Surrounding a startup with a useful advisory team is critical. Many young companies treat advisory recruitment as an ad-hoc process, or as a kind of reward for past deeds. The good news is that with minimal planning and awareness, a network of high-functioning advisors can be created that lifts an early-stage company to the next level.

The first step in getting systematic about advisor recruitment is identifying the types of advisors one can have and the roles those types play.

Here is my list of the 6 "Advisor Archetypes", based on personal experience. In reality, any individual advisor may well encompass multiple of these archetypes and they may change over time.

1. The One
This is the advisor archetype that messes with most entrepreneurs' heads: The famous or notable person, aka "The One". You hope The One will lend you instant credibility because they're either outright famous or highly regarded in their field (e.g. a regaled CEO/CTO, a famous scientist or academic, a celebrity, an author, a high-profile serial entrepreneur, etc.) Your desired projection to the world is that the sheer genius of your idea was sooo compelling that this incredibly successful individual -despite all odds- wants to work with little 'ol you. Indeed, having The One in your advisory network can be extremely useful in opening up doors and establishing much needed credibility. But this is skin deep if they really are not close to your company. The reality is that big names in and of themselves have minimal value... much less than the entrepreneurial team hopes they would carry. A company's voluntary mentioning of its famous advisors or investors seems roughly inversely corrolated to its operational maturity. If you are gunning for adding The One, be clear on their participation. Do they actually know you? What are your motivations for asking them? What are their motivations for being involved? How can you use their reputation to your benefit (be concrete)? Do you actually respect and want their insight or are you, to put it bluntly, "starf--king"? Resist the urge to include a big name if you do not have a clear rationale for doing so that you can articulate. Have a clear mutual understanding from them regarding their expected role. Just because they are "famous" does not mean you've abdicated the right to ask them what their commitment to your company will be. Here's the rule: If they're famous or noteworthy, its presumably for a reason, and that presumed reason for their success better align with your business objectives in some plausible way or you're wasting your time and indulging your vanity.

2. Money Bags
Investing and advising are distinct activities. When you forget that fact and think that "investing = advising" you open yourself up to a Money Bags advisor. This is a crapshoot. Some teams end up with an advisor that seems to be involved for no other reason than their high net worth and interest in entrepreneurship. When you first met with Money Bags, they may have seemed smart, they may have asked good questions, or expressed what I call "vague enthusiasm" about "being involved". They typically have little or no domain relevance to what you do everyday. They may have become one of your angel investors or they may just be an advisor that you selected because they seem like the kind of rich person that's useful to "have around you". In either case, you still walk away from every meeting with them having the sense that its all still sort of... vague... like you're living in parallel worlds. You really want this to make sense: they're rich, they're interested, alas, their value beyond that doesn't seem obvious. Money Bags is useful if they're also interested in investing in your company and they want the strokes of being considered an "advisor", but you will probably find them of very low mid to long-term utility unless they can morph into someone who provides real insights. Net worth in and of itself is of limited value in an advisor... and that's why investors exist. Find out what they can do for you on an ongoing basis. I've seen teams turn distant Money Bags relationships into very positive advisors for fund-raising, financial advice, operating advice or personal mentoring. 

3. Rolodexter
Amongst the most useful advisor archetypes is Rolodexter. As the name in implies, they're all about linking you up with people and companies. Rolodexters are unique because they derive significant personal satisfaction from the act of people meeting each other and watching the interaction take place. Rolodexters come in various flavors with different kinds of networks and levels of aggressiveness. The challenge with Rolodexters is that they don't want to be viewed just as an access gateway to other people for you. NEVER lead by telling a Rolodexter that you want them onboard because of their connections... You want them for their expertise in [insert area of expertise that makes most sense]. Thus, its imperative that you establish an onging relationship with them that allows one of their other areas of expertise to inform your company. Otherwise, they'll feel used and abused. Try to set up regular meetings with them to keep them abreast of your developments and solicit operational feedback from them. Don't pump them for names all the time. Their emotional connection to your company's tactical activities will fuel how much they talk you up in their myriad circles of influence. They'll do the work for you if you cultivate a real relationship around company operations. 

4. The Shrink
An overlooked archetype that more entrepreneurs really need to consciously recruit to their advisory roster is The Shrink. As you can guess, this is the advisor who supplies the team with more human-oriented wisdom and insight. They may well have a lot of operational experience, but what comes to the fore is an understanding of the interpersonal aspects of building a company. They may be a professional investor, an academic, another entrepeneur, or even a mature friend of the founders whom they trust 100%. Trust is what the The Shink is all about. They are the go-to advisor when shit-hits-fan and the team needs to get a 3rd-party mirror of what they should do (e.g. how to fire somebody, what to tell a board member, solving a private founder dispute, etc.). The challenge with The Shrink is that you usually cannot go find them. They usually show up after coming in some other context. They evolve into The Shrink based on shared trust with the team. You can spot them early, though. They're typically the individual who asks more candid questions about your team dynamic, how you're doing personally, what your goals and fears are. If you see those kinds of signals coming from an advisor, you may have found someone you can cultivate into a meaningful trust-based relationship that is very close to the team's mind and heart.

5. Kung Fu
Another advisor archetype of high importance to the emerging company is the outside domain expert who brings their otherworldly professional awesomeness to bear in your company. We'll call this operational magic Kung Fu. Kung Fu advisors can come from anywhere (academics, technologists, executives, government, etc.), but they are on the advisory team because they have a deep, robust knowledge in the company's area of operation. They figure stuff out in 2 steps where the team was spending 8. When they speak in a meeting with your team, mouths shut up and pens come out. When Kung Fu says, "that's not right", you're happy they said so. Their functional expertise could be anything: product design, business development, legal, marketing, etc. You need good Kung Fu. The good news is that they are typically the easiest to find, because your young company is already present in Kung Fu's sphere of activity, by definition. Kung Fu can also be recruited pretty easily, because their ability to grasp the foundations of the company are higher than anybody else's. Its important, however, that Kung Fu get recognized by the company for their expertise. You can't just suck their brain dry in exchange for a small percent of the company and expect them to be happy. I've seen more than one Kung Fu "master" feel taken advantage of, even with a traditional equity stake in the company. It's about emotional connection and respect. For example, find platforms for them to expound to your entire team about what they know so they get public or quasi-public recognition. Somebody who has dedicated their professional life to a given field wants to be recognized for that investment, so find ways to help them with their goals. Ask them what you can do for them so that its viewed as a mutually beneficial relationship.

6.Chess Master
The final archetype of the advisor is the individual who brings insight resulting from experience to the table. Unlike Kung Fu, Chess Master doesn't traffic in domain expertise, even if they have it. They're lasered-in at a different level, focused on The Game: Funding paths, new market entry, team expansion triggers, creating exits. This person is often an experienced entrepreneur or investor. But they might be a seasoned lawyer or technologist, too. What they share in common as Chess Master is a deep familiarity with company building of the very type you are engaged in. they've "been there-done that" multiple times. They've seen every opening gambit, and they've experienced both sides of checkmate. They can steer you clear of huge messes and provide insights and skill-sets that keep you on track. While these folks are easy to identify (you know them when you see them), it is actually very hard to get the Chess Master baked into your advisory network for one simple reason: Its a function of their time commitment to your company. You can have somebody who you think should be your Chess Master, but if you only talk to them twice a year, its not going to be all that useful. This points to the critical fact that establishing an upfront understanding with a potential advisor is critical. Tell them what you want from them in concrete terms and ask them how much time do they realistically think they can provide to your team (and cut whatever number they tell you in half). Note that in venture-backed startups, Chess Master is the self-annointed role many VC partners give to themselves, but that doesn't mean they're actually your Chess Master. Especially since some of your "moves" might at times entail decisions that run counter to your VC's wishes (e.g. follow-on financing round negotiations), it behooves you to have a Chess Master of your own as the entrepreneur.

Hope this exercise brings some clarity and planning to your advisory activities.