When Airbnb began scaling globally, it faced a major challenge: its management team lacked deep hospitality industry knowledge. To solve this, it brought in Chip Conley, a veteran hotelier, as a strategic advisor.
Conley’s expertise helped Airbnb navigate the complexities of the hospitality sector. This transformed Airbnb’s guest experience and bridged the gap between startup agility and traditional industry standards.
That’s what a well-formed advisory board is meant to do—provide expertise where it’s most needed to propel your business forward. Let’s learn how to set up an advisory board to fuel your company’s growth and success.
How to Create and Manage an Advisory Board
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Is an Advisory Board?
An advisory board is a group of external professionals who provide strategic advice and expertise to your organization’s leadership. These individuals are usually seasoned experts in areas relevant to your company’s needs, such as finance, technology, marketing, or international law.
Unlike a board of directors, an advisory board does not have legal responsibilities or decision-making authority. Their role is purely consultative, enhancing your company’s strategic direction and operational effectiveness.
Types of advisory boards
1. Strategic advisory boards
Sometimes called steering committees, strategic advisory boards guide a company’s overarching strategy and long-term vision. These boards focus on macro-level decisions related to project governance, growth opportunities, target market, and business direction.
✨Spotify created an advisory council for content safety in response to growing concerns about harmful content on its platform. This strategic advisory group helped the company make informed decisions about content policies and safety measures.
2. Technical advisory boards
Technical advisory boards provide specialized knowledge in specific technological areas. They help startups and established companies navigate complex technical challenges and drive innovation.
✨If a car maker wants to lead in automotive design and sustainability, they could consider recruiting advisors like Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s lead product designer, on their advisory board. His expertise in product design and experience with electric vehicles would add tremendous value.
3. Customer advisory boards
When a company wishes to focus deeply on customer experience, it can opt to create a customer advisory board. Such boards consist of key customers, clients, or industry leaders who provide direct feedback on products, services, and customer experience. They help companies stay in tune with customer expectations and market demands.
✨Adobe, for instance, has established an international advisory board to leverage user feedback and insights from experienced industry professionals. The board helps Adobe enhance its products and services, ensuring they meet customer needs and stay competitive.
4. Non-profit advisory boards
Non-profit advisory boards support mission-driven organizations by providing insights, resources, and connections to enhance their impact. These boards often play a key role in helping non-profits secure funding and make informed decisions on important initiatives.
✨The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s global health program advisory panel includes leading public health, medicine, and international development experts. Their collective knowledge ensures that the foundation’s efforts are aligned with global needs, making their initiatives more effective and impactful.
Advisory Board vs. Board of Directors
This may seem a bit confusing, but it isn’t really.
The board of directors plays a formal role in overseeing the company’s operations, strategy, and compliance. It has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders and holds decision-making authority.
In contrast, an advisory board provides non-binding guidance, offering external expertise to help inform company decisions without having any legal or financial responsibilities.
For example, suppose a company is evaluating a major investment opportunity. The advisory board can provide insights into the potential risks and benefits—but it lacks the authority to make a final decision. That responsibility lies with the board of directors; they must approve or reject the deal based on its alignment with the company’s goals and shareholder interests.
Here’s a quick snapshot:
| Aspect | Board of Directors | Advisory Board |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | Comprised of elected or appointed directors, often including major shareholders | Typically composed of external experts and advisors |
| Roles and Responsibilities | Oversees company governance, makes binding decisions, and ensures compliance with laws | Offers strategic guidance, specialized expertise, and networking opportunities |
| Focus Areas | Broad oversight of company strategy, financial performance, and overall governance | Specialized areas such as technology, marketing, or international expansion |
| Decision-Making Power | Has the authority to make binding decisions on behalf of the company | Cannot make or enforce decisions |
| Compensation | Typically compensated through fees, stock options, or other forms of remuneration | May receive equity, fees, or other incentives |
| Meeting Frequency | Regularly scheduled meetings, often quarterly | Flexible meetings as needed |
| Legal Obligations | Legally accountable for the company’s actions and compliance | No legal obligations or liabilities |
| Regulatory Requirements | Must comply with corporate governance laws and regulations | Not subject to the same regulatory standards |
| Accountability | Accountable to shareholders and regulatory bodies | Advises but is not accountable for company outcomes |
Summarize this article for me pleaseRoles and Responsibilities of an Advisory Board
An advisory board is a valuable resource for a company’s management and leadership team. It functions as a sounding board and provides domain-specific guidance without the formalities of a board of directors.
The key roles and responsibilities of the advisory body include:
- Providing guidance and insights on the company’s strategic direction, helping identify opportunities for creating intellectual property and overall growth. For example, when a manufacturer seeks to expand globally, its advisory board provides valuable input on trends in the target markets, such as cultural nuances that affect consumer preferences in different countries
- Offering specialized expertise in technology, finance, marketing, or industry-specific trends. This expertise can inform critical decisions and help navigate complex challenges. For instance, biotech startups often include renowned biochemists and scientists on their advisory boards to guide research and development efforts
- Facilitating networking opportunities by leveraging their professional networks, which can open doors to new partnerships, investors, and clients. A fintech company might first leverage its advisory board members’ connections to secure funding or strategic partnerships with established financial institutions
- Enhancing credibility and reputation with project stakeholders, including investors, customers, and partners. This can be particularly beneficial during fundraising rounds or when entering new markets
The value of an advisory board in business development
An advisory board can be a strategic asset, providing invaluable insights and guidance for business development. By leveraging the collective expertise of its advisory board members, businesses can:
- Accelerate growth: Advisory boards can help identify new market opportunities, develop innovative products or services, and optimize business strategies for rapid expansion
- Enhance decision-making: The diverse perspectives of advisory board members can challenge assumptions, uncover blind spots, lead to more informed and effective decisions, and refine business proposals
- Strengthen partnerships: Advisory boards can facilitate connections with strategic partners, investors, and industry influencers, fostering collaboration and growth
- Attract top talent: A well-respected advisory board can enhance a company’s reputation and attract top talent, contributing to its long-term success
By harnessing the power of an advisory board, businesses can position themselves for sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
Summarize this article for me pleaseHow to Create a High-Impact Advisory Board
PayPal set up an advisory board to act as advisors on crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies.
By tapping into the expertise of industry leaders, PayPal has gained critical insights into payment systems, emerging technologies, and global market trends. This strategic move has helped PayPal expand its offerings to meet evolving customer needs.
You, too, can follow the steps below to create a high-impact advisory board to replicate PayPal’s success.
Preparing for an advisory board
Before reaching out to potential leaders and advisors, laying a solid foundation is essential to ensure that your plan to create an advisory board will be effective.
- Identify your objectives: Clearly define what you hope to achieve with your advisory board and the associated skill gaps you see today
- Define roles and expectations: Establish clear expectations regarding the advisors’ roles, time commitments, and deliverables
- Choose an optimal board size: In general, a board of 4 to 6 members allows for more in-depth discussions and stronger relationships
Implementing an advisory board
With preparations in place, the next step is to recruit advisors and integrate your advisory board.
- Onboard the right advisors: Use existing connections, industry events, and professional platforms like LinkedIn to find potential advisors. that share your company’s vision and values
- Set communication channels: Establish how and when you’ll communicate through regular meetings, emails, or a dedicated platform
- Establishing governance: Set a schedule for regular meetings (quarterly or bi-annually), keep advisors engaged and informed, and ensure their input is integrated into your organizational planning
Define the business model while structuring an advisory board
Choosing the proper structure for your advisory board is crucial for maximizing its impact. Take note of:
- Compensation and incentives: Offering equity options or a retainer can motivate advisors to contribute meaningfully to the company’s success
- Legal and ethical considerations: Outline the board’s purpose, member roles, and operational procedures. Protect sensitive information by having advisors sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in addition to the advisory agreement
- Performance metrics: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the advisory board’s impact. Assess the board’s contributions and make adjustments as needed
Be mindful of the impact of venture capital
Venture capital often shapes how an advisory board functions by influencing its composition and goals. Consider:
- Strategic guidance: Investors may bring in industry veterans to offer expertise
- Regular updates: Advisory boards might need to provide performance metrics regularly
- Growth alignment: Advisors are aligned with specific growth objectives to meet investor expectations
Also Read: 15 Startup Challenges New Businesses Face
Summarize this article for me pleaseTools and Resources for an Advisory Board
When your organization is scaling rapidly, coordinating with your advisory board requires more than occasional emails and quarterly meetings.
Adopt a suite of tools that streamlines communication, document sharing, and task management. You’ll need:
- Communication platforms: Applications like Zoom facilitate face-to-face meetings, which are crucial for building relationships and discussing complex topics. Slack or Microsoft Teams allow real-time communication, chat, quick updates, and informal discussions. You can also use ClickUp Chat for real-time communication and collaboration, especially for quick questions and updates.
- Project management tools: A modern project management tool makes planning, executing, and tracking your advisory board program easier. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 enable simultaneous editing and sharing of documents, meeting agendas, and reports. With all-in-one work apps like ClickUp, you and your team can plan and schedule tasks, run meetings, track progress, communicate, and collaborate.
- Scheduling tools: Tools like Calendly simplify meeting scheduling by syncing availability across calendars. Automated alerts ensure that all members are aware of upcoming meetings and deadlines. In ClickUp, you can use features like ClickUp Reminders and ClickUp Automations to schedule meetings and recurring tasks and set up reminders.
- Data and analytics tools: Tools like Tableau or Power BI provide data visualizations that help advisors quickly understand complex information—applications like Excel or custom spreadsheet tools assist in analyzing financial data and projections. Or you can just use the customizable ClickUp Dashboards to build custom reports to analyze progress.
- Secure file sharing: Services like Dropbox Business ensure sensitive documents are shared securely with appropriate access controls.
- Video communication: Instantly share screen recordings with ClickUp Clips, or click the video icon to share your comments. This eliminates the need for endless comment threads and confusion. This is a great way to share updates, provide feedback, or discuss specific topics without scheduling a full meeting.
Manage your advisory board program with ClickUp
While the tools mentioned earlier are helpful, using them separately will lead to fragmented data over time and cost you a great deal. ClickUp offers a unified platform that consolidates all the functions previously handled by multiple tools.
ClickUp for Project Management offers a platform for communicating with advisory board members, setting deadlines, and tracking progress. You can create tasks for preparing board meeting agendas, assign specific action items to team members, and monitor the completion of those tasks in real time.
Scheduling board meetings
Using ClickUp’s Calendar View, you can easily schedule advisory board meetings by syncing members’ availability across different time zones and calendars. Automated reminders are sent to ensure everyone is aware of upcoming meetings and deadlines, reducing the risk of missed appointments.
Managing meetings using ClickUp is a breeze. Its rich editing capabilities enable easy and creative note-taking. Items on the agenda can be listed using a checklist and marked off once addressed. Comments are assignable; simply associate them with the board member who needs to address them.
Then, with ClickUp Brain, generate outlines or summarize meeting minutes, saving time and ensuring that key decisions and action points are documented. It can also assist in brainstorming sessions by providing instant ideas and suggestions based on your input.
Task management
To coordinate, set tasks, and measure the performance of advisory boards, companies typically appoint internal coordinators, often referred to as internal advisory board sponsors/coordinators. Their task is to manage the administrative and logistical aspects.
Here is how these internal teams can use ClickUp to manage these tasks effectively:
- Task dependencies: ClickUp helps you manage and visualize the relationships between different tasks. This ensures that both internal teams and advisory board members understand how each task is interconnected. For example, if a strategic decision depends on completing a market analysis, ClickUp will clearly indicate which tasks must be completed first
- Task delegation and tracking: With ClickUp Tasks, responsibilities can be easily delegated to specific internal teams or a particular advisory board member. Each member receives notifications and reminders, ensuring accountability and clarity on what must be accomplished before the next meeting.
- Recurring tasks: Your internal advisory board coordinators can set up recurring tasks in ClickUp, such as regular board meetings or monthly progress reports, to ensure that essential activities are automatically scheduled
Data analysis
ClickUp also simplifies data analysis for advisory boards with ClickUp Dashboards that provide real-time insights into key metrics.
By leveraging these features, companies can effectively coordinate their advisory boards, set clear tasks, analyze performance, and assess how well the company is meeting its objectives to maximize its strategic impact.
And all this can be done within the ClickUp platform.
Customizable templates
Finally, the clincher: ClickUp’s vast variety of pre-created templates. ClickUp offers a variety of ready-to-use templates that your internal teams and project sponsors can use when coordinating with your advisory board.
The ClickUp Board Minutes Template makes it easy to capture the minutes of your advisory board meetings. It helps to create a complete record of the meetings, with attendee information, agenda, and action items.
The template is pre-structured with sections for the meeting date and time, a list of attendees, agenda items, decisions made, action items, and additional notes (if any).
You can add tasks directly from the action items section, assigning them to team members with deadlines. You can also share the minutes easily with all attendees via ClickUp after the meeting.
The ClickUp Board Roster Template is another handy template designed to help you efficiently track and manage board members.
This template can help in the following ways:
- Visualize board structure: It provides a clear and organized view of all board members, roles, and responsibilities
- Centralized contact information: With fields for contact details like phone numbers and emails, it is a single source of truth for keeping all essential information in one place
- Custom fields and statuses: You can track additional details such as credentials, committees, and the current status (Active, Inactive, On Leave, etc.)
- Improve collaboration: Assigning tasks to individual startup advisors directly within the roster ensures that everyone is informed, engaged, and accountable. It also helps in organizing meetings and ensuring timely communication
- Track overall progress: The template allows users to track each board member’s assigned responsibilities, promoting transparency and accountability
This template simplifies board management, ensuring that board members are well-organized, informed, and aligned with the organization’s goals.
The ClickUp Board Report Template helps create clear and comprehensive reports for board meetings. It allows you to present all key metrics, project updates, and important data in an organized manner for effective decision-making.
Here’s how this template benefits you:
- Organized reporting: The template allows you to gather all relevant data—like financials, project updates, or customer feedback—into a single, easy-to-read report that board members can review before meetings
- Progress tracking: It provides a snapshot of ongoing projects, helping you track progress against board-level goals and ensure that everyone is aligned on key metrics
- Data visualization: Custom views like List, Table, and Dashboards help visualize project progress, timelines, and workload distribution, making it easier for the board to grasp important information
The ClickUp Board Report Template makes board reporting less overwhelming, more structured, and highly collaborative.
Benefits of using ClickUp for adaptive project management
ClickUp is an invaluable tool for managing your advisory board, providing essential benefits that enhance collaboration and adaptability in navigating the complexities of advisory functions.
Key advantages include:
- Customizable workflows: Tailor workflows to suit your advisory board’s specific needs, ensuring smooth processes for scheduling meetings, sharing documents, and tracking discussions
- Real-time collaboration: Facilitate seamless communication among board members and your team with document sharing and updates, ensuring everyone stays aligned on key decisions and initiatives
- Agile task management: Manage tasks related to board activities flexibly, allowing for quick adjustments to priorities and timelines as board needs evolve
- Goal tracking: Set and monitor progress towards advisory board objectives, helping members stay focused on strategic initiatives and desired outcomes
- Comprehensive dashboards: Use intuitive dashboards to gain insights into the advisory board’s performance and ongoing projects
By leveraging ClickUp’s adaptable features, you can ensure your advisory board operates with greater agility and responsiveness, ultimately enhancing its effectiveness and impact on your organization.
Summarize this article for me pleaseCase Studies and Real-life Examples of Advisory Boards
Here are some real-life examples and case studies of successful businesses that have benefited significantly from the insights and support of their advisory boards.
Tesla
Situation: When Tesla aimed to penetrate the Chinese market—one of the world’s largest for electric vehicles—it faced regulatory hurdles and stiff competition.
How the advisory board helped: Tesla’s advisory board had experts in Chinese regulations, business practices, and consumer behavior who advised Tesla on its strategy.
Result: Tesla built the Gigafactory Shanghai, its first manufacturing plant outside the United States. Consequently, Tesla rapidly increased production capacity and sales in the region, contributing to a significant boost in its global revenue.
UPS Capital
Situation: UPS Capital needed to improve its core operations.
How the advisory board helped: The UPS Capital Customer Advisory Board studied the company’s core operations. In discussions about e-commerce, members identified different vendors and platforms, leading to a rethink of product positioning and a full website redesign. They also tested various solutions.
Result: After UPS Capital implemented the CAB’s suggestions, they saw a noticeable rise in their Net Promoter Scores (NPS).
Iron Mountain
Situation: Iron Mountain needed guidance regarding its product strategy.
How the advisory board helped: The Iron Mountain advisory board worked with the founding team to create helpful guides that tackle important industry challenges. They teamed up for industry events and roundtable discussions while spotting chances for cross-selling and upselling, showing the advisory board’s real impact on business growth.
Result: The board’s influence is most strongly reflected in their impact on customer engagement and marketing strategies.
Deutsche Bank
Situation: In times when social, technological, and geopolitical developments are rapidly changing the operating environment for banks, Deutsche Bank’s Management Board created a new Global Advisory Board in 2022.
How the advisory board helped: Deutsche Bank assembled an advisory board composed of experts in business, academia, and politics. Their task was to advise the management board on fundamental developments that significantly impact the bank and its customers.
This helped them tailor their offerings and marketing strategies to the local culture.
Result: Deutsche Bank reported significant profit growth in 2022, achieving its highest profit since 2007. This success was part of a broader transformation strategy, which the global advisory board likely supported by offering strategic guidance.
By leveraging an advisory board’s expertise and networks, companies can make more informed decisions, innovate faster, and navigate the complexities of business development more effectively.
Also Read: How to Have Productive Meetings
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhy Your Business Needs an Advisory Board
An advisory board can fill key knowledge gaps, suggest OKRs for startups and small businesses, provide mentorship to the management team, and accelerate growth. For larger companies, an advisory board brings specialized expertise that promotes innovation and helps navigate complex market shifts.
In addition, having respected industry figures on your advisory board can enhance your founding team’s credibility with investors, customers, and partners.
Conversely, you could have a conflict of interest if your advisors have commitments to organizations that are potentially your competitors or if their guidance does not align with your company’s vision.
While advisory boards are beneficial, running an effective advisory board program takes a significant investment of time and effort. However, ClickUp offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to simplify collaboration, scheduling, and project management. This ensures that managing an advisory board isn’t a complex, time-consuming task.
Sign up for a free ClickUp account today and take your company’s strategic planning to the next level.
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