Connectd Opiniões 652

Great service and James works hard to understand your needs. When a placement feel through (advisors decision) he worked hard to find a better replacement.

The quality of my other advisor is outstanding.

In a short space of time I've been welcomed onto the Connectd platform, matched with an advisor and had a few really positive points of contact with Harriet and Dan. This has the makings of a hugely valuable service. Highly recommended to early stage and more established founding teams.

I have interacted with over 50 advisor-side Connectd members and here is a summary of our experiences.

- Placement issues: lack of receiving a placement and being ghosted by the support team upon joining the service, irrelevant matches, questionable companies, inaccurate listings, and pressure to accept. Startups on the platform are dormant, shell companies, or have founders with questionable backgrounds that would fail basic "know your client" screens
- Deceptive Sales and Marketing Tactics: Misleading vetting claims - Sales reps claimed a rigorous vetting process where only 35% of applicants are accepted, which members now suspect is a fraudulent tactic to build false confidence. Prospects were told that failing to make a placement "never happened," despite current members knowing of many others who required refunds for that exact reason.
- Unmet Local Networking Promises: Members were promised regular in-person networking events in cities like New York and Boston that never materialized
- Hidden "Priority" Systems: A staff member admitted to using a points-based scale to prioritize placements for those whose memberships are nearly over, rather than matching based on fit
- Community Suppression: After members began organizing to request transparency, links to the community platform were disabled or members were removed
- Mediocre Materials: The AI-generated educational content is described as "repackaged basic/obvious material," "lightweight enough to be useless," and "beyond mediocre".
- Inconsistent Mentorship: While some mentors are praised, others have been criticized for "variable quality," "front-loading" sessions just to get paid, or spending entire sessions on self-promotion.

I’ve absolutely loved working with Connectd and the team James, Harriet, Inarah and Sarah have been incredible.

From day one, they’ve been responsive, supportive and genuinely invested in what we’re building with PLUGG. It’s been fun, fast-paced and full of real value.

They didn’t just introduce us to “advisors” they connected us with the right people. The kind who challenge you, guide you and help you level up properly. Those conversations have genuinely helped propel PLUGG to where it is today.

Huge thank you to the whole Connectd team. Appreciate you all 🙌

I joined this program with high hopes. I was particularly excited about the opportunity to network with like-minded people and be part of a structured, interactive cohort experience. Unfortunately, my experience over the past nine months has been disappointing in several key areas.

1. Course Structure & Content
Before enrolling, the program frequently uses the term “cohort” with clear cut-off dates during the pre-sales process, which gave me the impression of a structured, group-based learning experience. However, once enrolled, the experience felt largely self-directed.

The core content consists of AI-generated video lessons without in-person classes or live interaction. While the material may be helpful for complete beginners, I found it fairly generic. There is also no interactive component where participants can actively engage with LLMs as coaches - it’s primarily pre-recorded video content. In my view, similar (and sometimes more in-depth) information is freely available on platforms like YouTube.

2. Networking Opportunities
Networking was one of the main reasons I signed up. However, the events are infrequent and fill up within hours. In nine months of membership, I have been able to attend only one networking event and was fortunate to secure a ticket for another upcoming one.

The event I attended consisted mainly of a few talks followed by informal mingling over pizza and drinks. While this may work for some, I personally would have appreciated more structured networking formats and longer time slots to facilitate meaningful connections.

3. Placement Experience
My first placement unfortunately turned out not to be a good fit for the program. While I was initially very excited, it ultimately did not work out. Now, nine months in, I am still without a placement, which has been frustrating given the program’s positioning.

I also opted for the two-year program, which in hindsight was premature. I am currently exploring options to step out of the second year.

4. Networking platform
Unfortunately the networking platform is clunky and web-based. Apparently there is a way to use a third party app to use the platform in app, however, this does not work for me. Additionally, it appears, the platform is little used by members. Another thing I noticed is, that the platform is highly sanitised. When some of my peers aimed to raise struggles, concerns or frustration with the program on the platform - which would have been a great way to meet and find peers - these posts are typically removed within hours.

I genuinely believe the concept has potential, especially for people at an early stage who are looking for introductory guidance. However, based on my experience, the program did not meet my expectations in terms of clarity, structure, interactivity, or networking opportunities, especially for the price.

I hope this feedback is taken constructively, as I would have loved for the experience to match the promise presented during enrollment.

Ted reached out to me first week of January, since that time after doing due diligence and some soul-searching, I decided to make the commitment to the connectd network. I enrolled in the academy and took my time going through it. I found it a useful as a returning board member, and a few new points to consider for the different types of relationship you can build. I was contacted the day I completed the training to meet with a founder! I met with him earlier today and I think we are going to be working together. For me this has been a great experience. I expect to be working with several startups on a part time basis. Highly recommended.

Pay money to work for free. Great business for someone that's not you.

Cut to the chase in the "screening call" - This is a paid-for course to become a NED/ Advisor. Reading these reviews it looks like you then get an unpaid placement with a startup.

Preying on the hopes and dreams of those seeking a NED job title.

How does this company have good reviews? I have been contacted on LinkedIn three times by three different employees with a copy and paste message. If you look on their individual LinkedIn pages they also post the same stuff on the same days with identical captions added. Awful impersonal approach.

Update 23/03/2026: Another cold message in my inbox today, despite the response from the company. It’s again a carbon copy of previous messages. Do better.

Update 02/04/2026: Another cold message.

I recently completed the Board Advisory training with Connectd, and the experience was brilliant. It provided exactly the context I needed to navigate the shift into advisory work with confidence.

Upon completing the training and getting set up with a mentor, Connectd quickly secured my first pro-bono position with a business that aligns perfectly with both my professional interests and my personal values.

I’m already looking forward to continuing my journey with their NED training later this year.

Highly recommended for anyone looking to level up their board career

I recommend joining Connectd if you want to grow your network and do the training to becoming a NED or Advisor. The course material is good and you get a pro-bono placement once completed. This sets you on your journey to support start-ups/scale-ups.

I have met some great new contacts through Connectd and it has provided me with fantastic experience that I would not have been able to obtain otherwise, so recommend joining the platform if you get chance!

Having been approached by Connectd on Linkedin, I was initially hesitant regarding the structure. Now 3/4 the way through their program, I'm glad these have been proven wrong.

I found the training informative, and the placement was arranged quickly and enjoyable.
The mentor has been helpful in bringing together these aspects, and been a valuable sounding board for any questions.

Very happy with my experience so far!

Terrible customer service from senior start up advisor, literally cancelled a call last minute because apparently they are too busy, then proceeds to tell me that apparently she doesn’t think my business is a fit when I have an allocation of 7 figure budget for advisory spend for projects we are working on.
Maybe they should hire some of the advisors they are pawning off to other people. If they are so busy maybe they should just not worry about advertising. This is how good ideas fail.

Will not recommend. Save your money.

Working with James, Harriet, and the wider Connectd team has been an exceptional experience for us at The Genies Career Hub. From the outset, James took the time to understand our business, our challenges, and the direction we’re moving in as we refine our UX, brand tone, voice, and mission for our evolving customer demographic.

Through his support, we were introduced to Kate, and she has been nothing short of phenomenal. Her contribution to our new marketing strategy and roadmap has already had a transformative impact, bringing clarity, structure, and strategic insight at a pivotal moment for the business.

I also want to acknowledge Harriet, whose customer service and ongoing support have been outstanding. She has consistently gone out of her way to ensure we’re connected with the right people and has made the entire process seamless and genuinely enjoyable.

What has stood out most is how proactive the Connectd team has been. They haven’t just made one introduction; they’ve thoughtfully paired us with additional advisors who have each added meaningful value to our wider strategy as we move into 2026.

We’re incredibly grateful for the support, the calibre of people we’ve been connected with, and the genuine care shown throughout. Connectd has played a significant role in accelerating our progress at a crucial stage of our growth.

We joined Connectd as we are a start up and wanted to appoint both Board and Advisory Board members. We have been extremely pleased with the calibre of candidates and the broad and varied qualifications they have. We now have the first candidate we signed up coming on as Director of Internal Affairs at Board level. We have been complimented on the calibre of our Board members by our major shareholders. We are very happy with the service given and would highly recommend Connectd going forward.

My experience is being great and I am excited about my first placement as Advisor .

If you were looking for a NED or BA role, would you pay a 3rd party thousands of £'s to work for free? And if you were a company who was looking for a NED or BA, would they look for her or him on such a 3rd party's site?

I have had 6 identical messages about Connectd from 6 different people within the last 6 months, and NONE of the previous people still work there. The last one apparently spent the preceding 8 years working as a taxi driver according to LinkedIN - nothing against that; at the same time it's not a foundation for providing reputable executive-level career advice. Why would a reputable networking company charge candidates ANYTHING (whether it's dressed up as an introductory fee, "training" to be considered for roles, or anything else)? - it's not an ethical operating model. Connectd may or may not actually be a scam (depending on your perspective) but my direct experience is that it certainly acts like one in its marketing to LinkedIN users.

Incredible service, we were able to find our very first mentors for a couple of days!

Additional thanks to Nathaniel for his support and high-quality execution👌🏻

Connectd promises that when you complete the training program you will be matched with a company that is seeking advisors for your final "in the field" training. It only took a few days for James St John-Dunlop to find a match, and facilitate it with a truly experienced hand. His guidance and observations (and efficiency) were A+, and we're off to the races!

Worthwhile service, number of users seems to be growing. Daniel was helpful and responsive setting up initial meetings.