As CEO of a startup the buck stops with you.  If you’re anything like me this can be both new and challenging. You may be placed in a position of responsibility in many cases exceeding your prior experiences.

You may be expected to have the right answers and guidance in areas you’ve never experienced. The question is, who are you going to call?

For this problem, Ghostbusters won’t be answering their phone.

Every startup founder and every startup CEO needs a brain trust, a trusted group of advisors who have lived or walked the experience prior. Only a Queen can teach a Princess to be a Queen.  

If you don’t have advisors you can tap, you need to get them. How?

I encourage you to pay the $20-$50 for one month of LinkedIn contacts and do deep searches for professionals and comprise a list. Contact each individually and let them know you are interested in speaking with them personally and/or looking for mentors in their areas of expertise. Most may ignore you or decline politely- but a few will be interested in speaking further. And that is worth $50. I myself bought a year for $200 and though I run a lean startup its been one of my wisest investments.

If you already have these individuals in your network set a reminder on your calendar to contact, email, Facebook, or call them monthly. You should have no difficulty coming up with topics to discuss but try to concisely ask your most pressing question. For example: “Does this business forecast look unreasonable?” with the high level numbers included and maybe your executive summary. You also have to take interest in their work, do they write a blog? have books? read their work and reference it when reaching out to them. Over time, you’ll establish a valuable bond and communication channels that work best.

This may require work but who else are you gonna call? Ghostbusters isn’t an option.