HUM120-L7

Persuading co-founders and early employees

• Equality
• Purpose
• Founder CEO

Pursuading advisors

Why do you need them?

• Give advice on
  • idea
  • product design
  • go to market
• Connect with
  • customers
  • partners/distributors
  • investors
• Give credibility to
• Give head-start as

Where do you find them?

• Family
  • relative
• Friends
  • friends
  • friend's boss
• Work/school
  • mentor/boss/professor

"Cold Call"

What type of advisor do you need?

• Domain expert
  • know the market and target customers
• Tech expert
• Entrepreneur
• Connect with investors' community

When do you invite them

• Advice is cheap but not free
  • make it official after 2 or 3 call discussion

How do you persuade them?

1. Purpose/mission
2. Equity/reward
3. You and your team
4. Can I add value to this startup?

Equity guidelines

Stock options:

• 0.1% ~ 2% per advisor
• 1 to 2 years vest
• 1-year window to exercise stock option

Expectation

• 1-4 hours per month
• access to the network: agree on scope
• duration: 1-4 years of active advisory role

Board member: role

value:

1. Advice
2. Connection
3. Credibility
4. Head-start
5. Oversight of the management team

how many: 4-6
when to get an external board member?

• at first external funding (seed)
• get to know a potential board member

Board management

• No. of board meetings: 4-6 per year
• Per meeting socialization of agenda (everyone knows good/bad news, no SURPRISE)
• Balance of power
  • management vs. board AKA freedom vs. oversight
• Managing opposing agendas
  • result matter
  • power of persuasion
  • no politics or cliques

Legal and financial advisors

• Ask for recommendations from other entrepreneurs and your advisors

Songyee Yoon

• Entrepreneurship is chaotic, you need to be reactive, focusing on customer demands.

• During the times at Telecom, When 3G exists, business plans, form factors. Cooperate with JYP about the music video

• Except EQ and IQ, it is how committed you are, and leadership among friend groups. Coming solutions.

  • Product market fit.

Q: How do VC choose us?
R: VC tries to raised every year, you need to be . Looking for longer term to see actually result. Depending on problem you trying to solve.

Q: Korean networking, hard to make people remember your korean name?
R: Korean namee are relatively easy to pronouce.

Q: How should we get prepared for AI?
R: Be open minded, think of it as a language.

Q: What changes your path rather than EE? After majoring computational neuralscience, your first job is engagement manager?
R: Take the job at McKinsey as paid MBA, I think that is a brillant idea.