A fundamental question to ask is do you want the advisory board for show off or to get actual advice? I think there are some specific cases where you need an A-

A fundamental question to ask is do you want the advisory board for show off or to get actual advice? I think there are some specific cases where you need an A-star list. But more often than not, what you really need is advice for which you don't need to put together an official board until later in the venture. I like the idea of getting help from people. When/if your startup is going somewhere, pay back for their help/advice in form of equity--as opposed to getting an A-star list put together on day 1 which often just ends up looking shiny but rarely useful.