How One of the Best Product Launches Ever Proves You Need Better Advisors

Be it a startup, a corporation, or even a public office, I would bet money before I’d invest in a startup that success hinges on the quality of its advisors. Advisors are not just voices in the background; they are formal participants in an organization’s structure, uniquely positioned to provide insights and strategic guidance that leadership often cannot generate alone. Despite their pivotal role, advisors remain underutilized and misunderstood, particularly in the modern era dominated by social networks and global connections. I want to start by exploring what makes advisors so essential, why startups should prioritize them from day one, and how the internet and commercialization of networking platforms have inadvertently hindered access to real advisory value.

Advisors vs. Mentors vs. Coaches: Understanding the Distinction

Advisors, mentors, and coaches all serve invaluable purposes, but their roles are fundamentally different. A mentor works with you as a guide who provides wisdom based on experience; they help individuals navigate personal and professional growth and as a startup, it’s important to appreciate that mentors are not advices, and that they play this distinct role, because most incubators and accelerators offer mentors (who are *not* advisors). Coaches, on the other hand, focus on skill development, often through structured sessions designed to address specific challenges or goals.

Advisors, however, take on a more formal, organization-wide role. They are brought into the fold as participants with a vested interest in the company’s success, whether through equity, compensation, or contractual obligation. Advisors operate as thought partners for the executive team, offering advice on strategy, growth, fundraising, and industry-specific challenges. Unlike mentors or coaches, advisors don’t just guide individuals—they shape the direction of an organization.

Paul Graham noted, “Startups thrive on advice. Founders don’t know what they don’t know, and advisors help fill those gaps.”

Advisors bring credibility, networks, and experience, which can make or break an early-stage venture.

Why Startups Should Seek Advisors Early

In a startup, the first few team members set the tone for the company’s culture, strategy, and trajectory. Among these early participants, advisors should rank near the top of the list. This is not just about their expertise but also their ability to validate your vision.

Yes, Advisors Validate

If you’re being directed to, or feel you need customer validation, it’s because you lack the experience to know ,without it

Good advisors bring real-world experience, they’re a certain type of person, often having walked the same path the founders are navigating. Their networks open doors to investors, customers, and talent. Their credibility gives the startup a seal of legitimacy in its early days. More importantly, advisors help founders avoid costly mistakes.

In-person advisors are particularly valuable during these early stages. Face-to-face interactions foster trust, candor, and accountability — qualities difficult to replicate online. Before and during the early days of the internet, startup ecosystems thrived on these local connections. Advisors lived and worked in the same communities as the founders they guided, creating a feedback loop of mutual support and opportunity.

The Impact of the Internet and Globalization on Advisory Networks

Ironically, the internet and globalization — while connecting us on a broader scale — have weakened the bonds of local ecosystems. Social media and platforms like Quora and Lumo have created the illusion that advice is readily available and easily accessible. Why seek a dedicated advisor when you can crowdsource an answer or join a virtual panel discussion?

This reliance on digital platforms has led to a devaluation of advisors. Founders perceive advice as a commodity, and advisors, in turn, feel underappreciated or exploited. Compounding the issue is the rise of platforms that aim to “solve” the advisory problem by connecting founders with advisors. These platforms promise value but often fail to deliver – as proof, I won’t begin to name them all, you probably know one or more… I get a Special Invite to be an advisor on a new one about once a week. They ask advisors to give up time and expertise with little in return, while founders are left navigating a fragmented and impersonal experience.

The Failure of Advisory Platforms AND Local Hubs

The commercialization of advisory platforms has created inefficiencies. Consider still the myriad of apps designed to connect advisors and founders. These platforms market themselves as indispensable tools, yet they frequently overpromise and underdeliver. Advisors are often encouraged to join for free, with the vague promise of “office hours management” or exposure. Founders, meanwhile, are pushed to pay for premium access, only to find themselves connected to the platform’s sponsors or service providers rather than genuine, mission-aligned advisors.

And here’s where the rubber hits the road in a way I’m sure you’ve had experience: Local startup hubs do the same, making the same promises as some sort of solution that doesn’t even address the real problem Local hubs promise advisor access as part of their incubator or accelerator programs; however, these connections are usually limited to the small, local pool of the hub’s existing network (likely friends, sponsors, or affiliated service providers), from which advisors don’t likely align with what you need. Worse still, these arrangements can involve equity or fees when what a startup hub should be doing is sourcing the capital so that everything they do makes the resources available to founders for free.

As a result, no one — founders, advisors, or startup hubs — is particularly satisfied with the state of advisory services today; and I mean no one, because while my experience and focus here has been with startups, I know the same frustrations are held by companies, executives, and government officials – finding advisors sucks.

Then I saw this: Cendea’s Launch of Advisory Services

Dear Friends,

I’m asking a favor! We’re excited to formally launch Cendea’s Advisory services tomorrow, complementing our 30+ years of Executive Search expertise. We need your help to maximize our LinkedIn post’s impact. LinkedIn’s algorithm significantly favors posts that receive engagement, particularly comments, reposting, and resharing within the first hour of posting. This early interaction can exponentially increase our post’s visibility and reach. Here’s how you can contribute:
1. What: Comment on our LinkedIn post
2. When: Tomorrow, 10:00-10:45 AM CST
3. Why: Early engagement dramatically increases visibility Your brief interaction can significantly amplify our message.

I’ve added this calendar reminder to assist you. Thank you for your valuable support, and please let me know how I can help you best!

A personal invitation from a friend, sent as a calendar invite establishing a reminder and carving out of my schedule time, to support the launch of a new service. I read the email with wonder and joy -> a friend is launching a service in exactly the same way startups should be launching!

Notice too what he’s doing in his email, I want you to pay attention and learn from this: he is telling everyone why he is doing this and setting the stage for what we should do and why. He’s teaching so that people know WHAT to do.

“It’s hard to put a price on trust. Excited for you, Wade, and the new clients you’ll serve with integrity. Our community is better with you in it!” – Becky Henderson; The Plenteous Life

In one of the first replies I saw on Wade’s LinkedIn announcement, it was clear from what Becky shared that he nailed the launch, reaching not only his community and influencers, but validating what he’s doing.

“I treat my LinkedIn network as my Trust Network,” I asked Wade Allen, Cendea’s Founder, for some perspective, “I don’t invite accept invites blindly – I want a call or meeting first, or a high-end referral; I don’t just send out invites to everyone that I won’t remember and know 2 days later; These are my allies and resources; These are people I want to help and hopefully help me if needed”

If you read between the lines and consider what it means to a product or startup launch, he’s NOT prioritizing where he’ll reach customers, he’s prioritizing where he’ll reach his partners, influencers, and evangelists. The incessant drum beat I hear from founders and investors that you should focus on customers, makes me want to rip my hair out, because you *can’t* as a startup, capably reach your customers at a scale that can compete. What you can do is plan a launch, Go To Market strategy, and promote and grow your venture in an intentional way that creates for you a competitive advantage.

When I read a pitch deck or hear a founder explain to me that their Go To Market plan is to use social media, do a press release, and speak at conferences, after rolling my eyes at the established certainty that they are going to fail, I gently point out that before they do anything else, they need a Marketing Advisor.

“But from where?” They ask. And they ask because of my previous points, local communities and advisor matching apps, I’m sorry, but they suck. And with the value destroyed recently between ventures and advisors, great ones are exceptionally difficult to find and crowdsourced advice on the internet is good but it’s worth what you pay for; Wade is on to something here.

Amber Gunst, in seeing Wade’s new direction, “What great news to start 2025 with! You have contributed so much knowledge and expertise that has been invaluable. I know that anyone fortunate to work with you will see exemplary growth!”

Let me just cut to the chase and show you what I woke up to when I logged in to LinkedIn at 10 am…

We’ll check again where we are tomorrow but just hours later, that’s 100 comments and 17 reposts on their launch. Not coincidental, orchestrated, by experience advising how to launch a new product or service.

Why Great Product Launches Require Advisors

One glaring issue in many startups is their approach to product launches. Founders often default to those basics: a press release (which is always in and of itself worthless by the way), some social media posts, and a booth at a conference. These efforts tick the box on activity and having done something, and they may make you feel good that you told a potential investor something in a pitch, but they fail to accomplish anything because they lack strategy, creativity, and execution expertise.

This is where advisors shine. A skilled advisor with product launch experience can help craft a strategy that turns a product introduction into a moment of market significance. They bring clarity, focus, and resources to an area that founders often overlook or undervalue. Without such guidance, founders risk wasting time, money, and opportunities on ineffective campaigns.

Want proof? I asked Wade if we could share with you such a strategy, to teach you how but also to show you that you need expertise such as this rather than trying to figure it out yourself.

By incorporating advisors early — particularly in-person advisors with local communities to get you going more — startups not only build stronger businesses but also strengthen their ecosystems. Advisors are not a luxury or an afterthought; they are foundational.

Let’s restore their value by rejecting fragmented, commoditized advisory models and prioritizing authentic, strategic relationships. As ventures like Cendea demonstrate, when advisors are integrated into the team with the right strategy, the results speak for themselves.