Advisory
Startup advisor. A steady counterpart, not another conference mentor.
Founders do not need more occasional advice. They need someone who knows their numbers, shows up every two weeks with the same uncomfortable questions and stays accountable for what they recommended last month.
Short answer
A startup advisor works with founders on go to market, pricing, metrics and fundraising readiness, through regular sessions with concrete commitments in between. Compensation is a modest monthly retainer, vesting equity between 0.1 and 1 percent over two years, or a mix of both.
At a glance
| Cadence | Sessions every two weeks, reachable in between |
|---|---|
| Compensation | Retainer, 0.1 to 1% equity vesting over 24 months, or a mix |
| Best stage | Product with first customers, pre Series A |
| Topics | Go to market, pricing, metrics, key hires, fundraising |
| Coverage | Milan, Rome, Italy, Nordics |
| Typical length | 12 to 24 months |
What advisors are actually useful for
Not the ideas. The things founders postpone because they are never urgent: the price never revisited, the metric nobody watches, the first commercial hire delayed six months, the round prepared three weeks before the first meeting.
- Go to market: who the repeatable customer is and how to reach them without burning cash.
- Pricing: almost always too low and never properly tested.
- Metrics: five numbers that describe the company, updated weekly.
- Hiring: when to hire and what not to delegate yet.
- Fundraising: narrative, materials and the hard questions rehearsed first.
Advisor, fractional or board seat
An advisor gives limited time and continuity of judgement. When the need turns operational, the answer is a fractional CEO or a fractional CRO with dedicated days and ownership of the numbers. Cost comparison in fractional manager cost.
Want to know if a fractional manager is actually right for your company?
Let's talk →Where the experience comes from
Fifteen years in executive roles across Italy and Northern Europe, covering commercial growth, reorganisations and corporate transactions. Concrete references are in case studies and about.
When this is the wrong choice
- Pre product startups, where founder time belongs with users.
- Anyone who wants an advisor name for the pitch deck.
- Founders looking for investor intros without work on fundamentals.
Fractional manager in Milan, Rome, Italy and Europe
Management consulting and fractional manager services for companies in Milan (Milano), Rome (Roma), Turin, Bologna and across Italy (Italia). If you need to hire or find a fractional manager, a part time CEO, CMO, CRO or COO, or a fractional Chief Executive Officer in Milan, Rome or Italy, this fractional manager and consultant works with clients in Lombardy, Lazio, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Tuscany, Liguria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino, Marche, Campania, Puglia and Sicilia. Fractional consulting mandates also across Europe: EU, Northern Europe, UK, EMEA. The fractional manager and part time chief executive officer travels from Milan to Rome, Turin, Bologna, Padua, Verona, Florence, Genoa, Naples, Bari and other leading Italian and European cities. Senior management consulting brings operational leadership in Italy without the cost of a full time chief executive officer.
Frequently asked questions
01What does a startup advisor actually do?
Works with the founders on go to market, pricing, metrics and fundraising readiness, through regular sessions with concrete commitments in between. Not an investor and not a project consultant: a steady counterpart who has already run the same route.
02How are advisors compensated?
A modest monthly retainer, vesting equity between 0.1 and 1 percent over two years, or a mix. The size depends on the time committed and the stage: the later the company, the smaller the equity component.
03When is the right time to bring one in?
Once there is a product with first customers and the question is how to grow rather than whether the product is needed. Before that point, founder time is better spent talking to users than running board meetings.
Product live, first customers in, growth flat? Let's meet every two weeks and fix that.
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