What Most Startup Advisors Get Wrong
The advisory industry has a dirty secret: most advisors have never actually built anything. Here's what that means for founders — and what to look for instead.
If you've spent any time in the startup ecosystem, you've encountered them. The advisor with an impressive LinkedIn profile, a string of board positions, and an hourly rate that would make a lawyer blush. They speak fluently about frameworks, market sizing, and go-to-market strategy. They've read every startup book ever written.
But ask them the last time they personally shipped a product, closed an enterprise deal from scratch, or stared at a payroll spreadsheet wondering how to make it work — and you'll get a long pause.
The credentials trap
Founders are often dazzled by credentials. An ex-McKinsey partner. A former Fortune 500 VP. A serial board member. These are impressive titles, but they don't necessarily translate into useful startup advice.
Large company experience — even senior large company experience — is often the opposite of what an early-stage founder needs. The resources, the process, the risk tolerance, the timelines: everything is different.
What founders actually need
The best advisors share a few characteristics:
- They've felt the pain personally. They know what it's like to run out of runway, to lose a key hire, to pivot under pressure.
- They understand the technology. Especially in deep tech, IoT, AI, and telecom — you can't give useful strategic advice if you can't hold an intelligent conversation about the product itself.
- They're honest, not validating. The most dangerous advisor is the one who tells you what you want to hear.
- They have relevant networks. Not just a long contact list — but relationships with people who are actually useful to you right now.
The right question to ask
Before engaging any advisor, ask them: "Tell me about a time something went badly wrong in a venture you were part of, and what you learned from it."
Someone with real operator experience will have a rich, honest answer. Someone who has only advised from the sidelines will struggle — because they've never really had skin in the game.
At TechPonte, we only advise on things we've personally done. That means our advice comes with context, humility, and the hard-won perspective that only comes from having been there yourself.
Greg Jones