How to build a Personal Board of Advisors
I think of my personal growth like a startup.
Startups have a board to help them grow faster, avoid mistakes, and learn from the people ahead of them.
And as an entrepreneur, you're the CEO of your personal growth startup -
So why wouldn't you have a personal board of advisors too?
When I set out to build the biggest media company in my industry, I knew I needed to learn from the best.
So I surrounded myself with legends:
- My friend Rami, who sold Complex to BuzzFeed for $100 million
- Tobi Lütke, the visionary founder of Shopify
The more advisors I got, the faster I grew.
That's because you're the product of the five people you surround yourself with.
To reach high-level goals, you need high-level people.
In today's newsletter, I'm going to show you how you can build your personal board of advisors with $0.
The "Freedom Formula" for Founders
In case you missed it - 3 days ago, I hosted a CEO Coffee Break.
In it, I revealed the 3 core systems I use to automate growth and create a life of freedom.
And I'm making the replay available until Monday night at midnight.
In the call, you'll discover:
- Proven methods to identify critical steps for achieving your goals
- Strategies to escape the "hustle mode" trap
- Hacks to 10X your actions and results
- How to automate and outsource 90% of your daily work
- And more...
If you want to grow your business fast and build a life of freedom, you don't want to miss it.
>>> Watch the time-sensitive replay
But now, back to building a Personal Board of Advisors...
When I founded my first company, I looked for my capital "M" Mentor.
I searched for ONE guru who could guide me on everything -
Sales, systems, hiring (and, occasionally, where I could find the best iced americano in town)
It took me years to realize that this super-mentor didn’t exist.
No single individual can be an expert in every aspect of building a successful business. It's an impossible ask.
That led me to view mentorship differently -
The Personal Board of Advisors Model
Here's the idea -
Treat your personal growth like a startup, with advisors for each growth area (like sales, community, content, etc).
You have 3 types of advisors:
- Experts: Deep specialists who can uplevel your knowledge in key areas
- Peers: Fellow founders who understand your day-to-day struggles
- Mentors: People who have the outcomes that you want
There are two huge benefits to this approach:
- You get hyper-targeted advice without overburdening any one person. It's a win-win.
- You tap into a diverse range of experiences. More viewpoints = better decisions.
Think of business like an infinite, multi-level video game.
You need different power-ups to beat different levels.
The advisor who gets you through fundraising might not be the best to help you with marketing. And so on.
With a personal board, you have the right mentor for the right challenge at the right time.
3 Steps to Build a Personal Board of Advisors
Step 1: Map your gaps by assessing the status quo
- Bold the areas where you need the most help.
- Lastly, list out any existing advisors.
Step 2: Become a person worth mentoring by building a personal brand
To find mentors, become a person worth mentoring.
To become a person worth mentoring, do two things -
1) Do cool stuff
2) Talk about it online
I met 65% of my mentors through my personal brand.
Two things happen when you're known as an up-and-comer in your space:
- Your content becomes a value-add for potential mentors. You can give them access to your platform. Audience is leverage.
- Mentors come to you. Posting online increases your luck. If 100 potential mentors see your content every day, a few of them will reach out to you. When you've built a reputation, people want to invest in your success early.
Share your hard-won lessons. Give people a peek behind the scenes. Flex your results.
Create content that makes people root for you.
(If you want to learn more about building a personal brand like this, check out my upcoming LinkedIn for CEOs course)
Step 3: Reach out to potential mentors
For each gap on your personal advisory board, list out 1-2 experts, peers, and mentors you admire.
Aim high.
Now, when you do this, you might catch yourself thinking:
"Who am I to ask this person for mentorship, there are much more successful people they could help?"
I'm here to tell you that's a limiting belief.
In stock investing, the sexiest investments are not the biggest companies -
It's the ones with the strongest growth trajectory.
If you prove that you're putting in the work, you can access mentors way beyond your level.
When reaching out to mentors, follow this framework:
- Lead With Value: Give before you ask. Share a helpful resource, make an intro, offer free work.
- Give until they ask: Provide value to them over and over again. Don't wait for their permission, just give.
- Make a Clear Ask: Eventually, you'll have built so much goodwill that THEY ask you:
"How can I help you?"
In that moment, you want to have a specific ask ready -
"I'm struggling with X, I know it's your zone of genius. Could I get your feedback on Y? 30 mins would be a game-changer."
- Repeat: Continue giving to your mentor. Make it frictionless for them to support you.
With some people, this will eventually turn into a "formal" mentorship.
With some, it will be a short-term alliance.
Both outcomes are fine.
The other option? Buy mentorship
I got in touch with many of my mentors by paying them first.
For example, I started to work with my CEO coach Ryan 2 years ago. Today, he is more than a mentor - he's a friend. I stayed at his place for a week in June and we spoke for days.
If contacting mentors feels out of reach for you, consider applying to Founder OS.
We've integrated all 3 levels of mentorship:
- Experts: We have live instructor sessions with dozens of world-class experts
- Peers: You join a network of 100s of founders who are as driven as you are
- Mentors: I personally built the Founder OS curriculum
All aimed at getting you to $5M in profits as a founder.
>>> Apply for your Founder OS Clarity Consultation
The Advisor OS
To tie this all together, I've created a powerful resource called Advisor OS.
It's a Notion dashboard that includes:
- My Personal Advisory Board Tracksheet
- Proven outreach scripts to connect with dream mentors
- A database to keep track of your mentors
>>>Grab your copy of the Advisor OS
Let's win together,
Matt
P.S. Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
#1: If you want to learn more about building a personal board of advisors, check out my YouTube video on 15 Years of Business Knowledge in 43 Minutes.
#2: Book me as keynote speaker. In my talks, I share practical strategies and systems for audience growth, brand building, and automation.
