How do you scale and manage a high-impact advisory board?

We raised zero. We bootstrap the company. When is the right time for a founder to consider advisory? All the top CEOs from Bezos to Gates onward all say everybody needs a coach. There's going to be over 3 million startups that launch this year. 90 plus% will die within 5 years. Only 9% will ever hit a million dollars in revenue a year. The best time to bring on wise council is in this episode I have Barry Stamos. Serial entrepreneurs have multiple exits that ultimately led to a unicorn exit going public. This is a master class on how to attract the right advisors to take your company to the next level. Let's jump in. Hey everyone, welcome back to Fundraising Demystified. Today we're talking everything about advisers and mentors when it comes to building your company. And today I have Barry Stamos with us, co-founder and CEO of Supernova. Welcome to the show, Barry. Oh, thanks for having me. excited to be here with me. Barry, you come to us as a 3x exit of founder. Uh, one of those companies actually being a unicorn. And, uh, I think it's safe to say that as much as you contributed to building these companies and making them a reality, you've now set your life on helping other founders get access to great adviserss, mentors, and that's what you're building at at Supernova. Um but to to kind of help the audience understand a little bit more about you, your background, you know, tell us a little bit about kind of your journey as a as a founder and ultimately what led you to, you know, exiting from a unicorn. So it's been it's been quite the journey. Uh I will uh begin by just acknowledging that having the right people supporting you is everything. And uh my first my first startup uh I was a total newbie. uh didn't know what I was doing. Uh it was in the email space and uh it was definitely a space race. I uh quickly added many advisors to my PowerPoint slide thinking that that would impress others and I would get VC funding as a result of having just you know win by association. Um that was not a good move. I ended up giving away a lot of equity uh and uh had a lot of disappointments in terms of people not coming um through for me. I felt like I was walking on eggshells like please can you make an introduction please can I just you know have a little bit of your time. Meanwhile uh looking back in hindsight um the equity that I gave away was worth a fortune and so uh we ended up u um we ended up actually getting acquired having an IPO selling to Oracle for 1.6 billion. So yeah uh you learn a thing or two uh along the way. Uh suffice to say uh my second startup I thought I was the I'm now legit and uh yeah had to call it quits after about four years of raising capital and not being able to find product market fit. And so um humbling experience um you know with my tail between my legs I I I I ventured on with a chip on my shoulder you know was I just a one-h hit wonder and uh you know like so many founders you know serial founders you know just kept at it and uh through sure will and and being relentless and resourceful was able to have another exit and then another started getting really into um advising not because um you know more to give back and pay it forward forward and had this like aha moment with uh you know one of the companies that I had been advising um that ended up um just just hitting incredible success and then another and then another and just realizing oh my goodness like magic happens when when when when we you know come together so many founders are so on their own and like there's such a big opportunity for us to team up like all-star teams like Olympic teams I mean we're powerful creators, manifestors, and magic happens when we team up. And so that was the impetus for what is now a supernova. So let's talk about that. The the founder journey is often quite lonely. And I had a very similar experience. Uh my startup that we sold at Walmart, we stacked it with advisors because we thought that's what you had to do when you're a first- time founder. Um and yeah, we overpaid dramatically on those deals. Uh so I know the pain but you know kind of walk me through like a little bit about this this journey of like how do you find manage and engage uh advisors? Yeah. Um well first I'll just say most founders really suck at it including me um back in the day. So I mean like investors it's like we just reach out to whoever's you know in close proximity right? It could be, you know, friend of a friend. It could be, you know, oh, you're an investor, join me as an adviser. Um, I mean, there's a bunch of investors that like to double dip in that way, you know, and and get a little more equity. Um, and that's not to say that they're not, um, you know, qualified or could be or would be great adviserss. I think, you know, there's a number of major breakthroughs that I've had and that we're having within Supernova and learning what effectively allows you to operationalize or maximize um an advisory team. And one of them is to treat it no differently than how you treat your management team. So, you know, does everybody have clearly defined roles and responsibilities? Are they being held accountable um to OKRs or KPIs? uh you know and and are they operating from a place of you know these are you know in in our instance within supernova these are all successfully exited founders there's hundreds of us and so if we can operate as if we were co-founders of the company it doesn't mean we are we certainly don't have those decision rights but like if we're approaching it with that kind of you know sincerity then there's a difference there's just a distinction for you know how you know who shows up how we show up and especially how we we we play together and win together. Um I will also Yeah. Well, I just wanted to say like going back to your experience with your first company and kind of stacking the board with advisors like maybe some good ones, maybe some bad ones like what was the success story like were there some that stood out that helped you understand what what makes a good adviser? Yeah. Can you share that story? Yeah, definitely. Um so I I I would say that um first and foremost you know with my first um venture the ones that showed up I mean showing up is half the battle. So you know having having a re regular reoccurring cadence to calls um going beyond just armchair gurus where I ask for advice and they bestow wisdom right it's like and verse like actually getting hands-on and you know being collaborative. So, you know, here is something here's a problem I'm I'm focused on right now that's a blocker, you know, or an impediment to my growth or success. And, you know, not only telling me how they would, you know, approach it, but actively supporting me in approaching it. I mean, having someone demo something is a very different learning experience. Exper it's it's experiential. And so you know real teachers I mean to transfer wisdom is wonderful and incredibly valuable um you know at at at the early stage you know it was helpful to have more generalists and then in the scaleup stage it was very helpful to have specialists. So um I I started kind of learning how to um focus each advisor on a swim lane and you know so I had an adviser specifically focused on um growth and and sales. I had another one that was just a master in marketing who oversaw and mentored my you know CMO. I had another one that helped us you know with with fundraising our product. I mean it's just it's like having that kind of you know support system in place and having an objective um third party who understands um the business um was also really key. I mean I I found not in the first venture but in the third you know it's very different when I'm getting counsel or advice from someone who doesn't understand the day-to-day dynamics of the company and actually their advice can be sometimes you know more harmful than helpful if they don't truly understand you know the nature of things. So pattern recognition is also a a powerful you know power and and uh you know this isn't to say I mean the board has its place you know the management team has its place advisors though especially you know in our instance with supernova successfully exited founders can can just be absolute game changers at every stage of the journey if wielded properly. Okay so when is the right time for a founder to consider advisor? mentioned early on it was more generalist later on it's more specialist like when is the right time when how do you advise founders on when to go out and get an adviser? Yeah. So I mean Jason obviously every founder's hero's journey is personal and that it's up to them. Um what I will say is that there's going to be over three million startups that you know launch this year likely more now because of AI. Uh you know one in five will die within a year. uh 90 plus percent will die within five years uh only 9% will ever hit a million dollars in revenue a year and you know while we all dream of creating maybe a unicorn not all of us but you know many founders you know there's only 1500 in the world today and even fewer kind of decacorns and so the odds are obviously stacked against us as as uh creators um and problem solvers for a better tomorrow I I personally believe that you know the best time to bring on you know wise counsel is yesterday right I mean whether it's like Luke Skywalker and Yoda like bring on a mentor bring on a coach I mean all the top CEOs you know from Bezos to Gates onward all say everybody needs a coach well everybody needs an adviser and and you likely need more than one adviser um because you know one person can't cover everything all of the myriad of blind spots and all of the you accelerants and and proven playbooks and lots of lots of you know lots of things that advisers bring to the table um their their network their resources their their experiences their expertise I mean you know so I would say as soon as possible if you're an early stage company then it's you know critical you bring on an adviser because it can literally save you um weeks months years um and and can be the difference of you finding product market fit or not or finding funding or not um you know Many startups I found especially early stage uh myself back in the day included sucked at financials and numbers and realizing that like you know the universe is mathematics and so are startups um and then many scaleups um you know really I mean man there's there's there's million-dollar decisions that get to made be made monthly and uh you know it's great to have the council the board and others around you and you know advisers can be absolutely vital um and and really make sure that we're you reducing risks and and upping upping returns. And so yeah, I would say um I would say that like it isn't a question of I if it's it's you know it's less a question of like like when it's like everybody should have an advisory board. Um, everybody should be actively being mentored and and guided and and really from adviserss the role is well beyond kind of part CEO coach, part consultant, you know, part fractal executive, you know, part um, you know, who do I call when I'm having an existential crisis as a founder? Because it happens frequently. I mean, we're we're founders and so we're used to doing everything that needs to be done, taking the trash out, like whatever needs to be done. And there's plenty of opportunities to to do that if they're showing up. So from a from your perspective now, so you've you've now had multiple exits, you're now advising several companies and have had multiple experiences doing so. What's a success story that you can share uh you working with founders and helping them achieve their goals? Yeah. So, um, one one example is a, uh, a company that, um, was based out of Phoenix, Arizona, and actually, you know, was they believe they're the first Casper started, you know, weeks later. So, um, mattress in a box companies. Um, and so, um, and that company is tough to needle. Uh, Casper went on to raise, I think, over 350 plus million dollars. We raised zero. We bootstrapped the company. and uh I was a founding adviser. Um um JT and Dee were the co-founders. Uh together um ramped to 250 million in annual recurring revenue within five years. Uh not only was the the growth, you know, um trajectory impressive and had a lot to do by the way of uh really understanding who our customers were. So we we realized, you know, early on that we were striking a chord with minimalists and those were our super um super fans, if you will, and we're finding kind of evidence of that on Reddit and elsewhere. So really understood our audience. Um really were, you know, among the first to leverage social proof and ratings reviews were on the, you know, top rated mattresses on Amazon and and other channels. And so there were a number of ingredients that kind of went into a successful formula with that company. One of the other things that I'm really proud of is that um changed the game in terms of mattress returns. So, previously when you would return a mattress, they would go into a landfill um you know, they they actually cleaned the mattresses and and then gave them to orphanages um so kids could have beds and then that and then when it ended up um um you know when when the volume increased substantially was able to give it to Goodwill and others and that's actually shifted the whole mattress industry that now is following suit. Not everybody does it and they should. Uh and so um uh you know that's a that's a success story. Um we um the company was sold to um Certa Simmons Betting which was the largest you know player in in in the space. Um so you know every founders's dream of a successful exit and then sadly PE um didn't get it across the finish line of an IPO and ended up filing for bankruptcy just a few years ago. And so the the the two co-founders that had the largest share um in certain betting which it was a merger not an acquisition um they still did well we all did well all the you know employees everybody did well and could have been should have been would have been like much bigger right um and so you know great story of a of a of an example of what's possible with um incredibly brilliant co-founders you know attacking a problem real innovation incredible growth trajectory awesome advisory. Um, and u and even when you do everything right, like you know there still is a a cautionary tale, right, for for founders because what if, of course, you know, they they they ponder, you know, what if they would have not sold it and they would have kept the golden goose and, you know, continued to have full ownership of their company and and and be able to continue its trajectory or or diversification. So yeah, so so many lessons go into every single um story, if you will, and experience. And one of the things that I've kind of come into an awakening around is that each one of us as founders goes through this incredible story and journey. And yet there's not kind of a collective consciousness. like there's no place for us to pour in our our insights and our and our wisdom and these cautionary tales to benefit the next generation. And while we're, you know, while we're stepping up and showing up as advisors and in various kind of, you know, micro circles, there's not there's not a there's not yet been a macro um opportunity to do that and and really come together um in in in a full force. How does a founder set up a relation an advisor relationship for success from the beginning when it comes to negotiating the scope of work, how they're going to be compensated and how they're going to be measured against performance? Yeah, that's an excellent question. So, I mean, traditionally the role of the adviser is, you know, allocating some percentage of equity based on some vesting schedule. So, you know, founder institute, others will offer up some formula. Uh so you know maybe the adviser gets you know a tenth of a point vested over a year um or three-year vest schedule um you know with some you know assumed amount of hours you know allocated uh I can share with you that in my experience uh that doesn't work uh doesn't work for the adviserss doesn't work for startups um what is much more effective is aligning on u actual like merit So having um you know success factors. So I I know you know as an exited founder that I show up differently when I'm working with a company and uh you know sure there's equity and I want to you know grow the value of that equity and if I can you know have an equity accelerator based on bringing in you know seven eight you know nine figure deals for a scaleup or or there's a you know an opportunity for me to help place you know key executive talent. um you know there's there's just going to be a distinction in terms of my level level of motivation um engagement and ultimately impact. And so uh you know at Supernova we you know we like to um make quarterly distributions to advisors based on performance. So, we will onboard advisors and and and and measure each one um effectively and then make allocations based on who showed up and had the biggest impact and those that do get paid more, those that don't don't. And together we're creating, you know, value as a team. And so, I think that's a really good model um for founders to to follow. when it comes to like setting the objectives of the impact of of that advisor because you mentioned something earlier on of like okay you have your your growth advisor you have maybe your you know team management or culture adviser of like how to scale your team or you know these problems that you're going to face as a founder um that you might not have exposure to and you're kind of picking these these advisors um you know when it comes to like sourcing so obviously there's supernova we'll talk more about supernova and how they how you guys set up the this kind of like as a service for for setting up these kind of teams, but as a founder who's just like trying to figure things out, how do they go about finding these adviserss? Yeah. So, um great great question. So, I mean just just like talent, you know, it makes a lot of sense to be, you know, clear on the need. So, I would go need, you know, first problem opportunity, you know, driven, if you will. So really clearly carving out like what are their biggest challenges right now as a company or what are our biggest opportunities as a company and uh once you're really clear on that uh having an opportunity then to share that um it could be with the board it could be with you know key management so that there's an opportunity to get a little clearer on you know what we're sourcing someone to come in to help us solve and and you may or may not know the you know the value of that or the full impact of that but that also could, you know, affect, if you will, you know, the caliber um or the credentials of of of who you're looking for. I mean, as an adviser, obviously, you know, as a founder, I'd be looking for somebody who's ideally, you know, been in my industry, have solved that problem, you know, repeatedly, can come in at a level of mastery. And while you know there's a running joke like I can't play the same lottery number that you did to become a unicorn. It's like I you know what they can bring is uh you know a lot of a lot of um um not only you know good questions after listening um and and and guidance and counsel but hopefully they're bringing proven partners to the table. So this is who I've hired previously that got this done for me that's showed up successfully. And so now instead of, you know, making a critical hire that doesn't work out, that sets me back on a sales, you know, trajectory six to nine months, I can go with a go-to resource who's, you know, delivered time and time again for somebody else or, you know, a a critical intro to an investor at a time of need where I'm short on cash flow or my I don't have the runway or, you know, a game-changing partnership that can open up a new, you know, channel for distribution or fulfillment or, you know, supplier, what have you. It's just I mean these are the these are the ongoing um you know opportunities. I also would just you know acknowledge that founders get to be really clear with their asks. So you know ask for what you need. Um be unreasonable with your request. I mean you know advisers can acknowledge well I can help you. I can help you but if you're you know incredibly you know clear with the ask and and even if it's aggressive it's like it's a challenge. So, there's an opportunity to either show up or not. You're likely having trouble raising money or selling your company. Personally, I've had four exits and I've raised over $145 million. If you want a free coaching session with me, just like, subscribe, and leave a comment down below letting me know what you think of today's video for a chance to win a free coaching session with me. I'll select three winners every single month. You just have to like, subscribe, and leave a comment down below for a chance to win. Now, onto the video. What would be an example of like an aggressive ask? Yeah. Like an an aggressive ask would be join my company, right? I mean, you know, asking an adviser, you know, will you join my company? Um, and and many adviserss, you know, aren't full-time on the next venture. They might be available as a fractal executive or an interim role. And you know, they might be able to take on a a day a week to actually, you know, get hands-on and and quarterback something and lead something and prove something and and reveal the potential value of something and then from that place justify, you know, why the company would invest, you know, deeper in it. And then they could advise, you know, then they can go back to being an adviser, you know, as that grows in terms of, you know, and grows and thrives. And so so yeah, in many ways they can um land and expand, you know, opportunities that otherwise, you know, wouldn't be possible. And so that would be an an example of aggressive ask. The other aggressive ask is, I mean, as an example, when I was raising money for a company I was starting in Miami, I reached out to a local founder who had just completed his round, and I said, "I have three questions for you. Uh, who wrote the biggest checks locally the fastest? would you accept a check from them again? And if so, would you mind making an introduction? And that led to uh two super angels investing a half a million dollars in my round within 35 days. So, um you know, being really like other founders might be shy to ask that question. You know, they might not be as aggressive and you know, and saying, "Hey, can you do this for me?" I mean, I'm a giver and also I like to receive. It's it's it's uh you know it's important to have that nature. It took me a long time in my life in my work and in my personal life to to realize that it's really important to allow both the giving and the receiving to flow fully. Yeah. And I think that's something a lot of founders get kind of fearful of to make the ask. So many people just don't you know they they get scared. Oh, maybe they don't want. It's like don't make that decision for them, you know, let you know, ask the question and then they'll tell you if they don't want it, but don't fear the rejection, you know, but you the missed opportunity could be much worse than the rejection. Uh yeah, and I see it all the time even when we're supporting founders like, you know, we're not a broker dealer, so we don't, you know, um we don't raise money, but we're helping founders with their, you know, like like on in meetings and like we'll be in a meeting and it'll be clear that they're not going to invest. And this is a connected VC that has access to other portfolio companies and lots of, you know, a partner ecosystem. And so there's so many other asks if they if they just put, you know, them on the table. And it's sometimes it's really easy for us as advisors to just send an email and make a connection. That's gamechanging, especially for, you know, startups at at various stages. And so yeah, it's uh the worst thing that can happen is we say no. So, what are some of the advisor horror stories that you've come across that founders had to deal with? Well, I mean, I've we we were uh we were advising a a company um yeah, last year actually where an adviser ended up deciding to um have a midlife midlife crisis basically and and I won't go into the details but um uh kept kind of promising things and and uh you know then kept failing um and and it was it was critical it was absolutely like critical that they came through um on what they had committed to doing. And so, not only was that a poor reflection of them, but upon us and and it really set the founder back. And I mean, we we rely I mean, as founders, we rely tremendously on our our our people and our teams. And and especially in early stages, if people don't come through, it can be it can be devastating. And so um you know everything from founders like from advisers not showing up um you know promising things that they don't deliver on you know probably one of the worst um things that I see um unfortunately more regularly than not is just bad advice. We tend to give a lot of really bad advice and it's it's not out of like that's not the intention, right? But like just just because you did something a certain way and it worked for you doesn't mean that's at all going to work for the founder that you're sharing that that that that you know council with. And so it's really important to understand you know them um intimately um and their business intimately um and and it's really important for founders to trust themselves. Um, you know, one of the one of the most important things founders can do in working with, you know, board members or anybody that's, you know, whispering in their ear is to discern, you know, is this, you know, is this truth for me and is this something that I want to embrace and and act and act upon? I mean, you know, trusting their six sense, so to speak, you know, as well as their gut. I mean, it's really really important. Um, and uh and the best adviserss, I believe, you know, are mentors in that way. They're helping the founders and the management team, leadership team come into a evolved state of maturity um in in knowing how to level up and skill up and be in a really good place to you know discernment making better smarter decisions that ultimately lead to um more consistent and positive outcomes. So I think um this definitely rings true with me. It's like I always respect the founders that I work with and advise the most when they listen to they ask me for my advice. Yeah. And they take that as like a as a nugget of information and then they cross compare that to like five other people they ask for advice from. And I find that those are the founders that ultimately have a clearer vision and a clear clearer path is when they have multiple adviserss at the table that they can go to ask for an opinion and then take the pieces of all those opinions and chart their own path. I found that to be successful for my my own self as well as uh you know deals that I've been involved with and founders that I've been involved with that uh you know take that path. Absolutely. We we run a a meeting we call a spark where all the adviserss are present and we're there to focus on you know solving one problem making one really important decision and capitalizing on one key opportunity and the best to me is when you know there's an open debate an open discussion an open debate you know everyone can challenge one another and ultimately you know come through with the founder being in a good position to you know now that we've kind of talked about it and and and explored all angles they now get to make the decision that they're going to ultimately live with and hopefully it's the right one for them. So let's take that as an opportunity to lean in more on what you do at Supernova. Can you give the audience a quick high level on how Supernova is structured and and how founders take advantage of it? Yeah. Um so Supernova is uh hundreds of successfully exited founders that have come together as tiger teams to back other founders' dreams I like to say. And uh we do that by um serving as uh mentors, adviserss, and investors in um companies that are at the intersection of kind of profit and purpose. So we're really looking for missiondriven companies that are actually solving real problems in the world that can positively impact the lives of of others. And so um we we typically begin with um um an application and and what we call a star. So um the company depending on where they are in their their stage and what their biggest opportunities or challenges are will match them up with a a star uh an a successfully exited founder who specifically can address those those areas um in a timely f valuable fashion. Um, and assuming that's working, we then have an opportunity to layer on additional stars to create an all-star train team that really helps um, accelerate key milestones and and having, you know, what we hope will be an oversized, you know, impact in terms of value um, together. Um, we also within Supernova have a fund and so um, you know, for certain companies we typically will back between 10 and 12 per year um, scaleups. So they're they're they're typically doing five million plus in revenue and you know they're in a good place and we're able to take them to an even better place um by by giving them the you know the full the full support that that uh that we can and and do bring to the table. Yeah. Yeah. And I find that to be a fascinating model of like not just having this ecosystem of amazing exited founders that all have their bespoke expertise that founders can now tap a definitive credible source in terms of sourcing advisors because, you know, it's one thing to maybe stumble across them in the, you know, in the wild or to maybe get your rifle out and try to hunt hunt one down and and lock them down, but to kind of come to Supernova and kind of know that you have vetted access to advisors that have been in your shoes, have built companies, scaled companies, and exited to to be able to come in as your advisory squad, we'll call it your your your spark uh as you had mentioned to to help advise founders. And then I guess and it's also interesting, you can actually invest in these companies. So, you know, being a fund on top of that uh service side, I think is a unique angle for for founders to take into consideration, especially those those scaleups as you mentioned. Um so when it comes to the matching of an advisor to a founder like what's your process? What's your secret sauce there? Yeah so we we run an analysis akin to you know elite VC kind of due diligence. So we score every company um as an exited founder you know team. Uh we've also brought in some pretty elite VCs like Tim Chang's part of our crew. Um you know, two-time minus list VC from founding partner Mayfield. I mean, there's just some incredible people that are, you know, contributing to this to this um you know, to supernova. um once we have the kind of a version of the truth. I mean founders don't always like to hear it but I think one of the best things we can do is give them um you know the truth in terms of like you're not ready for institutional capital or you know or you're you know you're you're going to likely fail if you don't shore up you know these things fast and you know some founders have a good finger on the pulse of those things. Others don't and these are blind spots. So we're we're giving them complimentary assessment essentially a scorecard on, you know, where they where they rank and um and what we see are the the biggest opportunities and challenges and then based on um where we think we can add the most value can make an an intro a match to their first star. Um and and we then provide them with access to that exited founder. um they have you know or founders they have an opportunity to talk to them and and engage on you know complimentary calls so they can um learn more about what they can bring to the table and it's kind of you know we get to hear back from the founder yes I think they're amazing I would love to work with them the exit founders also come back to us and say yes I believe I can add tremendous value they were listening I think I can work with this individual or or no I don't not I'm going to pass on the opportunity if there is a match then that's when we formally paper and and engage page and then and then based on the success of that you know we we can choose to unlock other levels or you know value um over time but yeah so and you know as you guys kind of provide this one-stop shop for credible vetted exited founder advisors you know what what's the alternative out there right now for for founders when they're trying to bring advisors to the table what's some other general advice that they could potentially consider Yeah, I mean I I would say um I mean there there are many investors who also like to advise um and you know it's also a way that they can get you know additional equity and and obviously if they've got skin in the game too that they they you know they can bring more than just money. They can um you know they can kind of help steward that capital and and they have a vested interest in seeing it um grow. And so that's a it's an easier way to go to existing investors and you know form kind of an advisory board or um you know engage advisors that way. Um there are uh you know there's I I I'm very active on LinkedIn and so I find just like you know connecting with somebody and dropping them like a DM and saying you know hey I'd love to share with you my company and I'm not looking for money but I'm looking for you know mentorship or advisory you know like adding a member to my advisor team. Not everyone's going to respond to that. And I think you'll get, you know, I I've seen founders have some success with just direct outreach. Um especially if they know exactly what they're looking for and that person lines up in terms of their um you know, background and skill set. Um the majority of exited founders that I know do actively invest and advice. And so that's kind of been, you know, an obvious for Supernova, but also too, you know, a founder could, you know, reach out to whomever um, you know, for for access that way just directly. Yeah, I think it's really coming down to knowing knowing what the problem you are trying to solve. Um, so we've had a good conversation talking about advisors and what they can do to to a business. um what would be the best way for founders to learn more about you know you and Supernova? Yeah, so um you can Google Barry Stamos. Uh right now there's only one of me in the world. Uh so that's an easy way to find me. Um or you know connected me on LinkedIn. Um in terms of Supernova, you know, Supernova's website's the number one supernova.com. Uh supernova.com was for sale for two bill was over $2 million. So, we're not it's a it's a vanity. It would be a vanity purchase and uh and and and not really justified, but yeah, that's um that's a easy way for for folks to find us. I appreciate that. And if a if a founder wants to engage and you what should they expect uh with your process? Yeah, I mean I I would encourage any and every founder just to, you know, upload their deck and get a free, you know, scorecard and assessment from Supernova and knowing that exited founders get to huddle and give them the honest truth regarding, you know, where where their business is is today and where it needs to go and and how they can shore up the gap. So, I think that's a a really simple and easy way to to uh leverage Supernova, you know, in a in a way that can benefit any and every founder. So any stage founder can come in upload their deck and basically get a a raw critique on you know what's next for them. Absolutely. and uh and and for scaleups I mean we can provide a lot of support and so uh you know any any company that's actively scaling their company um you know I used to think after my first exit it got easier or or man once I get you know this capital or once I hire these resources or once I hit this you know MR you know I'm set there's so many layers of complexity every stage of the journey and So, um, we're we're here to help. And and just for fun, who would be some of the the names that you can share of the exited founders in your community or maybe some of the companies that they have built and sold that would be more notable? I mean I mean Ben Ben Lamb who's the founding um who's the CEO and and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences who we just announced as a techorn within four years is not only a portfolio company of Supernova but he's also um an adviser to um scaleups within Supernova. So he's an example founder who's both been a portfolio company and um could be an active adviser for you know your company um or or or or others. Um so on our website we have we've got like 50 or 60 you know example um successfully exited founders that you can see online. Behind the scenes, we've got hundreds and we've got a pretty large um ecosystem of go-to partners and agencies and providers that we've leveraged as successfully exited founders successfully um to yeah to to play play the game and win. And so we're we're looking to bring that forward for worthy ventures that are that are uh yeah that are doing good um by doing well. Yeah. And just for example, you got like Andrew Trader who exited Zingga. Um you have just trying to find some couple other guns when we can site off here. Senior adviser for M&A at Mastercard and previously sold this company to Mastercard. Um for the fintech side u companies that have raised Series B, Series D. Trying to find a couple other good ones to to pop out here. Um Alex Simpson, I know him. He's a great guy. um running a secondaries platform uh and had multiple exits um and was raised over 200 million. Uh so some really really strong a-hitters uh as far as the talent that people can get access to uh both investors and operators um that are really active in the market which I think is something to you know speaks volume of what you're able to attract at at Supernova. Yeah, I think the the major difference or distinction is that, you know, there are other services that provide access. Um, that's different than value. And so, you know, this isn't just getting on the call on a call with a successfully exited founder. This is actively engaging an exited founder as an extension of your team that gets hands-on that, you know, helps you, you know, achieve key milestones faster. Uh, that's the kind of difference, if you will. And so um yeah yeah all these folks have been vetted um you know many of them have already you know actively engaged in portfolio companies successfully and really excited about um finding more um founders who are are really good listeners you know who are like sponges can absorb the wisdom and and accept the you know the abundance of you resources and and connections and and wield uh and wield it to to do a lot of good. Well, Barry, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show. We'll make sure to include uh the links that you mentioned in the show description for anyone that's interested in learning more. Uh and then of course, you know, we're big uh partners with Supernova when it comes to accessing mentors across the stack of your business. Uh stacking your team, it's not just about having a name and, you know, a picture on your your deck. It's about them actually getting their hands dirty and helping you solve and overcome problems. Uh, and that's what actually makes great advisors, not just listing names on a deck. Uh, so thanks so much for coming on, Barry. Thank you so much, Jason. Appreciate it. And thanks for all that you do for founders at large. So, appreciate you. Thank you for watching today's episode. As a reminder, I'm your host, Jason Kirby. I have built and sold multiple companies with over 135 million in transactions as either a founder, operator, investor across multiple industries. I'm currently the managing director and founder of Thunder.bc, where we help companies and founders at all stages navigate what capital to raise and who to raise it from and help improve companies odds of raising capital. If you need help, reach out to us at el.under.bc. If you like today's show, please share with your friends, give us a like or comment down below. And as a reminder, this show is published weekly. And to get notified of new episodes and our newsletter, be sure to go to our website at join.thunder.bc. 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