Ideas: everyone has a few. Going from an idea, to startup, to a real revenue-producing business is what separates dreamers from doers.
For the stereotypical, basement dwelling, shy and socially awkward idea person connecting with others, finding co-founders, mentors, or advisors can prove elusive.
Since 2012, FounderDating has been making the process of finding cofounders less elusive for entrepreneurs around the globe. It’s connecting people in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
Teams can (and do) work remotely in the early days. Yet, having co-founders in your own backyard is arguably the best case scenario. It’s tough strangling each other over Skype.
However, when it comes to advisors where they call home shouldn’t matter in most cases. What matters is communicating why to do things, what they know, or who they know. Again, for many entrepreneurs finding the right advisors with the right domain expertise or interests can be as challenging as finding a co-founder.
With the roll out of FounderDating Advisors, it’s now easier for FounderDating members to find and connect with world-class advisors. As Jessica Alter, founder and chief connector says, “having great advisors is invaluable, and it’s recognizing we need different people in this role depending on the stage your business is at. Often what you need, or what they are good at changes. We’re all about making it easier to find, connect with, and manage these relationships.”
This expansion of their platform is aimed at helping a much larger part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.This isn’t just for early/cofounder stage, FounderDating:Advisors is open to companies of all stages
Currently, becoming an advisor on the network requires an invite or approval (similar to the cofounder network) in order to maintain a high quality. “Advisors are an extremely valuable part of growing your idea and company, but the process of identifying, communicating with and managing that relationship needs help on both ends,” said Alter. “The advisors on our platform have high intent. They’ve identified what they are good at, interested in, and who they’ve advised previously. We’re making it more efficient and valuable for both advisors and advisees.”
Making the process more seamless, FounderDating has collaborated with leading law firms Gunderson Dettmer and Orrick to create a standard advisor agreement. The agreement allows the advisor and entrepreneur to decide on the amount of equity (guidance is given), but most other terms are standard. The template can be downloaded for free.
“Iʼm always surprised to see the level of friction between advisors and entrepreneurs when it comes to formalizing that relationship. Having this agreement will go a long way to align incentives and simplify that process,” said Josh Cook, Partner at Gunderson.
There are already talented advisors in the network like: Aaron Batalion, Cofounder/CTO at LivingSocial; Josh Handy, VP Products at Method and Katherine Woo, CPO at Kiva. I can see some great Canadian talent having an impact on this platform.Everyday the world seems to get a little bit flatter, and access to amazing talent even more accessible.