Executive Summary

Founders and small-company leaders frequently get pulled off core priorities because they lack quick access to vetted senior advisors who can unblock growth; currently many of the roughly 1.6M target companies waste weeks and pay fragmented retainers to find poor matches or none at all. This creates a recurring operational drag at precisely the stages where expert guidance moves companies from survival to scale. You could build an AI-augmented marketplace that ingests advisor profiles and outcomes, uses embedding-based matching to surface 3–5 prioritized advisor fits, and pairs that with human vetting, suggested engagement structures (subscription and outcome-linked fees), onboarding playbooks and performance dashboards to cut time-to-match from weeks to days. The product would include simple contracting and success metrics to make advisory value measurable and billable. The timing is attractive: a $9.6B estimated market (1.6M companies × $6K ACV) with an increasing supply of independent senior talent from remote/gig trends and rising demand for flexible, outcome-driven advisory arrangements improves both supply-side economics and willingness to pay. Competitive advantage will come from strict vetting plus better-matching AI and conversion-optimized flows, but practical challenges include building initial high-quality advisor supply, establishing trust signals, and proving ROI in pilots — all solvable, yet requiring upfront incentives and targeted GTM to reach escape velocity.

Market Opportunity

Founders stuck on core priority — AI matches vetted advisors to accelerate growth targets a $9.6B = 1.6M companies × $6K ACV (annual advisory/board spend potential per company) total addressable market with medium saturation and a year-over-year growth rate of 12% YoY (expert network and freelance consulting growth; source: Upwork and McKinsey digital talent marketplace trends 2023).

Key trends driving demand: Trend — Independent senior talent supply is increasing due to remote work and gig economy growth, making it easier to source experienced advisors.; Trend — AI and embedding-based matching improve relevance of advisor recommendations, reducing time-to-match and increasing conversion.; Trend — Startups and SMBs prefer flexible, outcome-linked advisory arrangements over traditional fixed retainers, creating demand for subscription and success-fee models.; Trend — VCs and accelerators are packaging advisor introductions as a value-add, enabling distribution partnerships for curated advisory platforms..

Key competitors include AdvisoryCloud, GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group), LinkedIn / AngelList (informal).

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Founders stuck on core priority — AI matches vetted advisors to accelerate growth

Executive Summary

Market Validation

Market Opportunity

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