"If I didn't have a Connectd membership, I would have never achieved what we achieved with NurishPro. We would have struggled a lot across many different areas: sales, marketing, finances."
What made you reach out to Connectd to get advisory support?
Gamal Dawood, Founder, NurishPro: Before Connectd, I used to work with the local enterprise office here in Ireland. I could get advisory support, but it was very limited: two hours, two sessions, and to get another session I had to go through a lengthy process. With Connectd, I have a six-month relationship with my advisors. All founders need advisors on board, and that's why I thought Connectd would be a good place to find such experienced people.
What was the biggest challenge you initially wished to solve as a founder?
Gamal Dawood: For my first startup, I still don't know what I don't know. I have my own background and experience, but that can be isolated from all the other pillars that are important to building a successful startup. That's why I felt I needed advisors in each and every vertical where I have no experience.
How did you find advisors that felt like the right fit for your vision and startup?
Gamal Dawood: I reached out to my account manager and said I needed an advisor in this area and that area. They sent me files and CVs for advisors in those fields. When I felt someone had the experience I was looking for, I asked to arrange a meeting to get to know each other, go through the introduction, and see if there was the chemistry to work together and fill gaps for each other.
What did your advisors bring to the table, and how did those relationships develop?
Gamal Dawood: I have many advisors. I have a CMO who was a pro bono advisor for six months, and once that period ended, I offered her a role with equity. We've now been working together for thirteen months. I have a CFO who was also a pro bono advisor and is now the Chief Financial Officer on the same terms of remuneration. I had a sales advisor, though he couldn't commit the time to move into a C-level role. They are all fractional, by the way. I also have a legal advisor on a pro bono basis, and a business development advisor who has been with Connectd for a long time, so he's done his pro bono part and is now on an equity basis.
What are some of the tangible results you can directly trace back to your advisors' support?
Gamal Dawood: With Allison, who is working with NurishPro long term, she knows everything about what we are doing and has influenced all of our marketing activities. Before working with her, I had a business plan based on my own reading, with no real experience behind it. When she came in, she executed it and adjusted the plan to fit the market needs we were venturing into. She added the experience part, which gave us a huge leap in our marketing, because it's now led by someone with over thirty years of experience.
JP, the CFO, changed everything too. I'm no longer worried about anything related to financials because it's in good hands. Take the cash flow as an example. When I first plotted it, I'm good with numbers but not with accounting or financials, so I filled it in like a P&L, just changing the order of money in and money out. JP came in and said, "No, let's do this differently," and rebuilt it completely to follow the book, the professional way to do a cash flow document.
How did you establish cadence with your advisors?
Gamal Dawood: At the very beginning, we had the intro to get to know each other and everything about NurishPro. Then we scheduled meetings, an hour weekly, or twice a week when needed. During that hour, I share what I've done. They spot a few things, and we tackle them one by one, discussing different elements block by block.
What are the green flags while seeking an advisor?
Gamal Dawood: From my experience, even though they are advisors, you need to stay aligned and both remain committed to the same work. That's the thing that really matters in the relationship with an advisor.
What is one piece of advice you would give to another founder considering Connectd today?
Gamal Dawood: Connectd is mainly about helping you build the right team. Even if you have a founding team that covers certain areas, there will be others you're not covering. When it comes to building a startup, there are a lot of things you won't be aware of until you hit a wall. We didn't really know we needed an advisor until we had one.
You need to make sure you don't make mistakes that can kill your startup, and that's exactly where you need help. Sales, marketing, financials, business development, investor relations, you won't have co-founders to cover all of these areas, so you need advisors. Surrounding yourself with the right team is a really important part of your success.
If I didn't have a Connectd membership, I would never have achieved what we achieved in NurishPro. We would have struggled a lot. With Allison, for example, we simply wouldn't have had the success we've had so far. I couldn't have done that myself.
Gamal Dawood, Founder, NurishPro
