A well-connected, impressive-sounding advisor, brought on early for a small equity grant, seems like an easy win at the time — a respected name attached to the company, occasional guidance, an implicit endorsement. A meaningful number of these arrangements produce far less than the equity given away assumed they would, and founders rarely notice the mismatch until well after the equity is already spent.
The advisor who never actually helps
A well-connected advisor with a small equity grant sounds valuable in theory. Many end up contributing far less than the equity they were given assumed.
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