What does a good advisor for a founder actually look like?

A good founder advisor isn't the smartest person in the room. They're the person willing to call out the founder's blind spots in real time without fearing for the relationship. The combination is rare. Most advisors are either deferential, in which case they're useless, or hostile, in which case they don't last. The right advisor sits in the middle. Kris Kluver, in The Dysfunctional Family Office, describes Ryan, the coach who has worked with Ben Christoff for thirty years. Equally compassionate and absolutely fearless in calling out any nonsense. One of the only people who never let Ben roll over them. The single best test of a founder advisor is whether they show up prepared to get fired every time.