Advisors And Mentors - The Role and How to Find them

Vijay Anand, RTBI, IIT Madras Twitter: vijayanands

Entrepreneur. Founder (Proto.in). Currently with RTBI

Key Stages of a Company. Every Stage requires certain niche skills to bring it to scale

Being an Entrepreneur.
Being an Entrepreneur/CEO is a lonely path.
Its both a lifestyle and a professional choice.
Can only afford to be great in few skills – not mediocre in all.
Has the challenge in working with people s(he) can envision the company with.

The Biggest Mistake.
The two people you need to stay away from (as a startup) are MBAs and Consultants – Guy Kawasaki.

The Coach.

Terminologies
Common Mistake to Grade them all together.
Mentor/Coach – grow acumen (personal)
Advisor – guide/strategic thinking
Consultant – hands-on deliverables
Directors/Stakeholders – monitoring/wealth creation

Relevance.
Lots of Examples:
32 Million SMEs in the Country.
Founders Syndrome kicks in as company expands.
The Need to evolve in thinking – detached perspective.
Spurt vs Sustained Innovation/Growth

How to Engage an Advisor
Rule: The First four hours are free.
Dedicate a specific timeslot in regular intervals to update, and get feedback.
Get him/her involved – compensate.
Chemistry is very important – trust.
The Ability to think in the same lines, but in different wavelengths.
Longterm: Look at some equity – 1-2%

What Could Go Wrong
Lack of Time and cant keep commitment.
Closed Minded Advisor.
The falling off of trust – Cant take the NO of an Advisor with trust.
Motives and Intentions Change
Execution of the Company doesn’t span out.

Where to Start?
Start with Clarity on the past. The vision, the Product, the Market, the Goal.
Look into your own networks to see if you find someone whom you admire, and is a few steps ahead of you.
Tap into networks like TiE, NASSCOM etc.
Linkedin?

Summary
A partner in Visioning/strategy
To extend Networks beyond what you have.
The Ability to bring a disjoint opinion and perpective of an idea/strategy
Two heads are better than one.
The right advisors can increase the board valuation for an entity.

Organization Viewpoint The Advisor doesn’t “Report” to the entrepreneur. But works with the Entrepreneur.

Summary
Bold Statement:
Advisors are probably the only people that you should consult for strategic level thinking. For the very simple reason that there is accountability.

I’m also on Twitter @vijayanands

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