Recruit a high-profile evangelist with an existing audience as a named role to accelerate credibility and growth
Instead of traditional advisory roles or paid sponsorships, bring on a well-known industry figure as a formal team member (Chief Evangelist, Chief Whatever Officer) with a title, equity, and a public commitment. This person's existing audience and credibility transfer directly to your brand, creating instant trust and distribution that would take years to build organically. The named role signals deeper commitment than advisory, making endorsements more credible.
When to use
When you have product-market fit but need to accelerate growth and credibility, and a well-known figure in your space is available and genuinely excited about your product
Don't do this
Paying for celebrity endorsements without genuine product alignment, or giving advisory titles without real involvement that audiences can see through
1 Founder Who Did This
Recruited Guy Kawasaki (former Apple Chief Evangelist) as formal Chief Evangelist with investor role in April 2014. Kawasaki applied his evangelism framework - enabling test-drives, easy adoption slopes - and leveraged his massive tech following to promote Canva.