Also in Operations
Ideally your board is one of your company’s main allies – its primary responsibility is to ensure your company’s success. Though every board is different, some best practices and guidelines are common across industries and sizes.
The guidelines below are a collection of best practices we found in our portfolio. Always discuss with your Board Members the preferred format of the meeting.
Board Meeting Structure
- Big Picture
- CEO Update
- Highlights since last meeting
- Lowlights / challenges since last meeting
- Completing and pending action points from last Board Meeting
- Company quarterly updates
- KPI performance
- Financials & funding needs
- Sales pipeline
- Organisation updates (partnerships, R&D, HR, etc.)
- Next quarter strategy – the big opportunity
- Upcoming relevant issues
- Next targets and how to reach them
- New action points for next Board Meeting
- Working session
- Deep dive or two in a particular function area, business challenge, etc.
- Close
Board Meeting Tips
- Share the material with the Board Members at least five days prior to the meeting.
- Start on time and go through the agenda efficiently. Invite key employees to present their areas or plans.
- Highlight the recent past but focus on the future. The goal is to outline the strategy for the coming months to reach the company’s vision.
- It’s critical to review people (churn, key players, succession plans, compensation vs market, CEO performance) at least once a year, risks and mitigation actions at least twice a year, and full strategy at least once per year.
- Have someone taking notes and preparing minutes for the board.
- At the end of the meeting outline the conclusions, key takeaways, and action points for the next Board Meeting and make sure they are shared by the Board Members.
- Don’t be a stranger. The Board Meeting is not the only time to talk with us. We are here to help the entrepreneur throughout the month, not only an afternoon meeting.
Useful Readings
Building Your Board
- Startup Boards Reading List, Kauffman Fellows
- Who Should Be On Your Board, by Mark Suster.
- 5 Huge Mistakes Startups Make When Choosing Board Members, by VentureBeat.
- 8 Steps to Building a Strong Board of Directors, by Nokia Growth Partners.
Engaging Your Board
- Mark Suster put together an excellent blog series on how best to engage start-up boards.
- The Secret to Making Board Meetings Suck Less, by First Round Capital.
- Preparing a Board Deck, by Sequoia.
- 6 Ways Great Companies Use Board Decks to Their Advantages, by Union Square Ventures.