Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Advisors can be very helpful to startup founders. 

Here are steps to consider in selecting an advisor:

1. Check your company needs for the coming two years and determine what is missing.
2. Look for advisors who add value to the team by bringing the necessary skills and experience the team doesn’t already have.
3. Look for those with skills, experience, and contacts needed for the company goals.
4. Focus on people with time available to spend with the company as many advisors come up short on their time allocation with startups.
5. Document the engagement so the work to be done is clear to all.
6. Include the frequency of the meetings and what is expected of the advisor at those meetings.
7. Define what you expect them to bring to the meetings such as research, contacts, or their experience.
8. Make sure you compensate the advisor appropriately.

If you want real work done you’ll need to pay something for it.

Compensation is typically equity in the range of half of one percent to one percent per year.

Vest the equity over time so there’s a clear endpoint.

If the engagement went well, you can sign them up for another round if the company needs it. 

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.
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Music courtesy of Bensound.

In this episode, Hall welcomes Donatas Keras, Founding Partner at Practica Capital.

Founded in 2011, Practica Capital is a dedicated Baltic VC focusing on investments in the Baltic (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and Baltic-origin ventures in Europe. Selectively, they also invest in neighboring Europe (Nordics, Germany, Poland).

They invest from €200k to €2m+ in seed and early-stage ventures as a cross-industrial investor focused on backing great teams behind the tech-driven businesses from the region.

Donatas is an entrepreneur and investor with 15+ years experience of in business development, company management, and investments. He is also one of the leading early-stage investors in the Baltics. Donatas has been involved in more than 50 investment deals during recent years.

Donatas shares with Hall what excites him right now in the venture capital industry. He advises entrepreneurs and investors and discusses how he sees the industry evolving.

You can visit Practica Capital at www.practica.vc, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/practica-capital, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/practicacapital. 

Donatas can be contacted via email at donatas@practica.vc, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/donatas-keras.  

Music courtesy of Bensound.