does anyone have experience with advisory boards?

professional profile

February 04, 2021

by a professional from The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business in Rye, NY, USA

joining an advisory board of a fintech company (post revenue).
Any benchmarks on compensation? What is the amount of stock options usually awarded?
What are the terms? (duration, engagement model)
Thank you in advance

1
12
146
Replies
12
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from University of Washington in Monroe, WA, USA
The following is not legal advice because I’m not your lawyer, but these are some topics that I recommend you discuss with legal counsel.redactedredacted

On the other hand, the advisory board is very often assembled to get input for the founder/CEO and it should be entirely responsibility of said founder/CEO, what course of action the company takes.
It’s a good idea to make sure that your advisor agreement clearly states that you’re not setting company policy, but simply providing input for the decisions that ultimately are made by the company management. If you’re not getting insured and you don’t have the fiduciary duty, it’s not a bad idea to have a document to point to in case some decisions get made that land the founder/company in hot water. This is also a good place to put in an indemnification provision.

What redacted
redacted
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
in Seattle, WA, USA
Luke tags me from time to time and I usually sit back and watch as wiser folks than me provide better answers than I could, but I got excited about this one thinking, "Gosh, I'm on lots of boards, maybe I can contribute something useful!" Except... I've never worried about compensation. I do it because I know somebody there and they asked me to help, or the company itself is of interest to me, or there's potential for a strategic alliance down the road, or, or, or... In short, I'll echo Leigh and say "it varies", though I'm saying it for likely very different reasons. Not sure if that helps except to say that monetary compensation isn't the only thing to consider.

Also, one other thing, having "grown" through a few startups and whatnot, and that is to say the advisors you need now are not the advisors you will need down the road. Set some boundaries and times for re-evaluation (even termination) of the relationship.
commentor profile
+10 more replies.
Join the discussion