How important is it for founders to build out a board of advisors in the early stages?

When entrepreneurs and co-founders start out, they have a lot of enthusiasm but many will have knowledge and skills gaps. In that situation, you need someone working alongside you to help you and give you advice in those areas. To me, having even a lone advisor can really boost your startup’s growth and will stop you making mistakes that could otherwise cost you a lot of time and money.

‍

How crucial is the Transition To Portfolio programme in upskilling Portfolio Professionals?

I've recently completed the Transition to Portfolio programme, which helps professionals like me acquire the crucial skills required to be a board advisor. And what’s more, it helps you to shift your mindset, and translate your experience from your executive career. 

As an executive or c-suite, you lead your team, make critical decisions and have a hand in everything that happens. So to then step into a board of advisors, where you meet the founder only a couple of times a month and in a less operational capacity, you need to be able to have the skills and understanding to ask the right questions and provide the right advice. Even if it is sometimes advice that they may not want to hear!

‍

Would you say the course is helping you to understand how to manage that relationship and view things from a different perspective?

Exactly! In addition to having the ability to understand founders better, the other major area of focus is to upgrade your mindset. You may be a world-renowned expert in a specific field  but founders often require a much broader scope of advice and help. It can range from more  personal help - almost mentoring - to a very specific kind of advice, where you can help them based on your professional skill set and experience. Having such a varied range of knowledge and skills - and delivering them in so many different ways - is something most people will have to learn. The Transition to Portfolio course teaches you just that.‍

‍

Would you say now you feel adequately prepped to go full throttle on your Portfolio Professional career?

I’ve got all my training under my belt, and I’m ready to start speaking to founders and actively helping them. I may just have a ten-minute chat at an event with a founder or may end up joining their board. In either scenario, I will be able to offer advice to them and gain an understanding of what problems founders face, and what solutions I could offer.

For anyone looking to build a portfolio career, my advice is to first build your knowledge and skills and then get yourself out there! Speak with founders, meet them at events, connect with them and really understand what they’re looking for.

‍

How much value do you see yourself gaining from your placement now that you've completed the Transition To Portfolio programme?

The Transition to Portfolio programme team introduced me to a company who were looking for an AI expert. It’s a perfect match! We speak every week or every two weeks, and beyond the broader advisory input, I am getting more involved in developing their product. The placement really was a lightbulb moment for me, as I realised I could leverage my executive skills to build my portfolio.‍

As I’ve gotten to know the founder and the team better, I’ve been delighted by how driven, innovative and professional they all are. They're pushing themselves every day to make the company a success but just as importantly, on a personal level, they are great people that are a pleasure to work with.

‍