Jason M. Lemkin says founders should pay a mentor in equity to have someone to consult on the two or three irreversible decisions that actually matter. Most weekly choices don't. Paying them means you'll actually use them.
Five. Find a mentor. A real one. Again, you're going to get this advice a million times, but someone you can talk to about the big decision. The big decisions, the one a quarter, the two or three a year that really matter. Find the best ones you can and pay them. If they have real money, which they probably do, pay them in equity, even if they don't want it. Give them shares anyway. Give them enough shares that it feels fair and that you feel like you can hit them up on those couple of big decisions a year. Those are the ones that matter. You're going to make 50 decisions a week as a founder, but there's two or three a year that are going to be epic, really. The decisions that are irreversible. That's where you need your mentor. So many folks don't really have that. It really, really helps.
