# Find An Advisor In Utah **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:** 2026-06-18 **Layout:** field-guide ## 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](find-business-services.md), 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](score-utah.md) for experienced mentorship, [Utah SBDC](utah-sbdc.md) for structured business guidance, and — for research-backed or deep-tech work — the [Nucleus Institute](nucleus-institute.md). ## By Need ### If You Need A Mentor (Judgment, Not A Bill) Start with free, experienced mentorship before hiring anyone. - [SCORE Utah](score-utah.md) — experienced mentors and workshops for founders with broad questions about planning, marketing, operations, leadership, and growth tradeoffs. - [Utah SBDC](utah-sbdc.md) — 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](kirton-mcconkie.md) — full-service corporate counsel for formation, financing, securities, and M&A; fits founders who want one firm across multiple stages. - [Parsons Behle & Latimer](parsons-behle-latimer.md) — strong technology/IP-transactions and securities practice; fits IP-centric tech founders doing licensing or IP-sensitive financings. - [Workman Nydegger](workman-nydegger.md) — 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. ### If You Need Financial Leadership Separate compliance (audit/tax) from strategy (CFO-level forecasting and fundraising prep). - [Tanner LLC](tanner-llc.md) — 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)](eide-bailly-utah.md) — 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](preferred-cfo.md) — Utah-based fractional-CFO specialist; fits revenue-stage companies that want a dedicated part-time CFO for forecasting, cash discipline, and raise preparation. ### 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](nucleus-institute.md) — connects researchers and founders to commercialization coaching, SBIR/STTR support, capital, and talent. - [Nucleus Grow](nucleus-grow.md) — 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) - [Nucleus Institute](nucleus-institute.md) / [Nucleus Grow](nucleus-grow.md) for commercialization and non-dilutive funding direction. - [SCORE Utah](score-utah.md) or [Utah SBDC](utah-sbdc.md) for general judgment and readiness. ### Bring In Early (Paid, Prevents Irreversible Mistakes) - [Workman Nydegger](workman-nydegger.md) if the moat is patentable — before public disclosure. - Corporate counsel ([Kirton McConkie](kirton-mcconkie.md) or [Parsons Behle & Latimer](parsons-behle-latimer.md)) when equity, investors, or IP assignment enter the picture. ### Add When Revenue Or A Raise Arrives - Fractional CFO support ([Preferred CFO](preferred-cfo.md) or [Eide Bailly](eide-bailly-utah.md)) for investor-ready financials. - A CPA firm ([Tanner LLC](tanner-llc.md) 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](find-a-cofounder.md). ## Sources - [Kirton McConkie](kirton-mcconkie.md) - [Parsons Behle & Latimer](parsons-behle-latimer.md) - [Workman Nydegger](workman-nydegger.md) - [Tanner LLC](tanner-llc.md) - [Eide Bailly (Utah)](eide-bailly-utah.md) - [Preferred CFO](preferred-cfo.md) - [Nucleus Institute](nucleus-institute.md) - [Nucleus Grow](nucleus-grow.md) - [SCORE Utah](score-utah.md) - [Utah SBDC](utah-sbdc.md) - [Find Business Services In Utah](find-business-services.md) ## Open Questions - Which named individual mentors and equity advisors should become `people/` pages this guide can route to? - 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?