A Founder’s Guide to Startup Boards
Everything Startup Founders Need to Know About Setting-Up a Board and Running Board Meetings
You’re a startup founder. You’ve spent days, weeks, and months building out your minimum viable product. You’ve pitched countless venture capital investors (VCs), and now secured your Series A round of funding. Should you set up a formal board of directors?
The board of directors (the ‘Board’) is by far the most integral part of a startup’s internal management structure. A startup’s strategic direction is almost entirely dependent on the decisions of the Board — this includes fundraising, acquisitions, IPOs, hiring and firing of C-suite executives, budgets, new product lines, etc.
It’s often said that startups should think about setting up a Board only once they’ve raised their first round of funding. However, the benefits of forming a Board earlier in the lifecycle of a startup, irrespective of raising funds, are undeniable. Among the many potential reasons for a startup’s failure are those which are self-inflicted. Disagreements between the founding team, overconfidence, and lack of expertise — these issues can all be avoided with a strong and supportive Board.
