After a couple years working on this company and gaining some great experience, I think I know a few things:

1. There are 2 kinds of people in the world - Those who get things done, and those who don't.  Work with the former, no matter how much you think you need the latter.

2. There are 2 other kinds of people in the world - Those who communicate and those who don't.  If they don't email you back or respond to your calls, they don't want to work with you.  Let 'em go and keep moving forward.

3. You know your business better than anybody, and every ship needs someone at the steering wheel, so make decisions.

4. Your advisors must be investors (might be time and resources instead of money, but it's got to be something).  Just having them on your executive summary for name recognition isn't productive.

5. It's better to be authentic than polished, especially now that people are thinking hard and long about where they spend their money.