Making board meetings work for you

Many startup founders don’t really have to sweat board of directors meetings all that much; typically, at the earliest stages, the founders are the only people on the company’s board. If the board meets at all, it’s a “family affair” or otherwise, official actions are handled by written consents outside of meetings. However, once you have outsiders on the board – and especially, outside institutional investors like VCs – there is more pressure to perform.

And yet, for all the performance pressure, many founders find board meetings to be pointless exercises that don’t help them or the company. They are more like bored meetings.

It does not have to be this way. Board meetings should focus on high-level issues of importance to the company – market conditions, the team, and follow-through on previously established objectives. It’s also a time when you can put your directors to work for you, which if you have good directors, they should welcome.

This article by First Round Capital, aptly entitled “The Secret to Making Board Meetings Suck Less,” offers some very helpful perspectives. I hope that it helps you make your board meetings effective and .

Categorised as: Startup Stuff