How to become a startup advisor (and what equity to expect)

First, check that it's really an advisor role

Short answer: a startup advisor gives a young company judgment, introductions and pattern recognition for a few hours a month, usually in exchange for a small amount of equity. You don't run anything, you don't manage anyone, and you aren't on the hook for a result.

That line matters, because many first offers blur it. A founder who asks for five to ten hours a week of real work in exchange for half a percent isn't offering an advisor role. That is a part-time job paid in equity, and it deserves a different conversation: a salary or a fee, a bigger grant, or a clear end date. The Founder Institute says its FAST template is built for strategic advice, not for project consulting or "work for hire". If the founder needs deliverables, say so and price it as consulting.

Ask yourself three questions before you go looking: what problem have I personally solved more than once, at what kind of company, and how many hours a month can I really give without it eating my evenings?

Write your one-line advisor offer

"Experienced executive available to advise startups" tells a founder nothing. A founder remembers the person who does one specific thing they need right now. Write one sentence with four parts: who you help, the problem, the stage, and the proof. You'll reuse it in your profile, in every intro request and at every event.

Two examples of the shape: "I help health-tech founders get their first hospital pilot signed; I ran procurement at a large hospital for eight years." "I help seed-stage software founders hire their first two salespeople; I built and led the first sales team at two companies." Notice what's missing: no list of ten industries, no "strategy", no "growth".

I help [type of founder] with [one problem they have right now]
at [stage: idea / pre-seed / seed / Series A].
Proof: I [did this exact thing], at [where], for [how long].
What I give: [hours per month], [calls / reviews / introductions].
What I don't do: [run the team / build the product / guarantee intros].

Where founders who need you actually are

Founders take advice from people they've already seen be useful. So the goal of this step isn't to announce that you advise. It's to be in the places where founders with your problem ask for help, and to help in public before anyone asks you to.

• People who already know your work: former colleagues who became founders, and founders who sold to your old company. Send each your one-line offer and ask who they know with that problem right now.
• Investors in your field: angels and funds see many companies too young to hire your skills full-time. Ask them to keep you in mind for portfolio companies with your exact problem.
• Accelerator and university mentor programmes: office hours let you meet several founders at once without promising an ongoing role to any of them. Pick programmes in your field over general ones.
• Founder events and communities in your field: answer the questions you know cold. One sharp answer in a room or a thread does more than a profile that lists your titles.
• Founders asking openly for an advisor: on networks built for this, such as Solution, founders post requests for an advisor and say what they need. More on that in step 07.

Start with a small test, not a title

The Founder Institute recommends that a founder work with a potential advisor for at least one month and spend at least eight hours together before discussing an advisor agreement. That advice protects you just as much. A month on one real problem shows you whether the founder listens, prepares and follows through, and shows them whether your advice is worth equity.

Keep the test small and written down, even if it's just an email: one problem, a few conversations, one concrete output and a date to decide together. Don't let it slide into months of unpaid work. If the founder keeps asking for more without wanting to talk about a role, that's your answer.

30-day test with [founder / startup]
The one problem: [e.g. who to hire first in sales, and how]
My part: [2 calls + review of the job description + 2 introductions if they fit]
Their part: [agenda before each call, the numbers I need, one owner for the decision]
What I won't do: [interview candidates for them / manage anyone]
End of test: [date]. We decide together: stop, keep it informal, or agree a role.

What advisor equity actually looks like

Early-stage advisors are usually paid in equity, because the company has little cash to spare. The most quoted reference is the Founder Institute's FAST template (Version 3, updated July 2026). It sets equity by two things: how mature the company is and how involved you are.

Read the grid as an anchor for a conversation, not a price list. Carta's data on real grants is lower: in the first half of 2024 the median advisor grant at pre-seed companies was 0.21% of the company, at seed 0.12% and at Series A 0.05%, and only about one in ten pre-seed advisors received 1% or more. Both sources agree on the direction: the earlier the company and the more you actually do, the bigger the grant.

Two more numbers worth knowing. FAST says it isn't unusual for a tech startup to set aside about 5% of the company for all its advisors together, so a founder offering you 2% is either very early, very generous or not counting. And always turn a percentage into shares: 0.25% of a company with 10,000,000 shares is 25,000 shares. The agreement should name the number of shares, not only a percentage that changes with every round.

• FAST, standard involvement (monthly meetings): 0.50% at pre-seed, 0.25% at seed, 0.10% at Series A.
• FAST, expert involvement (meetings plus contacts and projects): 1.00% at pre-seed, 0.75% at seed, 0.50% at Series A.
• Vesting: FAST vests over two years with a three-month cliff, so an advisor who stops in the first three months gets nothing. Carta says two-year monthly vesting is common for advisors, sometimes with no cliff.
• Cash: some startups add a monthly retainer or a project fee, usually once they have the budget. If the role is closer to a job than to advice, that's when to ask for it.

What to check before you sign

A handshake and "we'll give you some equity" isn't a deal. Carta notes that advisor grants are usually ordinary common stock or stock options, granted with formal board approval, and that a written advisor agreement should set out your role, time, shares, vesting, confidentiality and intellectual property. Go through this list with the founder before your first paid hour:

• The agreement names your scope, your monthly hours, the exact number of shares or options, the vesting schedule and cliff, and what happens to unvested equity if either side ends it.
• The grant is approved by the company's board. Ask to see it on the cap table once it's issued.
• Which kind of equity it is. Advisors get restricted stock or non-qualified stock options; incentive stock options are reserved for employees. The IRS explains how each kind is taxed and when.
• If you receive restricted stock that vests over time, ask a tax adviser about an 83(b) election before you sign. In the US it must be filed no later than 30 days after the shares are transferred to you, and it can't be filed late.
• Your day job allows it. Read your employment contract for outside-work, conflict and invention clauses. In California, for example, the law limits what an employer can claim of an invention made entirely on your own time and equipment, but not one related to the employer's business. Other places have other rules.
• Your profession allows it. Doctors, lawyers, public servants and officers in uniform often have their own conflict-of-interest rules. Check with your licensing or professional body and your employer before you sign anything.
• No competing companies. Tell each founder who else you advise, and don't advise two companies chasing the same customers.
• A lawyer and a tax adviser where the grant is formed have seen the papers. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Get found by the founders who need you on Solution

Most of this guide is about one thing: getting in front of founders who have the exact problem you've solved, with a reason to talk. That's what we built Solution for. Founders there search for people by what they help with, and when a founder needs an advisor they post a request saying what they need and where they are, so you're answering a real need instead of guessing. Smart Connections suggests people with the reason they fit, so your first message can open with that reason. And sections have an end, with no endless feed, because the point is to find one person worth meeting and get on with your day. Here's how an advisor uses it:

• Create your free profile and put your one-line offer from step 02 in your bio, with what you help with written in plain words, because that's what founders search by.
• Explore startup pages, also free. Each one shows what the startup does, its stage, what it's raising and the roles it needs, which tells you before any call whether your problem is their problem.
• Search by field and by what people are looking for, to find founders whose need matches your offer.
• Answer the four-tap Smart Connections questionnaire so the app can suggest people for you, each with the reason they fit.
• Answer founders' requests for an Advisor (mentor requests are posted as Advisor) and Partner requests that ask for an advisor. Your reply reaches the founder in one place, together with the other answers to that request.
• Reach out with your 30-day test from step 04 instead of a title: the one problem, what you'll do, and a date to decide.
• What's free and what needs Membership: a profile, exploring people and startups, following them and your first three messages are free, and you can see that Smart Connections has picks for you. Membership lets you message anyone directly, see who Smart Connections picked and why, post and answer requests, appear in the directory and join events.

Mistakes first-time advisors make

Most advisor relationships that go wrong were set up wrong. These are the ones to avoid:

• Saying yes to every founder who asks for coffee. Pick the ones whose problem matches your one line, and say a kind no to the rest.
• Calling yourself an advisor to a company that never signed anything. If there's no agreement, there's no role, and probably no equity.
• Accepting a percentage without a number of shares, or equity without vesting, which leaves both sides stuck if it doesn't work.
• Doing a job's worth of work on advisor terms. If the hours grow, renegotiate or step back.
• Advising two companies that compete. It costs you both.
• Signing before checking your employer's and your profession's rules.