Building your management team - through an advisory board

The use of an advisory board has not been exploited by many technology companies outside of the US. With the likes of the Enron scandal and the tightening up on the requirements on directorship of companies, entrepreneurs need to think outside the box to attract in people with experience and networks on a part time basis. The benefits of having an advisory board are many - experience - compensates the founders experience (or lack of) - great networks - sales, partners, service providers (legal, accounting, etc) - assists VCs in making investment decisions... they probably dealt with them before - getting people involved who have done it before.... We've engaged an advisory board from an early stage - we usually meet once a quarter - over lunch, dinner, etc - where we bounce issues and problems around - its been very beneficial to us for the insights we get, and in return we have tapped into great knowledge. The cost is not prohibitive - it all depends on the type of people you want on your advisory board - it can be cash, stock options, gifts, etc - the return on investment is good. Here is a good piece on Always-On - titled Overcoming the Start-up Catch-22: Use Your Advisory Board VCs only trust entrepreneurs who have made them money in the past. If you don't fall into this category, the best way to raise money is to recruit advisors who do. also see this piece from Always-ON