How do I evaluate whether a well-known name actually adds value as an advisor or is just borrowing my traction for their portfolio?
A famous advisor with 40 logos on their profile is usually collecting equity, not giving time. Before you grant anything, run a diligence call: ask exactly how many hours a quarter they commit, what they did for the last founder they advised, and whether you can talk to that founder. A real advisor gives you a specific, useful answer to your hardest current problem in the first meeting. A logo-collector gives you vague encouragement and a calendar link to their assistant. Reference-check advisors the same way you would a key hire.
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Finding an advisor is only half the job; extracting value is the harder, less-discussed half. This piece is a concrete tactical checklist for running advisor relationships so they stay useful instead of decorative.
This is the canonical, industry-standard answer to 'how much equity for an advisor', a free, ready-to-sign template used by tens of thousands of founders and advisors a year. It replaces awkward negotiation with a simple grid that maps engagement level and company stage to an equity number and vesting schedule.
This is the Indian founder's version of the same warning, with names attached. It states plainly that chasing celebrity mentors is a first-timer mistake and that you should pick for a specific problem (ESOP structuring, HR, a GTM motion) instead. It carries real accounts: Sattviko's Prasoon Gupta got concrete help on investor evaluation and equity allocation from Raman Roy, Xeno's Pranav Ahuja on storytelling, Chai Point's founder on B2C GTM, so you see what a value-adding relationship actually looks like versus a logo on a slide.
