How can you negotiate feedback with your startup's advisors?

Choosing your advisors as a founder should be something you undertake having the following in mind: Their experience in your industry of operation. Their connections. Their experience advising other startups or founders and Their availability. Experience in your industry of operation alone won't cut it if the advisor is so busy they can't make time to meet with you and your team. Their connections are important too. So many partnerships are easier to access with the right introductions. Please make sure that your advisor has direct contact, affiliation or relationships with key stakeholders in your industry of operation. Finally, try to confirm the advisor's level of commitment from other founders who have worked with the advisor.

When launching a startup, founders often appoint advisors from their inner circle. This approach has its positives: comfort, trust, and immediate support. However, it's not without negatives. These advisors may avoid tough feedback, creating an echo chamber that lacks diverse perspectives and necessary honesty. Therefore, seeking to include external advisors is crucial for fostering growth and innovation. You can find external advisors who align with your startup's vision and challenges through industry networks or online platforms. It’s important to embrace diverse viewpoints and insist on candid advice to navigate the complexities of business development.

Negotiating feedback with startup advisors is a multifaceted process crucial for fostering productive relationships and ensuring mutual benefits. Establish clear communication for feedback discussions. Define expectations transparently, focusing on strategic, operational, or expertise-specific feedback. Foster openness for honest input. Acknowledge advisors' expertise and prioritize actionable insights. Encourage dialogue and discretion in advice-following. Seek consensus in conflicting feedback and express gratitude. Follow-up evaluates suggestions' impact. Effective negotiation leverages advisors' expertise for startup success.

Choosing the right advisor and mentor is key for the success of your startup. My personal advice, based on handson experience since 1997 in corporate venturing, venturing and selecting and helping startups an scaleups successfully is: choose somebody that has the same values as you, that has proven and relevant experience with selecting and helping startups really. And that want to really help you instead of promoting and selling you services and products. p.s. Do not join a startup accelerator. And do not use 'The Lean Startup' nor Business Model Canvas (BMC).

As a startup mentor, I encourage entrepreneurs to approach our feedback discussions with a well-defined plan and a clear scope in mind. By outlining specific areas for discussion, we can maximize the value of our time together and ensure that our conversation remains focused and productive. While I provide guidance and support, I also emphasize the importance of the entrepreneur's active participation in shaping the direction of the discussion. Together, we work collaboratively to address challenges, explore opportunities, and develop actionable strategies. This structured approach not only helps to keep the conversation on track but also empowers the entrepreneur to take ownership of their learning and development journey.

I think the question might be flawed. You don't need to negotiate feedback from advisors. Think of it as a gift. Now you have many options: 1. Receive it and learn. If it confirms your thinking, great. If it challenges your thinking and changes your mind, consider yourself lucky. 2. Revisit later. Maybe that gift was given at the wrong time for you (like giving an advanced gift to a kid). 3. Reject. No one mandates advice; if your advisor does, run the other way. But tell your advisor why as a courtesy. 4. Re-gift. Maybe it's wisdom, but not for you. Share it with someone who needs to hear it. Before 2-4, ask your advisor to clarify. Last: One thing you should NEVER do is take advice and always do the opposite. That makes you an ASK-hole.

Feedback from experts plays a vital role in startup building. A proven easy way is to build a private group of successful entrepreneurs who can play multiple roles as - mentor, advisor, evaluator, guide, etc.

The most important challenge for you as founder is to find and contact the right startup advisor and mentor that really wants to help you with real practical advices and hints. Linkedin is full of 'false startup experts'. So look for real, honest people with a trackrecord you can verify. And that can help you in these turbulent times with the right advice, simple tools and help. Founding, growing and scaling a successful startup is about people, about organizing and have the right skills to turn the right idea into a success. To survive the online shakeout in the AI-powered economy and the new age of work because of AI. ps And forget the large dinosaur companies and traditional startup accelerators using 'The Lean Startup'.