Why Every Startup Should Have a Technical Advisory Board

TL;DR

In this episode of The Good Thing, Stefan and Jens break down why every startup should set up a Technical Advisory Board (TAB). They cover lessons from layoffs, product-market fit, open source as an enterprise enabler, and how TABs help founders uncover real customer problems.

Layoffs and Lessons in Empathy

The episode opens on recent Apollo layoffs. Both hosts stressed that layoffs should never be taken lightly, even for competitors.

First is the sympathy part, because losing your job is never easy, especially in today’s market.

Jens added that layoffs often reflect the gap between startup plans and reality. Growth assumptions don’t always materialize, and both founders and employees face the fallout .

Product-Market Fit and the Credit Card Test

From there, the hosts connect layoffs to the bigger challenge of product-market fit. Stefan explained that fit comes when customers pay quickly, not after months of convincing.

If they’re not paying for it, the credit card is not attached, you’re not solving something painful enough for them.

Cosmo , they noted, earned revenue within two weeks of release, while an earlier SDK dragged on for months without conversion.

Open Source as an Enterprise Enabler

Jens highlighted how open source accelerates enterprise sales by letting engineers bypass red tape.

Open source is such a big enabler for enterprise sales… you can just download it, you can Docker run it.

Stefan agreed, adding that open source shrinks sales cycles when prospects arrive already familiar with the software.

What a TAB Actually Does

The heart of the episode is about how to set up and run a TAB. Stefan described it as a small group of trusted engineers, architects, and leaders who meet regularly to share honest feedback.

For the first couple weeks, you don’t show them anything about the product. Instead, you just talk to them and listen.

By mapping problems across multiple companies, founders can spot repeatable pain points worth solving.

How to Get Real Feedback

Jens warned that existing relationships can bias conversations, since people hesitate to give harsh feedback. The key is to steer TAB sessions toward workflows and pain points, not solutions.

Don’t talk about the solution—talk about their pains, their workflows, their problems.

If multiple companies raise the same issue, that overlap becomes a clear signal to prioritize it.

Beyond Federation: The Bigger Journey

The episode closes with Jens reflecting on how TABs revealed gaps beyond GraphQL Federation.

The whole journey from product idea to product in production is completely disconnected… we need to zoom out.

For him, TABs aren’t just about technical validation but about mapping the broader product journey and uncovering organizational problems that software can solve.