How do I build my first board?

There's a point in every Founder's journey where they start to look at forming their first Board of Directors. Often the trigger is a round of investment. Either it's required as a function of receiving the capital or is expected in the due diligence.

For a Founder, there are a great many hurdles and decisions to make about this Board because it feels like a loss of control. It also feels like an increase in overhead.

So what's the value?

Expect [at least] three things from your board

The #1 piece of value to a Founder from a good board is that it helps them to make decisions. Rounding out the thinking. Balancing the options. Challenging them to see round corners. Helping them to put their best foot forward at each decision point.

The #2 piece of very material value to a Founder is that the members of the board now all hold an interest in its success and they bring both energy and network to help it. Those warm introductions can really smooth the way through many issues and challenges.

The #3 piece of value that a Founder will draw from their first board will be that of experience. No Founder or Founder team will have a complete experience set. The board brings that to them in a way that they can digest and the influence of that experience can be in every strategy and decision.

How do I select my first board members?

As a Founder team take a look at what you know, have done and are trying to do. Then look in your networks and your market to find people who can join your board and connect you to

• Customers
• Funding
• Things that you are not yet experienced in / good at.

When you've made a list of people that fit these areas take some time to meet them and get to know them. Explore with them what you are trying to achieve and see who the ones are that get it, get you and can help you "skate to where the puck is going to be."

When you are putting the team together then look at which Board Members need to be full time and which can be part time or Non Executive (independent). Each can be remunerated on a different basis, and will have different considerations for their time, the effort and their experience.

How much should we meet?

The frequency of board meetings really connects with the growth curve and the challenges of the company.

A simple starting position is 4 times per year for 2 hours. With prep time and helping you out, each Non Executive Director that joins your team will then be looking at a 6 to 12 day commitment with you in any twelve month period.

If the Founders are expecting hyper growth and short intervals between fund raising it may prove strategically useful to increase that frequency to monthly.

If the startup is always getting stuck or hitting compliance issues then it may prove to need more regular meetings to manage liabilities and concerns.

How do I start?

If starting a new board is on your to do list this year then the best starting position is to chat with another Founder or two from within your community who have had a board in place for a couple of years. They will have learned many lessons about what works for them and how to get the most from the investment in time and money to bring people together to support them.

You can go to external organisations for help too, but if you do make sure that they are helping you to right fit a Board to your size, stage and needs. It can often be easy to over engineer things.

Does it really work?

It took me a few tries to see the value of a Board. I've made a lot of mistakes and asked many things of many contributors that either didn't work or didn't build value. But looking over the various startups I've built and helped I can clearly see the link between their long-term success and the way they ran their boards.

If you'd like to chat about any of this then please get in touch. I'll be happy to share some insights and stories.