Board Seat
topic on 5 shows · 15 statements across 15 episodes
We Live to Build 
the a16z Podcast 
All-In 
20VC 
Capital Allocators
15 statements about Board Seat, every show
Loeb: Third Point avoids taking board seats to maintain liquidity
“That was one, I think we learned not to go on boards anymore because it restricts your ability to be liquid”
Sullivan: 14% of the population holds over 90% of corporate equity
“It's only 14% of the population. They have 90 plus percent of all of the equity and all of the board seats.”
Frankel: Taking a VC board seat with under 15% ownership is problematic
“If you kick off and you own on a board, like, less than 15% of that company, I think it's problematic.”
Lehmann: Founders Fund believes board seats offer all downside, no upside
“So at Founders Fund, they obviously believe in this very deeply. We just saw this obviously with Keys leaving there and being somewhere else, they, the belief is that there is very little you can do to actually move the needle, other than writing the check. An…”
Stephens: Founders Fund Avoids Board Seats and Operates Purely Reactively
“We don't generally want to take board seats. We are incredibly hands-off and operationally helpful when asked, but only reactively.”
Ed Sim: Pre-seed startups raising $500K-$1M don't need a board
“If you're raising 500 K to a million, that's what I think of pre-seed, then yeah, you probably don't need a board. Yeah. Yeah. You don't need a fucking board.”
Aumni data: Lead investors secure board seats in 85% of growth rounds
“It's about 85% of lead investors in those rounds. Do you get a board seat when they lead an investment? However, if you look across the last few years, the trend has been down.”
Geoff Lewis: VC board seats do not add significantly more value
“And then in practice, I don't actually think there's that much that a board can do to help a company. I don't think that being on the board enables you to add an order of magnitude more value than being a involved investor who's not on the board.”
Lazerow: Velvet Sea Ventures Does Not Require Board Seats
“We don't say we need a board seat. We don't say that we don't need it. And so if an entrepreneur invites us on the board and we think we can contribute, we'll be on the board.”
Permanent board seats are the death of every great venture investor
“First of all, know that boards are the death of every great investor. So Be wary. If you sell to founders that when they take your money, you will join their board and be on their board forever. Know that you have just ended your career eventually.”
Gurley: Benchmark will not invest in a startup without a board seat
“We won't invest without a board seat. It's a tenant that we have that a lot of other firms don't.”
Dalgaard: Prospective board members must do blind background checks
“It's very, particularly if it's your first board, it's very easy to fall in love. This must be it. Now I'm getting that, and it's, your ego drives your decision-making, even if you won't admit it. Now I'm on my first board. This is exciting. Maybe not so fast.…”
Cassidy: Startups Should Use One-Year Terms for Independent Board Directors
“In private companies, board seats are relatively low risk, high opportunity. If you are not so sure about someone, you set a board term. Like, in a startup, for somebody to give you a year of their time, by the way, that's plenty. You don't need to put somebod…”
NVCA research finds venture capitalists max out capacity at six board seats
“We've done a study now, we did it back Right after the bubble, and we've revisited it once or twice with Dow Jones, looking to see what this, what a typical workload, a board level workload is of a venture capitalist, and the number comes back six, and it was …”