Lilypond Centre, Ittefaq Mor, 3 RK Mission Road, Motijhil C/A, Dhaka-1203
WRONG DECISIONS: Leaders often depend only on personal experience, which often leads to mistakes.
NO BIG PICTURE: Focus stays on short-term profit, missing long-term growth.
WEAK NETWORK: Without Advisory connections, opportunities for investors or partnerships stay out of reach.
KNOWLEDGE GAPS: No single person knows it all Lack of expert advice creates blind spots.
HIGHER RISK: Problems remain unseen until it’s too late. A business without an Advisory Board is like a ship without a compass – It may move, but without proper safety.
STARTUPS — Without an Advisory Board
Startups fail less from lack of effort and more from wrong direction, wrong timing, and wrong decisions.
1. Founder blind spots:
• Founders over-trust their own judgment
• Emotional attachment to ideas
• Ignoring weak market signals
➡ Leads to: wrong product, wrong customer, late pivots.
2. Poor strategic choices:
• Entering markets too early or too late
• Copying competitors without differentiation
• Misreading unit economics
➡ Leads to: growth without profitability, cash burn,
collapse.
3. Weak fundraising and valuation decisions:
• Choosing the wrong investors
• Accepting damaging terms
• Raising too early or too late
➡ Leads to: loss of control, down rounds, founder
dilution, shutdown
4. Leadership immaturity:
• Hiring friends instead of leaders
• Avoiding hard people decisions
• No culture or performance system
➡ Leads to: internal chaos, slow execution, founder exhaustion.
5. Isolation and emotional decision-making:
• No safe place to test ideas
• No mentors in crisis
➡ Leads to: panic decisions, missed exits, total shutdown.
Established businesses rarely fail suddenly. They decay quietly.
1. Strategic stagnation:
2. Weak external sensing:
• No independent market intelligence
No exposure to global best practices
➡ Leads to: late reaction to industry shifts, sudden crises.
3. Capital misallocation:
• Emotional capex
• Over-expansion
• Ignoring return discipline
➡ Leads to: debt stress, low ROCE, balance-sheet erosion.
4. Leadership insulation:
• Promoter surrounded by loyalists
• Bad news filtered out
➡ Leads to: slow decline, ethical drift, major surprises.
5. Crisis unpreparedness:
• No experienced crisis counsel
• Reactive decision-making
➡ Leads to: reputational damage, regulatory action, plant closures.
GROUP OF COMPANIES — Without an Advisory Board:
Business groups fail not by one mistake, but by accumulated strategic confusion.
1. Portfolio chaos:
• Random diversification
• No capital logic
• Too many weak businesses
➡ Leads to: value destruction, cash drain, promoter overload.
2. Promoter dependency:
• All decisions flow to one person
• No leadership depth
➡ Leads to: bottlenecks, burnout, group fragility.
3. Capital and risk blindness:
• Cross-subsidizing failures
• Hidden debt and guarantees
➡ Leads to: group-level financial shocks.
4. Succession failure:
5. Reputation contagion:
• One company’s issue damages the entire group
➡ Leads to: lender mistrust, regulatory scrutiny, partner withdrawal.
ORGANIZATIONS & INSTITUTIONS — Without an Advisory Board:
Institutions don’t die quickly. They become irrelevant, inefficient, or distrusted.
1. Mission drift:
• Losing clarity of purpose
• Chasing funding instead of impact
➡ Leads to: confused identity, weak stakeholder trust.
2. Governance weakness:
• Over-centralization
• Poor accountability
➡ Leads to: ethical failures, donor loss, public credibility damage.
3. Talent stagnation:
• No external mentoring
• No leadership development
➡ Leads to: mediocrity, attrition, internal politics.
4. Innovation paralysis:
• Resistance to change
• Fear of experimentation
➡ Leads to: declining relevance, funding cuts, closure.
5. Crisis mishandling:
• Poor public response
• No experienced counsel
➡ Leads to: permanent trust erosion.
❌No independent challenge
❌No external intelligence
❌No structured long-term thinking
❌No leadership mirror
❌No early-warning system
❌No safe space for truth
• Strategic risk firewall
• Direction stabilizer
• Collective intelligence engine
• Blind-spot detector
• Credibility amplifier
• Institutional memory.
Overconfident when they should be cautious.
Confused when they should be focused.
Reactive when they should be anticipatory.
Emotionally when they should be disciplined.
Dependent on when they should be
institutionalized.
This is not about gossip. It is about repeatable failure patterns observed worldwide.
1: FOUNDER / LEADERSHIP ARROGANCE:
(“We know better.”)
Famous examples:
• Nokia – ignored smartphone software shift
• Kodak – invented digital photography, failed to act
• BlackBerry – dismissed touchscreens and ecosystems
What happened:
• Leadership dismissed internal and external warnings
• Success created overconfidence
• No independent strategic challenge
Root failure:
❌No strong advisory voice
❌Bad news filtered
❌Comfort over truth
Early signals:
• Advisors absent or ceremonial
• Innovation teams ignored
• Defensive leadership reactions
2: STRATEGIC STAGNATION:
(“Our current business will last.”)
Famous examples:
• Blockbuster – ignored streaming
• Sears – failed to modernize retail
• Yahoo – missed search, social, and mobile transitions
What happened:
• Companies optimized dying models
• No future-focused forum
• Short-term profit over long-term relevance
Root failure:
❌No structured foresight
❌No external technology voice
❌No scenario planning
Early signals:
• No investment in next-gen businesses
• Declining customer relevance
• Talent leaving innovation roles
3: FINANCIAL & EXPANSION OVERREACH:
(“Growth at any cost.”)
Famous examples:
• WeWork – governance and valuation collapse
• Kingfisher Airlines – debt-fuelled expansion
• Lehman Brothers – leverage blindness
What happened:
• Charisma over discipline
• Weak capital oversight
• No independent financial restraint
Root failure:
❌No capital advisory discipline
❌No challenge to promoter ambition
❌No risk modeling
Early signals:
• Rising debt faster than cash flow
• Complexity without control
• Valuation detached from fundamentals
4: GOVERNANCE & ETHICAL FAILURE:
(“We’ll manage it internally.”)
Famous examples:
What happened:
• Culture of fear
• No independent oversight
• Ethics sacrificed for performance image
Root failure:
❌No safe truth channel
❌No independent moral authority
❌No governance advisory layer
Early signals:
• Whistleblowers ignored
• Extreme secrecy
• High legal churn
5: GROUP-LEVEL FRAGMENTATION:
(“More businesses = more strength.”)
Famous examples:
• Anil Ambani Group – over-diversification & leverage
• Essar Group –debt and complexity overload
• GE – portfolio sprawl without coherence
What happened:
• Capital spread too thin
• No portfolio logic
• Promoter overwhelmed
Root failure:
❌No group-level advisory intelligence
❌No capital filter
❌No early exit discipline
Early signals:
• Cross-subsidization
• Leadership stretch
• Inability to clearly explain group strategy
6: SUCCESSION FAILURE:
(“More businesses = more strength.”)
Famous examples:
What happened:
• No leadership architecture
• Family-business confusion
• Power struggles
Root failure:
❌No promoter personal advisory council
❌No long-term succession forum
❌No institutional design
Early signals:
• Rising internal politics
• Promoter fatigue
• Leadership voids
They were not killed by markets.
They were killed by:
• Denial
• Delay
• Debt
• Dependence on one person
• Absence of independent
strategic challenge.
RISK EARLY-WARNING CHECKLIST:
(Your personal business radar system) Review this every quarter.
💠 A. STRATEGY & RELEVANCE RISKS:
☐ Are any core businesses being disrupted?
☐ Are we investing enough in future businesses?
☐ Can I clearly explain our group strategy in 3 sentences?
☐ Are customers changing faster than we are?
☐ Do we have people whose job is to challenge our
assumptions?
🚩Red flags: comfort, sameness, declining curiosity.
💠 B. CAPITAL & FINANCIAL RISKS:
☐ Is debt rising faster than operating cash flow?
☐ Are we cross-subsidizing weak businesses?
☐ Are we entering businesses we don’t understand?
☐ Are valuations driving decisions instead of returns?
☐ If capital markets close, are we safe for 24 months?
🚩Red flags: complexity, opaque structures, promoter guarantees.
💠 C. LEADERSHIP & DEPENDENCY RISKS:
☐ Could the group function without me for 6 months?
☐ Do we have 2 successors for every critical role?
☐ Are leaders respected outside the group?
☐ Is bad news reaching me early?
☐ Are we developing leaders or only operators?
🚩Red flags: bottlenecks, fear culture, loyalty over competence.
💠 D. GOVERNANCE & ETHICAL RISKS:
☐ Are there independent voices I truly listen to?
☐ Are compliance issues rising?
☐ Are whistleblowers safe?
☐ Are deals getting rushed?
☐ Is reputation explicitly protected?
🚩Red flags: secrecy, shortcuts, defensiveness.
💠 E. GROUP-LEVEL & SUCCESSION RISKS:
☐ Is diversification still logical?
☐ Are weak businesses being exited?
☐ Is the next generation being tested, not protected?
☐ Are ownership and management roles clearly separated?
☐ Do we have a crisis succession plan?
🚩Red flags: emotional attachment, unresolved family issues.
THE PROMOTER’S FINAL QUESTION EACH QUARTER:
“If I were an external investor, what would worry me most about my group?”
Write the answer.
Then build governance around it.
CONCLUSION:
All major business failures were visible years in advance.
What was missing was not data — it was independent interpretation, courage, and structure.
Advisory systems exist to see earlier, decide calmer, and exit smarter.
PROPER SOLUTIONS PROVIDED BY AN ADVISORY BOARD:
Think of an effective advisory board as a Strategic Repair & Protection System.
FOR STARTUPS — How an Advisory Board Solves Real Problems:
❌Problem: Founder blind spots & emotional decisions
• Pressure-testing ideas before capital is spent
• Forcing evidence-based pivots
• Challenging founder assumptions
• Separating ego from strategy
👉 Result: Better product direction, fewer fatal mistakes.
❌Problem: Wrong market, weak business model
• Industry experts validate customer pain points
• Financial advisors test unit economics
• Growth experts design go-to-market paths
👉 Result: Better product direction, fewer fatal mistakes.
❌Problem: Fundraising mistakes
• Preparing investor-ready narratives
• Structuring rounds properly
• Introducing credible investors
• Protecting founder control
👉 Result: Better investors, stronger valuations, fewer down-rounds.
❌Problem: Leadership immaturity
• CEO mentoring
• Hiring guidance
• Culture and performance systems
👉 Result: Founder becomes a leader, not just a builder.
FOR INDUSTRIES & OPERATING COMPANIES — Practical Solutions:
❌Problem: Strategic stagnation
• Technology scanning
• Scenario planning
• Competitive intelligence
• Global trend interpretation
👉 Result: Early moves instead of late reactions.
❌Problem: Capital misallocation
• Return-based capex frameworks
• Independent M&A evaluation
• Exit timing advice
👉 Result: Capital protection and higher ROCE.
❌Problem: Leadership insulation
• Direct access to independent voices
• Structured CEO challenge
• External benchmarking
👉 Result: Reality reaches the top early.
❌Problem: Crisis vulnerability
• Rapid advisory war room
• Regulatory and reputation guidance
• Stakeholder communication strategy
👉 Result: Fewer permanent scars from crises.
FOR GROUPS OF COMPANIES — Structural Solutions:
❌Problem: Portfolio chaos
• Clear diversification logic
• Capital allocation rules
• Business entry/exit filters
👉 Result: A focused, coherent group instead of a collection of companies.
❌Problem: Promoter dependency
• Leadership bench design
• Decision frameworks
• Capital committees
• Governance layering• Clear diversification logic
• Capital allocation rules
• Business entry/exit filters
👉 Result: The group becomes stronger than any one person.
❌Problem: Hidden risk buildup
• Cross-company risk review
• Debt and guarantee mapping
• Regulatory exposure tracking
👉 Result: Early correction instead of sudden shocks.
❌Problem: Succession failure
• Leadership pipeline planning
• Ownership and control structures
• Family-business boundaries
• Promoter role evolution
👉 Result: Stability across generations.
FOR ORGANIZATIONS & INSTITUTIONS — Institutional Solutions:
❌Problem: Mission drift
• Strategy-mission alignment reviews
• Long-term impact planning
• Stakeholder trust rebuilding
👉 Result: Clear identity and credibility.
❌Problem: Governance weakness
• Ethical frameworks
• Oversight processes
• Transparency systems
👉 Result: Fewer scandals, stronger legitimacy.
❌Problem: Talent stagnation
• External mentoring
• Global benchmarking
• Culture and incentive redesign
👉 Result: Energy, innovation, and professionalism.
Not emotional, not political, not internal.
Not quarterly pressure.
Not optimism bias.
Not only opinions.
Not reactive management.
CONCLUSION:
An Advisory Board is not there to make decisions. It is there to ensure that when you make decisions, they are:
“It replaces lonely judgment with structured wisdom.”
WHEN STRATEGY, GOVERNANCE & CAPITAL ARE AT STAKE
Boards Appoint Engg. Ahmad as the Chief of the Advisory Board and of Strategic Advisory Leadership for Boards, Industries, Groups of Companies & Organizations.
Warm Regards
— Engg. Ahmad
Chief Advisory Specialist | Strategic Advisory Leadership