1. Even though it’s the Chairman of the Board who is nominally in charge of the Board meeting, in real life
the meeting is run by the entrepreneur. Have an agenda and stick to it – being organised will help you
extract the most value from the meeting, and the Directors will be happy that you are making the best use
of their valuable time.
Board meetings are an opportunity, not a chore. They give you a rare chance to get out of managing the
daily nitty-gritty of your startup, so you can look at the big picture and re-ignite your passion for attaining
your dreams. Your board meetings should be the focal point where you articulate your conclusions about
the state of your business, having evaluated your progress and synthesized what is going on. Your board
can then weigh in with perspective and advice. This process is instrumental to making the course
corrections that can prevent outright crisis.
Startups are notoriously unpredictable. The board understands this and can help you navigate the choppy
waters if you give them good information.
Life does not come to a standstill in between board meetings, and you should share information regularly
and proactively. Founders who give directors updates between board meetings generally find that the
bonds of trust are strengthened. When information is withheld, mistrust often grows , and board members
feel they do not have the tools they need to perform their job. Board members also need sufficient time to
review and evaluate information. CEOs who effectively deny information to the board will be viewed as
usurping the power of the board.
The first rule of an effective Board/CEO relationship is no surprises . When a critical issue
emerges, don’t wait for the next meeting . Please engage the Board immediately, usually through the
most senior available member.
Here’s what you need to do to ensure you have productive meetings – not just during the meeting, but
before and afterwards as well. If you do a good job, your directors will be happy to attend and will make
the time to help you succeed.
Before the Meeting
Schedule meetings well in advance. The best time to schedule the next meeting is at the end of the
current meeting, so everyone can put this on their calendar. Otherwise it takes many hours of back and
forth emails to find a date and time when everyone can assemble for the meeting ! The ideal length and
frequency of board meetings is two to three hours once per month. You need to have your act together to
make this work well.
Send the deck in advance. Send the background materials do your members can prepare for the
meeting ( if they want to – not everyone will bother). Keep this short and simple, and use the same format
every time. If you do a good job, your Board should know exactly what you are doing and why. I hate it

2. when I don’t even have a clue as to how much cash the founder has in the bank. Financial reports aren’t
sufficient, and key metrics (such as the number of customers, number of installations, or number of
downloads of your app) are equally important. You need to decide ( along with your Board) what your key
numbers are – and these will change over time, as your company grows. Track these diligently, so your
board knows you have your act together ! Ajit Narayanan, CEO of Avaz, a company on which I am on the
Board, does a great job with doing this, so directors feel they are part of the company.
It’s also a good idea to ask for your board's input a week prior to the meeting. When you send the email
with your proposed agenda, ask for their feedback. Are their any concerns they have ? You will rarely get
any replies , but you are being open and this is critical to a healthy dialogue.
One on ones. The worst time and place to announce bad news is at a board meeting, unless you like
being crucified in public. When you have bad news, meet or speak privately with each member in
advance and explain the circumstances. Ask for ideas about ways to fix the problem. Make sure you are
armed with two well thought-out recommendations for resolving the issue at hand. Become a part of the
solution...not a perceived element of the problem. No one likes surprises, and you need to prepare board
members well in advance of key decisions. If you know that you are going to discuss a major issue at an
upcoming meeting, then talk to each member individually about it before the meeting. No member likes
being sidelined, and you should not let anyone feel they are being left out of the loop. The quietest
member may give you feedback that will change your perspective about your decision, if you take the
trouble to reach out, one on one. This also helps to reduce misunderstandings, and help you garner
support for your proposed solution, as you can get buy in prior to the meeting.
Running the meeting
During board meetings, be in control. Have an agenda and use the time efficiently. Use a standard format
for each meeting. First review the issues the board discussed at the previous meeting , and update the
board on progress. You can start with a slide which highlights your accomplishments, to get everyone in
the right mood; and then talk about "What I Worry About" . This can be a single slide that summarizes
your anxieties. This does two things. First, it shows that you are focused on what can go wrong, since
what goes right tends to take care of itself. Second, it focuses the board members attention on how they
can help you. Don’t hide bad news or keep it towards the end. Don’t evade issues – and if you find you
are running into problems ( and trust me, you will !), it’s far better to discuss this openly rather than try to
hide them and hope they will go away – they won’t !
Board meetings should be used for discussing strategic issues—not for just conveying the factual
information contained in the reports which you have already emailed. However, don’t assume that your
directors will read them—you still need to review them in the meeting. Don’t waste time in the meeting
communicating the facts— rather spend time on figuring out how to improve them in the future.
Motivate board members.

3. Typically, board members are directors on several companies and may also run their own businesses.
You are competing with others for their valuable time. The Board meeting can be a great time to get a key
board member excited about interesting projects for which you need support. This is especially important
when you need to raise your next round of funding, because you will want your existing investors to invest
in this round as well !
Show case your team.
During the board meeting, give your co-founders and senior team members a chance to speak as well.
They will value the exposure to the board, and it's important for the board to see your team in action. It
helps them evaluate the quality of their thinking, as well as the quality of your hiring. However, don't crowd
the boardroom for too long.
Managing tensions and resolving conflicts
Sometimes the chemistry between one member of the Board and the founder is poor. This creates a lot of
friction, and can often be the elephant in the room which everyone ignores. Please address the issue
proactively and don’t try to bury it. This just allows it to fester, and increases the scope for
misunderstandings.
Allow time for questions at the end
Schedule a few minutes for open discussion and make it a point to ask each member for their thoughts .
Often the quiet ones ( who may be the most thoughtful and therefore able to add the most insight) get
overshadowed by belligerent directors, who like to hog the limelight.
Leave the room
Give the board a few minutes at the end to discuss anything they want to in private - without you. Leave
them on their own – this way you force them to provide feedback.
After the meeting
Review what went right with your team, and what went wrong, so you can learn from each meeting. This
will help to improve the quality of your next meeting !
Don’t forget to send an email within 24 hours of the meeting, which provides an informal minutes of the
meeting. This way, you are encouraging your members to provide their inputs when the issues are still
fresh in their minds.

4. None of this is rocket science, but it’s so sad to see how badly some founders run board meetings. This
can be a colossal waste of time, money and energy, so make sure you learn to go a good job !