Building a Strong Board - Part II: How to Source, Vet, and Attract Board Members
Adding a new board member to your company is like hiring a key executive. The stakes are high, and the synergy between the CEO and the board member is paramount. Recognizing that a board seat is a significant investment of time, it's crucial to court potential members effectively. To find great board members, follow these steps:
The investors on your board will fall into place when you acquire your company. You’ll get aligned with them throughout your search, and should think proactively about which investors can be most helpful on your board, and how they fit into the overall mosaic. Some investors are great capital allocators, others are experienced operators, and some are both.
Sourcing
Independent board members can come from your network or an investor’s network. They could be people you’ve built relationships with in the past, people sourced within the search community, or an extension of your broader network. In many cases, your investors or other members of your board can make introductions to quality candidates that meet your particular needs.
Vetting
Treat adding a board member like a hiring process (with a bit more courting). You’re effectively hiring someone when you pay them to be part of the board and provide value. Vet them as such. Practical suggestions for how to vet effectively include:
Attracting
Once you’ve found a good candidate, you’ll need to find a way to close them. All hiring is a two-way sales process, but you want to do extra selling for a board spot because many qualified board members don’t have a lot of time and need to be sold on why supporting you through a board seat is a good investment of their time. Nobody can sell the board opportunity better than the CEO. You’re closest to the company and should be the person most excited and most able to articulate why it’s exciting.
Prospective board members should be excited about supporting you as an entrepreneur – the particular business can be important to a degree, but it’s more important to sell potential board members on working with you as an entrepreneur.
Set clear expectations about what you’ll ask for – board memberships entail varying degrees of commitment: how many meetings will there be, how frequently will you expect to speak with them, what committee responsibilities or other obligations will they have? Before you start recruiting, do some introspection about your style and the support you’ll need.
A word on tenure: asking someone to be a board member for the rest of their life is a high bar. 2-3 years allows both the CEO and board member to enter the arrangement knowing that it has an opt-out point. Having predetermined terms or checkpoints is good for both the CEO and the directors.
Lastly: be prepared for your conversations and use time effectively – show preparation in the recruitment process, and then continue to use your board’s time wisely. This is how you keep board members. Like Search Fund CEOs, time is usually the scarcest resource directors have.
Want more?
Previously, Building a Strong Board - Part I: What to Look for in a Board Member. Next time: How to onboard and transition board members when your company needs change.
