How to find mentors and advisors for your startup?

How do you get advisors for your new startup if your personal network is limited?

Do you just contact people for a meeting to get advice and then just ask them to become an advisor? What's the standard process for this?

Firstly, start growing your own network - you're going to need it.

Secondly, if you want advice, you want to make sure it comes from someone qualified to give it - they should have had failures as well as successes, they might know your product, or industry, or target market. Find these people, and talk to them - tell them what you're doing and see how well you connect. Later, you can talk about how to formalise the relationship.

Apart from someone in your existing network, you need to proactively do outreach and connect with as many relevant influencers as possible.

1. Make a list of all the top influencers in your niche.

2. Hustle to make initial contact with them. LinkedIn is a good place to get intros. AngelList, however, isn't the right venue to make cold connections.

3. After making initial contact, offer to buy them a cup of coffee or schedule a short meeting to get their advice. Persistence pays.

4. Out of all the influencers you meet, narrow down to a few who would be a good fit.

A good rule of thumb is to offer 0.5% to 1% equity to great advisors.