board behavior Archives - The Grassy Road

Why you need a CEO on your board when you are the CEO

One of the first decisions an entrepreneur needs to make once she has raised money for her great new idea is to build a board. This is a conscious act. Yes, your investors probably have board seats, at least the lead investor will. If your investors are angels maybe 2 or 3 of them have demanded to be on your board. But beyond this crew you owe it to yourself to step back and think about who do you want on your board to help you build your company. It [...]

By Penny Herscher|2020-01-09T11:24:55-08:00July 20, 2016|Boards, Leadership|0 Comments

Open Letter to CEOs: Manage Your Interaction With Your Board!

Posted in Inc today So you're the new CEO of your own company. You're living the dream! You've thought through the pros and cons of being a CEO and you've got your first round of venture capital funding. This means you also have a board to manage, which can be a minefield for you. So how to navigate the minefield? To begin, you must create a well-organized board meeting. Use my Top 10 tips to run a board meeting as a starting point but once you have the logistics down, [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:24-08:00April 30, 2015|Leadership|0 Comments

Why activist shareholders travel in packs

Have you ever wondered why activist shareholders travel in packs? It's because they are significantly less effective alone—just like any other minority on a board. Activists (often hedge funds) accumulate a position in a stock because they want to make change happen at a company and, by making change happen, they will make money on their investment. It may be that they think the company is being mismanaged and so is undervalued against its potential. It may be that they think it should be broken up and the pieces sold [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-10T13:36:39-08:00June 5, 2012|Boards|0 Comments

How to understand your board’s baffling behavior

Boards don't behave like management teams and their sometimes seemingly baffling behavior can be an irritant to management. But if you can get inside the head and motivation of a board member you can, with a little distortion of the nth dimension, understand their behavior.Whether it's a public company board, a start up board or a non-profit board there are perspectives a board member has that give them a very different view than the senior management team:1. They don't live it every day. Some board members do a better job [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T16:59:35-08:00March 7, 2012|Boards, Leadership|0 Comments