Great Work — Utah

Find An Advisor In Utah

guide confidence: Medium status: Draft updated 2026-07-14

Type
guide
Status
Draft
Confidence
Medium
Audience
Utah founders, researchers, first-time CEOs, operators raising or commercializing
Focus
mentors, professional advisors, legal counsel, accounting, fractional CFO, IP, commercialization
Updated
2026-07-14

Overview

"I need an advisor" usually hides four very different needs: a mentor (someone who has done it before and will talk you through judgment calls), a professional service provider (a lawyer, accountant, or CFO you hire for a specific job), a commercialization guide (for research-backed and non-dilutive paths), or an equity advisor (a named individual who takes a small stake or a board seat). They are not interchangeable, and the most common founder mistake is paying for one when you needed another.

This guide routes by need. It complements Find Business Services In Utah, which routes by operational bottleneck (formation, procurement, regulation, credit). Use that guide when the blocker is a process; use this one when the question is who should I bring into my corner.

Criteria for inclusion: public evidence, a Utah presence or Utah-specific relevance, and a concrete next action. This guide does not rank advisors universally — it groups them by what the founder actually needs, and any ordering is scoped to a stated audience.

Start Here

Before paying anyone, narrow the need with three questions:

  1. Is the need judgment or execution? Judgment ("should I raise now, how do I split equity, is this market real?") points to a mentor or commercialization guide. Execution ("form the entity, file the patent, produce investor-ready financials") points to a professional service provider.
  2. Is it free first? Utah has strong free mentorship and commercialization help. Start there before hiring, unless the clock or complexity forces a paid specialist.
  3. Does it require equity? Most advice should not cost equity early. Reserve equity advisors for rare, specific, high-leverage relationships — and paper them properly.

The lowest-risk first moves for most founders are free: SCORE Utah for experienced mentorship, Utah SBDC for structured business guidance, and — for research-backed or deep-tech work — the Nucleus Institute.

By Need

If You Need A Mentor (Judgment, Not A Bill)

Start with free, experienced mentorship before hiring anyone.

  • SCORE Utah — experienced mentors and workshops for founders with broad questions about planning, marketing, operations, leadership, and growth tradeoffs.
  • Utah SBDC — structured guidance on planning, pricing, forecasting, funding readiness, and operations; a good fit for first-time and Main Street founders.

Use a mentor when the question is judgment and the answer is "talk to someone who's done it." Graduate to paid specialists when the need becomes execution.

If You Need Legal Counsel

Match the firm to the legal problem rather than defaulting to whoever is nearest.

  • Kirton McConkie — full-service corporate counsel for formation, financing, securities, and M&A; fits founders who want one firm across multiple stages.
  • Parsons Behle & Latimer — strong technology/IP-transactions and securities practice; fits IP-centric tech founders doing licensing or IP-sensitive financings.
  • Wilson Sonsini Salt Lake City — startup and venture counsel for companies that expect institutional financing, complex governance, or a life-sciences, medical-device, or other technical-company path. Its public pricing is not stated, so verify partner fit, conflicts, scope, and whether the legal budget makes sense for the stage before engaging.
  • Workman Nydegger — IP boutique for patents, trademarks, and trade secrets; the right call when the company's moat is a defensible invention. Talk to patent counsel before any public disclosure.
  • Maschoff Brennan — another Utah IP boutique often used by tech and life-sciences founders; same rule: talk before public disclosure.

If You Need Financial Leadership

Separate compliance (audit/tax) from strategy (CFO-level forecasting and fundraising prep).

  • Tanner LLC — locally owned CPA firm for audit/assurance, tax, and M&A due diligence; fits companies whose financials are about to face outside scrutiny.
  • Eide Bailly (Utah) — national firm with a Salt Lake City office offering fractional CFO/controller services plus R&D tax-credit work; fits R&D-heavy startups wanting finance leadership and credit capture from one provider.
  • Preferred CFO — Utah-based fractional-CFO specialist; fits revenue-stage companies that want a dedicated part-time CFO for forecasting, cash discipline, and raise preparation.
  • NOW CFO — fractional finance operations for seed or Series A companies that need cash forecasts, close discipline, board or investor reporting, and accounting cleanup before a full-time finance hire. NOW CFO is not a CPA firm and should not be treated as a replacement for tax, audit, or attest work; verify that the assigned consultant has relevant startup and industry experience.

If You Need Commercialization Or Non-Dilutive Guidance

For research-backed and deep-tech ventures, the highest-leverage early advisor is often a commercialization connector, not a paid consultant.

  • Nucleus Institute — connects researchers and founders to commercialization coaching, SBIR/STTR support, capital, and talent.
  • Nucleus Grow — Utah's official SBIR/STTR resource partner for proposal coaching and non-dilutive funding strategy, largely free to Utah small businesses.

Contextual Ranking: First Advisors For A First-Time Deep-Tech Founder

Audience: a first-time Utah founder commercializing technical or research-backed work, pre-seed to seed, cash-constrained. Criteria: lowest cost first, highest leverage on the next milestone, and avoiding irreversible mistakes (IP loss, broken cap table). This ordering applies only to this audience — it is not a universal ranking.

First Calls (Free, High Leverage)

Bring In Early (Paid, Prevents Irreversible Mistakes)

Add When Revenue Or A Raise Arrives

  • Fractional CFO support (Preferred CFO, Eide Bailly, or NOW CFO) for investor-ready reporting and finance operations, while keeping CPA-only work with an appropriate CPA firm.
  • A CPA firm (Tanner LLC or Eide Bailly) when reviewed/audited financials or diligence are required.

Caveats

  • None of these organizations has endorsed, agreed to take on, or quoted terms for any specific founder. This guide describes public capabilities and routes by need; confirm fit, conflicts, scope, and cost directly.
  • Free first. Utah's mentorship and commercialization resources are strong; don't pay for execution help before you've used free judgment help, unless the clock forces it.
  • Be careful with equity-for-advice arrangements. They are occasionally worth it, but they are easy to overpay and hard to unwind — paper them with counsel.
  • An advisor is not a cofounder. If the real gap is a committed partner who shares the risk, see Find A Cofounder In Utah.

Sources

Open Questions

  • Should there be a dedicated answer page for "what should an advisor cost, in cash or equity, at each stage"?
  • Which Utah angel groups or operator networks belong here as the wiki adds investor and mentor coverage?