Would people pay for this service?
iamelgringo: I've been running an HN meetup called Hackers and Founders meetup ( http://hackersandfounders.com ) in Silicon Valley for over a year and a half.  I've seen hundreds of hackers/founders come and go in the last 20 months.  I've also seen a number of people trying to sell consulting services to them.My best guess is that it would be an 80/20 split.  80% of the members of Hackers and Founders would shy away from what you're offering. If you've been in the Valley for any length of time, and do basic networking, you're going to get to know people with ties to investors.  Off the top of my head, I could think of 20 people that I'd go to for advice and introductions if I were looking for investor money right now, and they'd point me in the right direction.  Most of my members might talk to you, but they'd be pretty leery of selling a stake in their corporation before they know you.  I've found that the early stage founders I hang out with at Hackers and Founders tend to mistrust 2 types of people: 1) Pure business guys looking for technical co founders and 2) Money guys offering to help them out in exchange for a piece of the pie.I could be wrong, but I'd think that the 20% of founders that would be most eager to take you up on your offer would be the most desperate of the bunch.  I think that by pitching yourself primarily as a guy who helps people get through the funding pipeline, you're going to be selecting for the wrong type of founders.  I can imagine that founders who aren't in the Valley might be more eager to take you up on your services, as well.  There's a much bigger separation between founder and investor in other parts of the country and world, and those people need quite a bit more help in the funding department.What has really helped the guys at Hackers and Founders are people who are available to be a friend throughout the process.  Generally when the founders pursue the funding process, they turn to their friends who helped them early on, and if those friends have enough experience, those friends become board members (and at times get equity).One of my members in particular has been phenomenal at that. He has a resume similar to yours, and he just hangs out with early stage founders for love of the game.  He talks freely, shares his experiences and advice freely, takes people out to coffee all the time, and when founders are looking for fund raising advice, he's the first person they turn to.What's in it for him, is that he gets to interact with hundreds of entrepreneurs and he can pick and choose the best of them to hook up with and work along side of.  But, the teams that he signs up with trust him implicitly, because they've been getting advice from them for a while.If you have other questions, feel free to ping me.  I'd be happy to talk about it.