This will be a positive forcing function for your board members to come prepared. Send the material to the BOD at least 48 hours in advance of your meeting, and require them to send any questions in by 10pm the night before. The data pack should contain relevant information and tactical updates (from detailed financials to market research and market share reporting) that could otherwise eat up your entire board meeting. Start by separating a “data pack” deck from your board deck, and send both as a pre-read for the BOD. The efficacy of BOD meetings are directly connected to the quality of the material and preparation of board members. Preparation: “Data Pack” Pre-Read & BOD Questions This will give you time to report on quarterly numbers, and give the BOD a consistent anchor point for data and performance. As companies mature they typically move to quarterly- I recommend the third Tuesday after closing the quarter (4x a year). Earlier stage startups need board meetings every six to eight weeks. Start by setting aside at least three hours instead, enabling you to dig in strategically and preserve time for the mundane but necessary housekeeping at the end (e.g. We have all been at the two hour BOD meeting that runs way over time. And given the brainpower in the room, any board’s goal should be constructive engagement around strategic matters, not getting into the minutia of project by project updates.īelow are a few of the basics to keep in mind that, in and of themselves, should shift the balance of your board meetings for the better. The Basicsīetween my time as a startup CEO to becoming a venture investor / board member, I’ve seen the transformative power of running and being a part of delightful board meetings. Recent events pushing leadership teams to all-remote sessions makes it all the more important to pick the right strategy and structure for board effectiveness. What if you could flip all that into a truly delightful collaboration between founders and investors that help the business stay true to its purpose and (hopefully) achieve great success? And let’s not forget cranky, unprepared investors asking minutia questions about slide #4 that will be fully answered on slide #7. Frantic product teams racing to cobble together an innovation demo for the just-conjured roadmap. The folklore of bad board meetings at venture-backed startups is too strong to ignore.ĭesultory meetings run by sleep-deprived CEOs pulling all-nighters to get the board slides done. Operations Delightful Board Meetings A recipe for effective and enjoyable startup board meetings James Joaquin |
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