Startup Mentorship: What Good Advisory Actually Looks Like

'Advisor' is one of the most inflated titles in Indian startups. Anyone can add it to a LinkedIn profile. Very few actually earn it.

Good advisory is a cadence, not a title

A real advisor shows up monthly with a prepared agenda, remembers your last three decisions, and holds you accountable to the ones you committed to. If your advisor cannot summarise your business without notes, they are not advising you.

Narrow beats broad

The best mentors are opinionated in one or two specific areas — fundraising, GTM, hiring, unit economics — and honest about where they cannot help. Generalist 'advisors' are usually just fans.

Operator experience compounds

Advisors who have themselves built something at your stage think in your currency: hours, hires, and runway. Advisors who have only ever been investors think in memos.

Equity should mean something

A meaningful advisor grant is 0.25–0.5% vesting over 24 months with a 3-month cliff. If you cannot describe what this person will do to earn that, do not grant it. Silent advisors devalue every future grant.

The single test for a good advisor

Would you call this person before a hard decision — a co-founder split, a down round, a firing? If the answer is no, they are a supporter, not an advisor. Both are fine; only one deserves equity.

For our approach to hands-on mentorship for early-stage founders, see the Siora advisory page.