Lessons from a Year of Building Advisory Boards

March 2025 will mark Boardstream’s 1st full year in business. It’s been a steep learning curve, even though our team has decades of combined experience in building and managing advisory boards. Over the past year, we’ve worked with companies across industries to design, build, and manage strategic and customer advisory boards. Through hundreds of conversations with executives and advisors—from industry leaders to our client’s customers—we’ve learned invaluable lessons about what truly drives impact and what doesn’t. This hands-on experience has helped us identify what companies often get wrong about building effective advisory boards.

While most companies recognize the value of an Advisory Board/CAB, the real challenges emerge in execution: Who should be on the board? How do you keep advisors engaged? What role should they play beyond quarterly meetings? These are the questions that separate the boards that drive meaningful business impact from those that are perfunctory.

Here are a few of the more unexpected lessons we’ve learned. If you’re building (or rethinking) an advisory board/CAB, these takeaways might change how you approach it.

1. The Best Advisors Aren’t the Most Obvious Choices

Many companies believe they need big-name industry leaders or celebrity executives on their advisory board. While those names may bring credibility, they don’t always bring engagement or actionable insights that will impact the company. Some of the most effective advisors are operators—VP-level leaders, hands-on experts, and people who have recently tackled the same challenges your company is facing. These advisors tend to be more available, more invested, and more willing to roll up their sleeves. Instead of prioritizing prestige only, prioritize relevance. When selecting advisors, ask: Have they recently solved the problem we’re facing? Do they have direct experience with our stage and industry? Are they naturally engaged and excited to contribute? The best advisory boards are built around people who want to help—not just those who look good on a slide.

2. The Hardest Part Isn’t Recruiting Advisors—It’s Keeping Them Engaged

Many companies assume that once they’ve assembled an advisory board, their work is done. In reality, engagement fades if there isn’t structured communication, clear expectations, and a sense of impact. The best advisory boards don’t rely solely on quarterly meetings for value—they thrive between them. Advisors should offer real-time feedback and step in when challenges arise. To maintain momentum, companies need a mix of structured meetings, 1:1 check-ins, and informal updates. 

Additionally, the best advisory boards don’t just benefit the company—they become valuable for the advisors themselves, fostering peer-to-peer learning and high-level networking. Create space for advisors to share insights, connect with each other, and extract personal value from the board experience. If they gain something from participation, they’ll stay engaged.

3. Customers Are Your Best Source of Brutal (and Valuable) Truths

Customer advisory boards (CABs) are more than just tools for customer appreciation and validation—they’re windows into the unfiltered realities of the market. While most customers won’t offer candid feedback, let alone proactively provide impactful insights, those on your CAB won’t hesitate to share their challenges and frustrations, offering feedback that can be a game-changer. For example, a B2B software company assumed its enterprise pricing structure was competitive, but its CAB revealed that procurement teams found their offerings overpriced and confusing, prompting a necessary pricing model adjustment and repositioning. To get the most out of your CAB, use it proactively to test product-market fit, not just as a feedback loop. Foster an environment that encourages direct, unfiltered conversations to uncover pain points and areas for improvement early, before they become larger issues.

4. Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Great Facilitator

A group of smart people doesn’t automatically lead to smart discussions. Even the most qualified advisors can become side-tracked or overwhelmed by dominant voices if the conversation isn’t guided properly. This is where a skilled facilitator becomes essential. A great facilitator not only drives conversations and surfaces valuable insights but also ensures every voice is heard and the group stays focused on strategic outcomes. For example, one company struggled with meetings where a few loud voices dominated the conversation, leaving others with valuable insights sidelined. After bringing in a third-party facilitator, the dynamic shifted—discussions became more balanced, leading to deeper engagement and better strategic insights. To get the most from your advisory board, invest in facilitation. Whether it’s an external expert or an internal leader with strong moderation skills, structured facilitation ensures meetings are productive and that every voice contributes to the board’s success.

5. Advisors Need to See Their Impact

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is failing to close the loop with their advisors. If advisors don’t see how their insights are driving decisions or feel that their time and effort are being wasted, they can quickly lose interest. The value exchange between the company and its advisors is built on mutual respect—advisors give their time, expertise, and commitment, so they need to know their feedback is being put to good use. For example, a health tech company started summarizing board contributions in quarterly recaps, showcasing which advisor insights led to product changes. This transparency not only boosted participation but also deepened advisor engagement, as they saw the tangible impact of their advice. To keep your advisors invested, create a report that highlights how their feedback was applied. This practice demonstrates that the company values their input, turning the advisory relationship into a true partnership. This is also best practice in reporting to internal executive leadership on the impact of your Advisory Board, so… 2 birds.

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Advisory Boards/CABs are arguably one of the most powerful strategic resources a company can have, but it isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. It’s about setting the right strategy and creating the right conditions for engagement, ensuring advisors feel valued, and fostering open, impactful conversations. As we move into our second year at Boardstream, we’re excited to continue refining our approach and helping companies unlock the true potential of their Advisory Boards & CABs.