Building the Perfect Early-Stage Board Deck

The blueprint for running shorter and more effective board meetings

Over the course of many years, I have had the privilege of being a board observer for several high growth tech companies.

As I've watched early stage companies scale, particularly in the current tech environment, I've identified a concerning trend: founders are spending an excessive amount of time creating board decks, taking away valuable time from building their companies. This is even happening with seed stage companies.

The inspiration for this post came from a conversation I had with the Head of Product of a Series A company that had received backing from well-known venture capitalists. During our discussion, she informed me that the entire company had to take time away from their regular operations to construct a board deck that took over a week to complete. This deck even required engineering resources to produce demos that were unrelated to the company's imminent plans. As a result, the team lost two weeks of productivity towards the launch of a new product. All of this was done in an effort to impress the board.

I have noticed this pattern trickling down to seed stage companies as well - investor updates that are excessively detailed and contain slides that resemble those of a Series C company rather than a seed stage one.

One can deduce the underlying cause of this phenomenon. When trust is absent, processes are created. In the current economic downturn, investors need assurance that companies are taking some action to survive.

I am confident that it is possible to achieve the same level of transparency without expending more resources on processes that detract from building. Below are some perhaps non-intuitive learnings for running a good board meeting at Series A & B stage, in any environment:

1. A shorter deck often indicates a better-run company. In my experience, the most effective board decks are under 20 slides. As Steve Jobs once said, 'Simple can be harder than complex. It takes effort to distill your thoughts and make them simple.'
2. Create templated slides. It removes variability for the board (again, in the name of simplicity), and requires less work for your team every quarter.
3. Unless you are in a war-time situation, most of the board meeting should be focused on strategic moves for the company. The meeting happens before the meeting. Depending on your style, schedule short calls with board members to update them on important topics non-strategy related, or send out a summary note 48 hours prior.
4. Provide one non C-level employee with the opportunity to present. It gives your employees experience and visibility into what happens behind closed doors, and often brings up new and interesting topics for discussion.
5. Stop letting more cooks into the kitchen. Keep the number of board & board observers in the room low. I suggest 5 max.
6. Strive for a balance in your board between those with 'capital' expertise and those with 'operating' backgrounds. If you only have traditional investors, discussions may lean towards growth and fundraising. Conversely, with only operationally-focused investors, the focus might be on product and team development
7. Lastly, if you are running a seed stage company (i.e. pre PMF), do not have board meetings until you are close to raising a Series A. Rather, you can do monthly calls or bi-weekly calls with your most valuable advisors. A few months prior to raising a Series A, ask your lead investors to run a mock board meeting with you. Focus on points 1 and 2 above.

Example Template [see full infographic below]

I often suggest the following template to founders seeking guidance on board meetings. While it's a starting point, it's not one-size-fits-all. Customize your board deck to fit your style, preferences, and your company's current stage.

Sample Agenda [2 hour board meeting]

• 4 - 4:45 pm: Quarter Review
• 4:45 - 5:15 pm: Strategic Discussion
• 5:15 - 5:45 pm: Closed Session

Quarter Review Slides

• Slide #1: Set the stage. Green, Yellow, Red.
• Slide #2: KPI Dashboard.
• Slide #3 - 8: Operating Review
• Slide #8 - 12: Financial Review [will be a few slides longer if you are forecasting for next year]

Strategic Discussion Slides

• Slide #12 - 16: Strategic Discussion
• Slide #16 - End: Closed Session

Importantly, if you're the CEO, prioritize safeguarding your employees' time. Minimize their involvement in board updates. Ideally, use a KPI dashboard that can be easily refreshed each quarter. If your team is dedicating too much time to board presentations instead of actual building, consider streamlining the process using the tools above.