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20. Mentors, Advisors & Board
The
biggest
things
that
will
slow
your
business
down
to
a
crawl
are
the
things
you
can’t
see
coming;
great
advisors
and
board
members
can
help
you
see
them,
and
prepare
for
them.
In
this
chapter
I
review
how
to
court
the
right
mentors
for
your
business,
and
offer
them
a
posi>on
on
your
Board
of
Advisors.
For
those
of
you
looking
to
raise
money
for
your
corpora>on,
understand
the
obliga>ons
you
have
to
your
Board
of
Directors.
Learn
how
to
structure,
select
and
orient
a
new
board
members
so
that
they
are
beBer
primed
to
help
you
grow.
What You Don’t Know
There’s
one
thing
that
trips
up
all
new
business
owners:
the
things
that
you
don’t
know
that
you
don’t
know.
Confused?
There
are
things
you
know,
and
skills
that
already
you
have.
There
are
also
things
you
realize
you
don’t
know
yet,
and
plan
to
learn
or
Chapter 21: Mentors, Advisors & Board
prepare
for.
Then
there’s
a
third
category:
things
you
don’t
even
realize
you
are
unaware
of.
Most
businesses
run
into
real
trouble
in
situa>ons
that
they
haven’t
encountered
or
even
considered,
because
they
haven’t
adequately
prepared
for
them.
For
example,
part
of
Docstoc’s
revenue
comes
from
our
online
subscrip>on,
and
the
issue
of
chargebacks
was
never
even
on
my
radar.
I
never
considered
puKng
a
chargeback
communica>on
plan
in
place,
because
I
didn’t
know
it
could
be
a
serious
concern.
My
ignorance
lead
to
the
credit
card
company
telling
me
that
they
were
puKng
some
of
the
money
we’d
earned
on
hold.
Because
we
were
blindsided,
it
look
us
longer
to
recover
and
learn
from
this
setback.
Those
issues
that
you
never
see
coming,
those
are
the
reasons
you
court
mentors
and
advisors.
Read
on
to
learn
how.
Courting Advisors
My
advice
when
seeking
mentors
is
to
find
someone
who’s
done
something
very
similar
to
what
you
are
trying
to
accomplish.
Feel
out
whether
or
not
you
get
along
personally,
and
if
you’d
like
to
work
with
them
in
the
future.
Chapter 21: Mentors, Advisors & Board
You
can
start
off
lightly,
by
asking
the
person
out
for
some
coffee
so
you
can
chat
and
get
some
advice.
If
you
like
them,
you
can
offer
them
an
official
posi>on
on
your
board
of
advisers,
which
offers
them
equity
and/or
some
other
way
to
compensate
them
for
their
energy
and
contribu>on.
I
made
it
my
goal
from
my
first
day
as
an
entrepreneur
to
build
a
Quick Tip
large
network
of
advisers,
and
consistently
ask
them
for
not
only
For more specific
general
feedback,
but
for
advice
tips on putting
on
anything
I
might
be
missing. together and
leveraging an
Advisory Board,
I
consistently
asked
them
“What
check out this video
am
I
not
seeing
here?
What
issues
or this one.
lay
ahead?
How
can
I
prepare
for
these
problems?”
Working with a Board of Directors
To
review
the
chart
in
Chapter
4,
the
structure
of
a
corpora>on
is
broken
down
by:
1)
Shareholders:
the
owners
of
the
company
who
select
the
board
2)
Board
of
directors:
the
fiduciaries,
who
selects
the
officers
Chapter 21: Mentors, Advisors & Board
3)
Officers:
CEO,
CFO,
CTO
and
others
who
manage
the
company
In
smaller
companies,
people
may
be
a
part
of
more
than
one
of
these
categories.
If
you
go
out
and
raise
money
for
your
company,
you’re
almost
always
going
to
have
a
board
of
directors.
The
key
thing
to
remember
is
that
as
soon
as
you
have
a
board
of
directors,
par>cularly
if
you’re
not
the
majority
owner
of
your
company
anymore,
you
will
have
to
answer
to
the
board.
You
can
remain
the
main
operator,
and
be
the
primary
force
driving
your
business
forward,
but
you
need
to
keep
your
board
in
the
loop.
They
will
have
regular
mee>ngs,
and
a
vested
interest
in
the
success
of
your
company.
When
you
raise
money
for
your
business,
o^en>mes
some
of
your
more
ac>ve
investors
end
up
being
on
your
board.
So
my
advice
is
not
to
think
that
the
sales
process
has
ended
once
you’ve
raised
money;
it
has
just
begun
with
your
board.
A
big
part
of
managing
your
board
of
directors
is
consistently
over
communica=ng,
making
Chapter 21: Mentors, Advisors & Board
sure
there
are
no
surprises,
and
over
delivering.
Video Tips: Board Selection & Structure
Q: How do I Q: How do I Q: How do I
structure my choose the orient new board
board? right board members?
members?
A: VIDEO A: VIDEO A: VIDEO
Resources Recap
•
Advisors
•
Board
of
Advisor
Agreement
(legal
doc)
•
Keys
to
Finding
a
Business
Mentor
(video)
•
How
an
Advisory
Board
Can
Benefit
Your
Company
Chapter 21: Mentors, Advisors & Board
(video)
•
PuKng
Together
a
Great
Advisory
Board
(video)
•
Crea>ng
a
Personal
Board
of
Advisors
(video)
•
Board
of
Directors
•
What
does
a
Board
of
Directors
Do?
(ar>cle)
•
Minutes
of
a
Mee>ng
of
the
Board
of
Directors
(legal
doc)
•
How
are
Board
Members
Compensated-‐
Shareholder
Director
Agreements
(ar>cle)
•
Structuring
a
Board
of
Directors
(video)
•
Tips
for
Selec>ng
Board
Members
(video)
•
Crea>ng
Orienta>on
Materials
for
a
New
Board
Member
(video)
