Why an Advisory Board?

With the challenges in the digitised world and new economy, it is within this economic transformation where change is exponential that your company is better equipped to outplay the competition and work towards being the disruptor – not the disrupted.

For startups: NED goes to market in startups under the brand Startup Boardroom

How much runway do you have? What’s your burn rate? What is the best ESOP plan? Who is your customer? What’s the exit strategy? These are all questions that may not need answering today, but they will at some stage in the future. Your start-up advisory board is not like recruiting a UX developer, an agile scrum master or even a CFO. Selecting your advisory board requires absolute precision in the advisory horsepower as much as in the character and values alignment.

Startup Boardroom is committed to providing you with a board matrix for skills and character needs assessments, underpinned with world class human diagnostic tools to deliver the best advisors for your business. Essentially, we keep it simple by providing you with the best tools for your board selection.

As a Founder or business owner running your business, you tend to work in the business, not on the business. An advisory board acts as both your expert counsel and disciplinary voice on key areas including:

  • Strategy advice and innovation think-tank;
  • Governance, ethics, and risk;
  • Investments and financial stewardship;
  • Global insights and different perspectives

For listed companies:

With risks now more complex than ever due to cyber security, anti-money laundering and the complexities of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, the need for expert advisors to inform boards of their best decisions has never been more critical. Climate risk is no longer just an environmental risk but also an investor risk, with potential for severe reputational risks. It is a liability directors need to address, and N.E.D aim to provide the best directors to do so.

Corporate Advisory Boards

Contracted advisory boards (monthly or quarterly engagement) are effectively a management consulting advisory board with a customised expert panel. The type of corporate advisory board your business may require include:

Innovation/Digital Advisory Boards

Many of the world’s leading technology and innovation companies demonstrate the need for a digital advisory board. Consider the likes of eBay, PayPal, Twitter, as well as the major banks and even the Federal Government with their #IdeasBoom. Most top ASX200 listed companies are also focused on investing in New Ventures to pave the way towards innovation while enabling disruptive new technologies and markets to exploit. An Innovation Advisory Board provides your company with the capacity to help steer through economic transformation of the nexus between old economy and new economy. They could also act as the Technology and Investment committee for new ventures, or technology-led M&A.

Millennial/Intergenerational Advisory Boards

More than 50 percent of the global workforce will be millennials in 2020, growing to 75 percent by 2025. They are also the world’s fastest growing customer segment. As we stare down the barrel of 2050, the 10 trillion dollar wealth transfer to millennials presents challenges, with 84 percent of millennials having an appetite towards sustainable investing*. So ask yourself: do you want a millennial think-tank to help steer your company forward? They are the progressive leaders of tomorrow. Think customer acquisition, employee engagement, social impact, game changers. Even in Australia, one Investment Manager has a millennial advisory board to support their long-term investment decisions.

Climate Risk Advisory Boards

With the COP21 international agreement on climate change, governments and companies across the world need to disclose their climate risks, their commit to climate policy, and outline their carbon reduction targets. Climate risk is best understood after scenario planning, and with stranded assets already forecast by many companies an advisory board can better equip boards to deal with their climate risks. Advisory boards could consist of climate science experts, carbon traders, renewable energy project financiers, clean technology VCs, responsible investment and ESG professionals. A climate expert advisory board can ensure best practice governance to protect directors from liability. They can also act as due diligence support for new ventures and investments, allowing your organisation to flourish in the low carbon economy.