[stevengraham]

Hi Andrew. I've been in the C level, advisory, and investor roles at early stage companies. I'm certainly not an expert compared to many who frequent HN, but I hope I can add a bit of value.

There's no need to give up a board seat. Normally your lead investors will be taking a seat, and it could cause you issues when you try to raise.

You want to recruit some advisors who can move the needle for you with complementary skills. Ideally you just pay them cash, however being early stage may mean offering equity instead. You can do this as a vested option purchase at fair valuation. You need to be clear on what you expect from them, and obviously they must also believe their effort is going to be worth their time.

Take a look at the FAST agreement to get a better idea of how to approach the situation. https://fi.co/fast

[btown]

Yep, you can even have a concept of an “advisory board” if you want to bring structure and/or allow advisors to speak with authority in making introductions.

From what I’ve seen it can occasionally be helpful around the time when investors are demanding board seats to give an actual board seat to someone independent. Good investors will actually welcome this. But until it’s needed, you don’t need to overengineer giving up control.

[kposehn]

Agreed on both points.

I've been an advisor for a number of companies in my career from pre-seed to late stage. The notion of not over-engineering giving up control is spot on.

If you even need an advisor (and you may not) then stick with the FAST template and don't overthink it. At the earliest stage an advisor can help you think critically about your product and introduce you to a lot of good connections, but you should reserve equity only for those who bring the most value.