The two ingredients you need to attract world class board members and mentors

I'm having people ask me how to build a team or advisory board. Much of this comes from the limiting belief that they wouldn't be able to do it themselves, or that world class execs wont be interested in working with them.

Before I put together my first board, for the veterinary roll up, I was a naive spud that knew ZERO about buying businesses. My first board chair had done over 1000 acquisitions in the space, and my lawyer was (and still is) the most well known corporate lawyer in the country (just to name 2 of our members).

Anyone can achieve this, with just two ingredients: passion and a vision...

You see, these old execs who are at or nearing retirement are looking for something exciting they can sink their teeth into. Many of those who have worked their way up the corporate ladder have been toying with the idea of an entrepreneurial venture their entire life, and those who have had success in their own ventures miss it dearly.

You come along as an opportunity for them to live out their dreams and passions vicariously through you.

So to win them over, you just have to present the opportunity to them, with a strong vision so that they can see where you're going, and some passion so that they believe that, even if you don't know what you're doing right now, that you're the guy that will figure it out.

That's literally it.

I've done this multiple times now -- you will be shocked at the enthusiasm you get from these incredibly high calibre people that you speak to.

So put together an executive summary - a simple one pager on what you hope to achieve, and start sending LinkedIn messages. Your board will completely revolutionise the way you do business...

If you have any questions, just hit reply to this email.

Dim Niko