Brenner: Startups should establish a formal board after raising $10M–$20M
Johan Brenner · Christian Hecker & Johan Brenner: The Biggest Fundraising Lessons Having Raised $1.3BN | E1116 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Feb 16, 2024 · at 43:23
Johan Brenner is a General Partner at Creandum. He outlines when growing startups should transition from informal meetings to a formal board of directors.
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“In Trade Republic's situation, you needed a board from day one because we regulated the company and make sure that we adhere to those regulations. But I think when you've raised that, when you've raised 10 to fifteen million or twenty million or passed your A round, I think you should have a formal board because it needs some governance around the company and Making sure that you have the right decision making qualities.”
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“This was actually a deed breaker for us in the end, because we really wanted to see Christian and the team own enough to be able to have, you know, sufficient as a founder to stay with the company long-term.”
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“I think if we look back at all our investments and the ones that have been fantastic it's, they've all been expensive.”
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“Well, it was five, six years ago. It was cheap in today's world. I'll tell you that. But on the other hand I felt expensive at that time, given a thousand customers in an A round of ten million.”
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