to have independent advocates and ...
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Opinions vary. Here are a few:
http://gust.com/angel-investing/startup-blogs/2012/04/10/5-traits-investors-look-for-in-entrepreneurs/
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/10/06/the-four-main-things-that-investors-look-for-in-a-startup/
http://blog.startupprofessionals.com/2011/06/investors-look-for-these-six.html
...
2
The best motivation is to find someone who needs it/wants it for them to do their job better or have a competitive advantage.
You get someone who will also use the product, promote it and give valuable feedback in testing and usability. You won't have that with someone who is just giving you professional advice or scientific opinions.
Don't make the ...
2
Advisor is one thing. Consultant is another. In IT for example you will only talk with advisors, whereas consultants can also program or offer valuable insight for designing/implementing your website...
You can find the average fee by looking into consultants websites. For example an hour with one of the top JavaScript consultants costs around 1000$, but ...
2
Advisors and investors are not the same thing. All investors should advise, not all advisors should invest. Generally, you shouldn't cold-approach either, it's just not effective.
This is a space you know (hopefully!) so reach out to contacts whom you respect and start small. And remember, you are the one asking for a favor with very little to offer in ...
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Just agree to give him 1% (which, is an arbitrary amount) when your company is ready to raise your first round of capital. OR, if you raise no money he will receive dividends as a 1% stock holder. The actual number of shares will be clear when your company is up and running.
The problem is that your cap table is far from settled and you are forcing ...
1
It seems that it would be favorable to both you and future investors to make a stock transfer as cleanly as possible. The number of stock-holders is small, so my vote would be to use the existing shares rather issuing new shares.
A related point is that Delaware has the following calculation of franchise tax based on your issued shares, so this may be ...
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First: Ask yourself - do I really need them? Shouldn't I know what I am doing in my niche?
Likely cash (difficult for a startup), equity (difficult as well, set options for them). Don't send up with people doing 1 thing then having 0.5% equity in your company. = bad
Shares are common for consultants as they could otherwise not be paid. Having shares will ...
1
I do both IT and general business advising, as well as IT consulting - though I generally refer to both as consulting. However, my rates differ depending on what I'm doing, who I'm talking to, and so on.
For example, I can be brought in at the idea level, and help with structuring the business, finding appropriate help for the founders depending on what ...
1
The answer to all three questions is "it depends" I'm afraid :-)
For example my prices for consulting are vary between free and and a low four/high three figure daily rate - depending on who I'm talking to and why. Personally I never take equity. Other people are happy to. Depends what you're after and why.
I think the key question for you to have a grasp ...
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You may want to consider using the Founders Institutes Founder Advisor Standard Template (FAST) (Link to .doc file) - as a starting point.
Also - techcrunch did a how much for advisors? article late 2011 - still relevant. I esp. like the way the article defines company maturity level, expected time commitment and ranges. Everyone will argue about whether ...
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I was involved in a similar startup a while back...
We have a slight advantage though, the person with the idea had worked as a nurse&midwife and her husband was a doctor so there were some personal connections to be used. So there was a product idea that was rather complete but needed to bee tested out and see if it was designed correctly and if the ...
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