What nobody is telling you about finding board members (but they should)

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by a searcher from University of Bucharest
in St Julian's, Malta

3yrs ago

What nobody is telling you about finding board members (but they should)

In most of the cases you will probably be bad at it when you begin, And that is completely fine - ESPECIALLY if you did not have experience with doing this before.

You will start by not knowing what you are doing and you will add/invite people who you think are good - AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT IN TIME.

If you are looking and interviewing, get in the habit of doing these 2 things:

1. Pipeline
2. Review your pipeline every month

You will be surprised to see how people you THOUGHT were good one month ago seem like a "warmup" compared to who you will be meeting later. It is a natural process. And if you see it and feel it you are on the right path.

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reply by a searcher 3yrs ago
from Hofstra University in Melville, NY, USA

Having a good idea of what you are looking from board members when you start is step 1. Some other points.

They should compliment your personal experience and make up for weaknesses you may have. Some companies my be in a position where they need to raise money and should bring in experiences members to help with that as an example. Some may be investors themselves.

Look for board members with diverse experiences, skill sets and contacts.

Board members should typically be given for 1-3 year terms unless they are also an investing partner. with board seats as part of the agreement.

A growing business should rotate board members over time as their needs change.

reply by a searcher 3yrs ago
from University of Bucharest in St Julian's, Malta

1. Give yourself a few weeks/a month before you start committing. This also depends on the speed you put in your process. If you approach 3 people per week, this is slow. If you approach 3 people per hour that's a different story.

2. I personally needed to go through about 400 profiles until I managed to "get the hang of it".