AGA's best practices for developing a high-impact Board of Advisors for your high-growth company.

1. Accelerated Growth Advisors
Best Practices in Developing
an Advisory Board

2. Accelerated Growth Advisors
Purpose of the Advisory Board
• Benefits of Creating an Advisory Board
– Adds unrepresented skills/experience to the management team
– Creates potential for growth
– Expands leadership’s network
– Credibility
– Diversity of Opinions
• Differences from a Board of Directors
– Purpose is to advise, not direct
– CEO is not directly accountable
– Informal structure (no legal obligations to shareholders and no
authority)
– Individuals are easily added, replaced
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3. Accelerated Growth Advisors
The Ideal Advisory Board Member?
• Industry insight
– Complementary experience in space
– No direct competitors
• Functional experience in similar industries
– Operating/Management
– Sales/Business Development
• Well-connected with potential…
– Customers
– Recruits
– Vendors
– Partners
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4. Accelerated Growth Advisors
Expectations of a Board
• Adequate preparation for the Board Meeting
– Thoroughly review board package
– Prior to the meeting, formalize key takeaways from the informational
package
– Gather questions to challenge management
• Participate in Quarterly Board Meetings
– Firm financial and operational review
– Firm strategic review (progress against goals)
– Executive feedback session
– Approval of strategic action items
– Be prepared to answer the question “what is the biggest obstacle
our firm faces”
– Provide objective and candid insight into our firm’s direction
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5. Accelerated Growth Advisors
Strategic Initiatives
• Nurture innovative ideas into a profitable revenue
generating segment
• Facilitate entrance into new strategic markets
• Offer guidance on expanding product offering into
higher yielding space
– Prioritizing prospective initiatives
• Understand firm’s risk capacity
• Add insight into gaining market share within the
industry
– How do we grow in terms of size and profitability?
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6. Accelerated Growth Advisors
Time Commitment
• The time requirements for the position are as
follows:
– Board Meetings will be held three times per year
– Each Board Meeting will last no longer than a
three hour time frame
– 3-5 hours of pre/post Board Meeting work
– Periodic correspondence of 0-1 hour as needed
(email & phone calls for strategic decisions)
– One year term
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7. Accelerated Growth Advisors
Compensation
• $X,XXX per Board Meeting
• Travel and meal expenses incurred
• Personal brand value
• Incentives based on firm profits (starting in year 2)
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