Boards have come up a lot recently; I'm expecting to rejoin the Mission Research board, the School Board is reorganizing in a week or so, I've advised a few startups on board management, and my wife just asked me about boards because of something she's involved in. Here's my take from my limited point of view, having served on maybe 10 boards: Board members are either there by agreement or by election. Agreement can supercede typical rules, meaning an investor might ask for a perpetual board seat regardless of future % of ownership. The only downside to that is that sometime in the future the tail might be wagging the dog, when that member represents a relatively small % of ownership. Board members have both authority and power. Their authority is limited to what happens in the context of board meetings: discuss, make motions, second motions, and vote. Their power is what they are able to get people to do simply because they are board members and people listen to th
Charlie Crystle writes about startups, startup ecosystems, tech, food systems, and random things.