đź”–Â Contents on this page:
1. Board Agenda & Topics
The board agenda serves as the compass guiding the company's strategic direction (also see our strategy framework section). It sets the tone for productive and purposeful board meetings, enabling startups to make critical decisions, assess progress, and address emerging challenges. Board meetings usually have a recurring agenda which can look like the following:
“I have a standard agenda that I always have. It doesn't hurt or cost anything to be professional from the beginning. You always want to be able to do due diligence and document everything neatly. Professionalism makes sense from the start and is not difficult.” - Joachim Schoss
Agenda Item | Description |
1. Welcome | - Welcome
- Approval of the previous meeting's minutes + recap on the status of the to-dos from last meeting |
2. CEO/Founder update | - Executive summary updating on high- & lowlights of the past quarter |
3. Organizational Update | - Team member updates
- Key future hiring needs |
4. KPI update | - Review company's current financial KPIs
- Burn rate and capital needs - Financial forecasts and budgeting |
5. Product Update | - Update on product development, user feedback or technical challenges |
6. Deep Dive #1 | - Vary throughout the year (see our suggestion below) |
7. Deep Dive #2 | - Vary throughout the year (see our suggestion below) |
8. Housekeeping | - Decisions to make and open Todos |
| Name | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Founder Update | âś… | âś… | âś… | âś… |
Organizational Update | âś… | âś… | âś… | âś… |
Financials/KPIs/OKRs | âś… | âś… | âś… | âś… |
Product Update | âś… | âś… | âś… | âś… |
Focus Topic I | Self-assessment of the board | Detailed comparison of running budget vs. actuals. Derive first learnings for the upcoming budget of next year | (1) Systematic strategy discussion (who are our customers, how to segment them, what are their product expectations, our positioning in the market, long-term (five-year goals); (2) ESG Review | (1) Discussion and approval of budget for the following year; (2) Board evaluation (360° Feedback) |
Focus Topic II | Risk Management > Sanity check: Are we compliant in the most important parts of the business? Is our risk management still appropriate to the company size and regulatory dynamics? | Open and candid discussion on mutual timelines with regards to potential capital divestments through trade sale, secondary or public listing | Aligning Goals/OKRs for the upcoming year | |
Housekeeping | âś… | âś… | âś… | âś… |
2. Board Deck & Minutes
Running a well-structured board meeting can help to get much more out of existing shareholders than just financial backing. Good investors have seen a lot and often can provide counsel to difficult situations and decisions. In the following, we share a template that is supposed to help founders to prepare the material
It is essential to share materials early. We recommend distributing the board materials 3-5 days in advance of the meeting and asking your board members to study the material ahead of time. This will help give everyone enough time for discussions. Ideally you don’t want to spend too much time presenting information but discussing that information to make better decisions.
It's also a good practice to attach a read-only appendix with details in case a board member wants to drill into a particular aspect in more detail, e.g. a detailed KPI drill-down or details about product development.
Time | Task |
T-15 to T-10 | Share the proposed agenda and gather feedback from Board members |
T-5 | Distribute all meeting materials, allowing last-minute changes if the final version is sent. |
T-3 | Address open questions through email or a brief pre-meeting discussion. |
T-0 | Board Meeting (close with agreed deliverables & todos). |
T+1 | Share the final version of the Board presentation if there were last-minute changes. |
T+5 | Distribute the meeting notes, remind members of their tasks, and follow up on any remaining questions. |
đź“ŤLocation
Generally, board meetings should be held at a location where confidential discussions are possible. It's fairly typical to hold board meetings (post-COVID) at the location of the company, but make sure you have a meeting room where confidentiality is guaranteed, e.g. no thin walls, no glass walls where people can see projected slides, etc. While most board matters are not sensitive, you can restrict free discussion if people feel they can easily be overheard.
⌚Timing
Time board meetings in such a way that results, e.g. quarterly sales results, can be discussed in a timely manner. For example, it doesn't make sense to schedule a meeting just before the end of the quarter because it won't be possible to discuss how the quarter will end up going.
📱Prep Calls
Some CEOs like to have short preparatory calls with each board member in advance of the meeting. This is often a good way to address individual concerns, change priorities on the agenda or drill into topics that might not receive enough time on the meeting schedule.
Thoughts? Feedback? Something missing? Please let us know: johanna.junkermann@b2venture.vc