Board of Directors
Directors and the Rock Star CEO
This video features Bob Finocchio, veteran corporate director, discussing the Board's relationship with a CEO, the natural tensions, given the Board's oversight duty, and the need to challenge even the...
Are Ex CEOs the Best Investors?
Some entrepreneurs appreciate knowing their VC has walked miles in their shoes as CEOs, prior to becoming an investor. Others say the experience can be a negative, creating control issues or a lack of objectivity. ...
Board Meeting Improvement Tips
During board meetings, keep your head up when leading discussions, rather than down, allowing you to observe directors' reactions, drawing members out or moving the conversation along, as appropriate, advises this...
How to Make Your Board Happy
A veteran investor offers 10 tips for CEOs interested in creating productive board relationships, including how and how often to communicate, definitions of executive and governance roles, and expectations-setting...
Is There a Beast in Your Boardroom?
This terrific FT article describes one director's strategy for successful board composition. Can you see value in having one board member unconcerned about his or her popularity, unafraid to ask the difficult...
Doofuses on YOUR Board?
Recent embarrassments at Yahoo and HP have once again shined the spotlight on governance best practices. Do your board member evaluate one another and themselves annually?
Before You Join a Board...
Ask the key questions posed here. If you are considering adding a board member, make certain you can answer them when you are asked!
McKinsey on Board Effectiveness
A recent McKinsey survey found only 1/4 of directors rate their board's performance as very good or better. Members feel ill-equipped and strapped for the time necessary to perform their duties. This report s...
Quotas for Women on Top
European nations are increasingly legislating minimum percentages of female directors. Quotas are one way to increase the number of women in boardrooms. Are women well-represented on YOUR executive team or board? ...
The Board Made Me Do It
Did the CEO make the decision or cave in to board pressure? Brad Feld frames this all-too-common query and affirms the need for clear decision-making AND communication on the part of chief executives. Use your...
Your Board: Rocket Fuel or Rocks?
This post suggests methods for adding value as a director--and ways to avoid dragging down the board's productivity. Do YOUR board members generally adhere to these guidelines?
Why Board Meetings Suck
Serial entrepreneur and b-school prof Steve Blank analyzes the typical board meeting--and finds major structural shortcomings with the way most start-ups approach the process. Sound familiar?
Reinventing Start-Up Board Oversight
Steve Blank offers suggestions for ways to augment or adapt your board interactions. Would any of these approaches improve the flow of information or extract greater value from your directors?
When Cronyism Works
New research suggests long-serving CEOs often report to boards whose members they know well, which can lead to improved innovation and investor performance due to the trust they've...
Outside Board Seats Pay
New research finds CEOs who sit on outside boards deliver better returns than those who don't. Conventional widsom out the window yet again!
Board vs. Bored Meeting Tips
Start-ups can do more with less than big organizations. But board meetings can bog down quickly without a formula to keep the process efficient and directed. Are these tips ones your company follows?
Building an Ethical Culture
This podcast explores methods for creating an ethical corporate culture. Mike Hackworth, Chairman of Cirrus Logic, explores the challenges facing boards and executives and outlines opportunities to shift the...
Redesigning the Board
A collective of CEOs met recently in Davos to discuss risk management and what they can do to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic events. One specific set of recommendations relates to how boards can reform to ...
Are You an Entrenched CEO?
2% of Fortune 500 CEOs are fired annually. Is this a lot or too few? New Wharton research quantifies the considerations facing boards that contemplate whether to retain or replace a flawed leader, including s...
The F@#* Me Once Rule
Brad Feld describes the concept of implied trust in this post about entrepreneurs and their relationship to and with investors. Does this square with your experience in the venture community?
