Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

One of the things that founders have the most angst about is whom they should have on their board and at what stage of the business. This is smart because amazing board members can be transformative with important advice and access and can also help attract other great board members (and team members).

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Revolution

MARCH 1, 2023

As we have discussed with management teams and boards over the years, it is easy to find a company that failed because it ran out of cash. Advice to Rising VCs and Founders Navigating The Correction was originally published in Revolution on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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The Seraf Compass

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

There are reams of advice pieces out there warning startup CEOs that they must pick the perfect board. For early stage startups this advice is theoretically sound but practically useless. Advisors should coach that there are four basic aspects to hacking the board.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

When you set up a board it is often initially a combination of the founders and the early investors. This post sets out how I believe founders (and investors) should think about independent board members having worked with many of them for the past 20 years. The board is where large equity investors get their representation.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

There is a second set of career discussions I have even more frequently than my “angel yourself” advice but this type is almost never discussed publicly in blogs, which tend to emphasize only billion-dollar opportunities, 20-something technical founders and Silicon Valley elitism. Being a CEO begets the network to be a CEO.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He wrote a post this long weekend on how he manages the board of DataSift. In his post he asserts, “You get the VCs you deserve” and the corollary “You get the performance out of your board that you deserve.” By spending more time educating your board on your business you get more valuable advice from them.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 3, 2015

It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I went as far as to call it the best Tweet of 2015 so far because it encapsulated my advice so succinctly. I watch founders who want to get “air cover” for hard decisions by getting too much input from their teams or boards.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

I'm often the last one to leave an event, held back by the most persistant of entrepreneurs trying to squeeze as much advice as they can out of me. Often times, the advice is terrible or impractical. They don't look cautiously at the advice given to them by their favorite VC blogger. Why should that stop me, though?

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Ryan Caldbeck, co-founder and former CEO of consumer-brands-focused crowdfunding site CircleUp , recently published an email he’d written to a former director on the board of the company. The saga begged questions about what happens behind the scenes at startups and about board composition specifically. ”

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 31, 2022

Two weeks ago, longtime venture capitalist Chris Olsen, a general partner and cofounder of Drive Capital in Columbus, Ohio, settled into his seat for a portfolio company’s board meeting. ” He also says that it isn’t the first time a board meeting hasn’t happened as planned lately. They stopped having them.”

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Berkonomics

MARCH 29, 2018

Ever get bad advice? Ever take that advice without question because the person giving it was an investor, a superior in rank, the chairperson of your board? I’ll bet you have at least one story of bad advice taken and being bitten as a result. We all have in our past. But I digress.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 6, 2021

His initial advice? ” In a related article, Gregg Adkin, VP and managing director at Dell Technologies Capital, shared the framework he’s developed for helping founders set up their board. .” The composition of the board can also impact your fundraising. Do bronze medals ever make sense for unicorns?

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David Teten VC

JUNE 9, 2021

You can work as a consultant, an interim executive, a board member, a deal executive partnering to buy a company, an executive in residence, or as an entrepreneur in residence. . As a next step, we recommend that you register at the major expert network websites, as well as LinkedIn and job boards, if you haven’t already.

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StartupNation

MAY 5, 2021

These 11 entrepreneurs share the number one piece of advice their closest mentor ever gave them: Time is the most valuable thing you have. They only asked for a quarterly board meeting ?— ?two I vividly remember his best advice: He asked about my goals, and I replied, “To earn $250,000 in commissions.” two in person.

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The Seraf Compass

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Many years ago I joined the board of a company after my angel group became the lead investor in the company’s seed financing round. As part of my compensation for being a board member, the company issued me restricted stock.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 2, 2022

shared her advice for entrepreneurs who are focused on climate and sustainability: “If your business activities have produced desired results and repeatable cycles — like developing a new product and distributing it through local markets — then you are ready to multiply.” Build a solid deck for your quarterly board meetings.

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Dream It

MAY 4, 2021

Board meetings can be very powerful events where founders get valuable feedback, ideas, and strategic direction. Oftentimes, founders dread board meetings and look at them as low ROI events. Their primary role is to confirm the board meeting agenda. Tip #3: Focus on key issues How do you know what a “key issue” is?

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

As a revenue leader at large and small technology companies, I’ve spent the last 15 years attending a lot of quarterly board meetings. This is all necessary because the board meeting is such a high-stakes event. As a wise mentor once told me, no one ever gets a promotion from a board meeting, but people sure do get fired afterward.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 12, 2010

I recently wrote an article on how to respond to board members between meetings. It seems to me this is the main problem with boards. So when I read my post it sounded to me more like a new philosophy for “The Agile Board,&# so I put that as my subtitle. This post is really about getting information to the board faster.

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Y Combinator

AUGUST 11, 2020

With the launch of YC’s list of startups hiring for fall 2020 interns , I’ve been getting a lot of requests for advice from students about their upcoming fall plans. This might include foregoing any pre-paid tuition or room and board at your university; it might also incur re-enrollment fees. Talk to your parents.

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Y Combinator

JULY 15, 2019

One of the most common questions we hear from founders is “How do I manage my board?” It’s something that provokes anxiety, because this is the first time the founder/CEO is subject to external supervision, and the board has powers that include the firing of the CEO and the senior management. But first, what’s the purpose of a board?

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TechCrunch

JULY 14, 2021

Anyone , an audio app that’s building a ‘marketplace for advice’ one five-minute phone call at a time, is launching new versions of its iOS and Android apps today* and beginning to large-scale onboarding after operating in a limited closed beta for the past six months. It’s one-to-one only.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 8, 2018

Give one percent equity to each outside board member vesting over four years of service. Many early stage CEOs and board members have asked for some guidance regarding pay and time commitments for board members. Here is my best advice, based upon many boards and many years.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2012

I recently read Brad Feld’s thought provoking piece encouraging founders to sit on the board of another startup company. You’ll be on the other side of the financing discussions (a board member, rather than the CEO). . But I also agree with his warning, “I usually recommend only one outside board.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Many startup companies hire advisory boards. So do advisory boards really add value? In my experience most advisory boards under deliver relative to expectations. My main advice to you if you’re considering it is don’t waste much equity on it.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

As female entrepreneurs, we are independent-minded and innovative, and this advice is critical for securing our future and the future of our families. She provided me with so much advice on business strategy, business channels and HR. My first female mentor was the incredible Janine Allis , founder of Boost Juice.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 23, 2012

For the most part my advice is simple, “don’t bother.” ” But as ever I’ve had to have this debate in numerous company pitches and board meetings. So you can imagine I see my fair share of celebrities looking to get into the technology industry. So I guess it requires some explanation.

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Smart Hustle Magazine

DECEMBER 30, 2020

You can still take advantage of all the small business advice that was shared throughout the event. You can still listen to the whole thing, but we wanted to share some of our favorite moments and pieces of small business advice. Awesome small business advice! Great small business advice from Jason! Thanks, Steve!

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Over the years, I’ve grown my network to about 700 people – my “mentor board of advisors” or MBA. He gave me invaluable advice over lunch, and his expertise was a reminder to seek out expert advice – every time. I believe with the right approach, anyone can get advice from the best in business. Guess what?

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Berkonomics

MAY 16, 2024

First, keep your manager or board informed regularly. It is good for the company when you share concerns, threats and opportunities with your superiors or your board. Involving the board or investors And sometimes you or your CEO want to obtain concurrence from investors or the board for issues of urgency or importance.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2012

It has always surprised me that founders were so quick to fight over how many board members there were and so quick to agree to have as many board observers as people wanted. I have always been vehemently against board observers and wrote some of the reasons in this previous post. The Case for a Silent Observer.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 26, 2021

.’s Q3 results last week sent its stock tumbling, but it wasn’t alone: Apple’s iOS 15 privacy implementation disrupted ad tracking and measurement for social media and advertising platforms across the board. Braze set to put points on the board for New York’s startup scene in impending IPO.

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NZ Entrepreneur

APRIL 28, 2019

Here’s how to build a startup advisory board. And while it often seems more involved and complex than it is in reality, setting up an advisory board is something you should look to put in place in the early stages of your entrepreneurial venture. Selecting an advisory board is the tricky part.

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Lak Ananth is founding CEO and managing partner of the global venture capital firm Next47 and serves on the board of several companies that he has helped to grow beyond $1 billion valuations. Why waste your time with people who want to take board seats and more? Lak Ananth. Contributor. Share on Twitter.

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Gust

DECEMBER 3, 2011

And I don’t mean because they lend a credible name to an investor pitch: way too many entrepreneurs look at names on Advisory Board as just a way to expedite a raise. If that’s all you really expect of the Board, you’re cheating yourself as well as the investors before whom you dangled the names. Please do establish an Advisory Board.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Given the request for input and feedback, you might expect a presenter to receive various advice from the other Forum members. However, most Forum organizations train members to specifically avoid giving advice. Under an advice framework, my Forum-mates take turns telling me what I should do in my specific situation.

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