Interview, Fireside Chat
a16z Podcast | Building the Right Technical Advisory Board
- Technical advisory boards are expected to map long-term strategy, build engineering culture, provide informed opinions on tough technical choices that internal teams cannot resolve, and arbitrate deep architectural decisions during rapid scaling or when co-founders lack technical backgrounds.
- Customer advisory boards are anticipated to inform product roadmaps, validate problem statements and pain points with target customers like CIOs, and potentially nominate technical individuals to form an informal technical advisory group.
- Board composition varies by company stage and size, with structures of six to eight members recommended for smaller entities to facilitate discussion, while larger groups may cause conversation to taper off; terms are suggested to be two years for fast-moving startups with renewal options, and boards may be refreshed every couple of years if contributions wane.
- Operational formats range from formal meetings debating specific points requiring agendas prepared a month in advance to one-off instances for vetting hires or answering feasibility questions, with meeting frequency varying from twice annually to no group meetings if one-off interactions suffice.
- Effective meetings require a single clear problem statement with advanced "homework" assignments, limiting presentations to under 10 minutes to allow for intelligent reaction, while diversity of experience and personality across domains is deemed necessary to foster debate.
- Selection processes prioritize networking through connections or informal coffee meetings to assess fit, seeking experts from varied domains for balanced perspectives, and managing "big personalities" to ensure harmony where no single individual overshadows others.
- Compensation strategies typically involve stock options equivalent to a seasoned engineer with a three-year vesting period accelerated over four years, though conflicts of interest may require waivers, free service, or agreements that no compensation is given.
- Risks and challenges include potential procurement blocks if an advisor is signed before securing a deal with their employer, the danger of advisors becoming purely formal without actionable outcomes, and the ethical necessity for advisors to avoid exaggerating company realities during promotion.
- Advisors are expected to provide mentorship on organizational structure and culture, share past mistakes to help founders avoid repeating them, and offer unexpected referrals for deals or hiring, though boards should eventually be disbanded once internal teams possess sufficient expertise to solve problems independently.
- Timeframes for utility are bounded, as external advisory needs may diminish as companies grow large enough to have enough smart internal people, and specific roles such as Twitter's current state may not require an external board at this point.