Importance of advisor

I met with my old professor this week to show him and discuss with him about Coffee Meets Bagel. To be honest, I have been wanting to talk to him for a while but just kept putting it off for one reason or another, mostly being “I need to show him a better version” “when I’m ready” etc. The 20 minutes I had with him frankly was one of the most valuable feedback I have gotten so far from anyone about this product. And frankly some of the points he made, I sooo wished I had gotten them 2 months ago. So here are some reflection:

Reflection 1: Advisors can add tremendous value. And I don’t mean Board of Advisors or formal Mentors etc. In fact, the word ‘advisor’ might not even the right word in this context. When I say advisor, I mean just people with real knowledge and experience relating to your business. It could be a professor who has done a lot of research in this area, entrepreneur who has gone through it, or a smart friend who uses similar product and who has thought about the industry etc. And all you really need is 15-20 minutes. Phone/In-person whatever doesn’t matter.

Reflection 2: Just ask. And early. I have to admit, this one is a little harder for me to followup. I suck at asking. I’m happy to help anyone so I don’t know why I suck at asking but I think this is a function of how I grew up—extremely independently. Anyway, just ask. Just ask. Don’t be afraid to ask. I have to remind myself of this. 

The best thing of course that happened from the meeting is that he LOVED our product! :) Can’t wait to get it out.