Build Out Your Team and Advisory Board

As your customer base grows, so does the workload for your product development team. You may also begin to notice skill gaps in other critical business areas, such as marketing, sales, or customer support.

With seed funding secured, you now have the opportunity to strengthen your team and bring in the expertise needed to take your startup to the next level. At this stage, your focus should be on two things: filling core skill gaps and establishing a strategic advisory board.

 

Expanding the Core Team

Up until now, your startup may have survived with an MVP that does not fully match the vision for your final product. To scale effectively and serve a larger customer base, your team should include at least one person capable of building out the product’s technical features independently.

Consider adding the following critical roles:

• Sales Specialist: Someone who can systematize customer acquisition and keep your sales pipeline consistently full.
• Marketing Expert: A skilled marketer can help you reach the right audience and scale customer acquisition efficiently.
• Customer Experience Lead: Collecting feedback and optimizing customer satisfaction is essential for sustainable growth.

Establishing an Advisory Board

An advisory board is a group of experienced professionals who provide strategic insights and help guide key business decisions. Advisory board members are not full-time employees, but their expertise and networks can open doors you didn’t even know existed.

Don’t hesitate to invite people you admire to join — advisory board members have no legal responsibility for the company in the same way a formal board of directors does, giving you flexibility in how you structure it.

Tips for assembling a strong advisory board:

• Experience: Seek members with a proven track record of scaling companies similar to yours. These might be serial entrepreneurs, tech specialists, or leaders in your target market.
• Network Access: Strong connections can speed up market entry and help secure additional funding.
• Balanced Skills: Choose members whose expertise complements one another — for example, pairing technical know-how with business strategy.