The Best Board Members Are Mentors: Four Kinds of Ideal Directors in Build

The right board members. The best board members are mentors first. They can offer sensible, useful advice at critical moments in your product cycle or your life. They give as much as they take, and they enjoy serving on the board because they also learn from it. In addition, consider the following types of people when choosing board members. 1. You want someone who knows everyone, has done this before, and can recommend other excellent people to the board or company. This person can identify who is missing from your board, tell you whom to call, or make the call for you. Nest director Randy Komisar, for example, was the first to suggest bringing in Bill Campbell. Whenever we wanted to recruit or identify an ideal candidate, he was the person we thought of for help. Randy Komisar also acted as an informal chair, holding one-on-one conversations with each director on the CEO's behalf, working out issues in advance, and presenting the group's views. He also interviewed Nest executives and helped draw up the executive roster. In this chair-like role, Randy Komisar was the CEO's closest ally on the board, a mentor and partner. Such people help the CEO resolve issues with other directors or step in when the business gets difficult and the team becomes frightened. Randy Komisar attended employee meetings to communicate the board's views of the company. When team members had concerns, he would respond at the right moment: “The CEO is not going anywhere. He is doing well.” “The board is not worried about recent sales, and you should not be either. We cannot wait to invest again.” “Yes, that person has left, but the company will be fine. This is a staffing plan the board supports.” ---- 2. The right investors. When choosing investors, you are also choosing one or two of them to join your board. You certainly do not want investors who consider only the numbers without understanding the hardships of building something. Find investors with relevant experience in your field and a deep understanding of the difficulties of entrepreneurship. Find someone you would want to have dinner with. If your company is attractive enough, speak with prospective investors in advance to establish which partner they would put on your board. Sometimes a CEO will even reject the highest investment offer to secure a better board member. ---- 3. Operators. These people have been CEOs and know that running a company is a roller coaster. When investor members of the board criticize you for missing expectations, operator members can step in and explain the realities. They can explain why everything did not go according to plan, and help you make new plans using new technologies and tools. ---- 4. Specialists. Sometimes you need someone with deep knowledge of a highly specialized subject, such as patents, B2B sales, or manufacturing. But that person may be too senior or too focused on a current project to become an employee of your company. The only way to get this talent, then, is to have them join the board. When Apple first considered entering retail, Steve Jobs and the other directors did not know how to proceed. They brought in Gap CEO Mickey Drexler. He told them to get an aircraft hangar, build full-scale store prototypes with several different designs, visit them in person like real customers, and only then decide which one to show the public. ----- An excellent board you respect can focus the entire company and push you to organize your ideas, timeline, and story. Boards are extremely important, but they do add work—for everyone. That is why Jeff Bezos told the author never to join anyone else's board. “It is a waste of time,” he said. “I will serve only on the boards of my own company and charities. That is it!” If you are preparing to fill open seats and build the best possible board, remember that it is a two-way street. Most directors are experienced, busy, and in demand. You must offer sufficient incentives for them to consider joining, and I do not mean stock alone. One benefit of serving on the board of a fast-rising startup is an early view of consumer behavior, new trends, or disruptive products. In the early 2000s, for example, all Apple directors previewed the iPhone, allowing them to plan ahead for how their own businesses might connect with it. These opportunities are exciting for prospective directors, and are a major reason people have always wanted to join Apple's board. Another is that they like Apple and sincerely want to help it succeed. They are willing to invest time and effort because Apple matters to them. Remember that public-company and private-company boards are very different. Joining a public company's board entails greater risks and responsibilities, so you need stronger incentives to attract the directors you need. In particular, they must attend countless committee meetings on audit, compensation, or governance. If something goes wrong, they may also face criticism in the media. The directors you need should be excited about your venture and eager to hear about every step of progress. They do more than attend meetings: they work closely with you, support you, and seek opportunities for your success. You need a board that loves your company. In return, your company will love such a board. #創造用非傳統方式做有價值的事 — Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making --- Honestly, average director compensation at Taiwan's TWSE- and TPEx-listed companies really is painfully low. @@"