Building a Fractional Advisory Board on Equity, Not Cash
Mark Preston May 12, 2026
At pre-seed, you cannot afford a £150k Chief Revenue Officer, but you can afford 0.25% of a £4m valuation in equity granted to a former CRO who will give you four hours a month. Done well, three of them are worth a senior hire and signal credibility to investors.
Pick three, not eight
A buyer-side operator from your target customer.
A scaled GTM leader two stages ahead of you.
A regulatory or technical specialist for your wedge.
“The best advisors are not famous. They are one phone call from the buyer who can write your first six-figure cheque.”
— Suranga Chandratillake, General Partner, Balderton Capital
Use the Founder Institute's FAST agreement template — it's the de-facto standard, takes 20 minutes to execute and avoids bespoke legal cost. Review the relationship at month 6: if they have not opened a door or shifted a decision, end it cleanly.
Map your advisor gaps and equity in Startup Grower.
