Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you all have had a great holiday season.  Quick post just following up to my most recent post on independent board members.

a16z has a podcast series, and one of my CVF partners just sent me this podcast from them on independent board members.  Great quick 23 minutes.  Have a listen.

Tidbits of value from the a16z podcast:

1.  Independent member are able to diffuse hidden agendas among investors.
2.  Independent members are able to provide feedback to CEO by a trusted non-investor.
3.  Makes the overall board dynamics way better as the relationship between the VCs and CEOs is just different than the relationship between the independent board members and the CEO.
4.  The reality is that the VCs have to give up board control too once the independents arrive!
5.  Entrepreneurs don’t like working for others and CEOs always have to work for the investors.   The independents make the board function better.
6.  Being a board member is MUCH different than being a board observer or advisor.  Independents can start as observers/advisors but entrepreneurs need independent board members with board power.

Enjoy!

Most startups as they mature get better and better people on their boards of directors.  In this context, “better and better” means people that can really help the company grow from a strategic and operational perspective.  Impartial, independent, outside directors.  They are independent from the founders, independent from the management team and independent from investors.   You can search “independent director” on Wikipedia if you like.  The definition is not a topic of controversy.  The terms “independent” and “outside” are used interchangeably.  And there is a ton of literature (from blog posts to books) about the value that good independent directors can and should bring to a startup.  Here is my take (and trust me, probably nothing I write here is new):

1. Balance:  independent directors bring balance to a startup board.  Often there is inherent tension between professional investors (VCs) and founders.  This is unavoidable and happens all the time.  I am NOT talking about constant tension.  That would be a big problem.  I am talking about tension over particular issues (like salary adjustments, stock option grants, strategic direction, etc.).  Independent directors will bring balance to whatever the topic is that is causing the tension.  Good for the founders and good for the investors.  A good outside director will be happy to be in the middle and bring balance.
2. Connections and Exits:  often independent directors have networks that can be incredibly helpful connecting the startup to others in the industry/sector.  Think of top level customer relationships.  Think of top level exit discussions.  These are just examples.  Independent directors are usually compensated (often with equity) so they are motivated to directly help.  I suggest looking for people that recently retired from key “company” relationships.  Make a list, track them down and recruit.
3. Mentorship:  Independent directors ideally should be great mentors to the founders, and probably to a lesser extent, the startup’s investors.  What better person to bounce an idea off of than an independent director who does NOT hold any purse strings.
4. Credibility:  Getting a decently well-known (in the sector) independent director can bring lots of credibility to the startup and its team.  This is common sense.  The benefits of the credibility boost are enormous.  Doors open, conversations are easier, business happens.

So, with just these 4 points above (and there are lots more – again, just google “independent director”) you might think that every startup would have at least one independent director! Well:

1. Not that easy to find:  Good team members, be they management or directors, are not that easy to find.  In my experience it can easily take 6 months or more to find the right person.  BTW, investors often recommend people to be independent directors.  That is fine, but can upset the “balance” function that I explained above. I recommend that the founders source the independent.  Sure, the person will ultimately typically need to be mutually agreeable to the lead investor and founders but having the founders source the person strikes the right balance in my opinion.
2. Founders are hesitant to find due to control issues:  this is unfortunate, but it happens often.  Yes, every time the board grows by one person there is inevitable decrease in “founder control” due to voting.  Each director gets one vote so the math is simple :)).  The key though is that “control” mentality signals insecurity.  Insecurity signals a lower chance of having positive high level strategic team building (so team building with the top executives and top board members).  Lack of top level strategic team building typically leads to sub-optimal exits.  The funny thing is that investors think very highly of founders who build great teams both in management and at the director level.  Control mentality gets in the way at both levels as “the best” hires might not be sought out.  Anyway, this is a very sensitive topic obviously.  But think about the best companies you know and then look at the management teams and boards.  The evidence is pretty compelling.

Have a great holiday season!

I have posted a few times on management carve out plans (back in February 2011 and November 2011; wow, time flies!!).

Our portfolio companies routinely adopt carve out plans when the founders/employees equity values are not likely to provide enough incentive to get a company to an exit.  This typically results when the company has raised a lot of money and the preferred stock liquidation preference would absorb an out sized portion of the exit proceeds.  It can also result from straight forward dilution.   Regardless, I am a big fan of carve out plans.  There is just no way to get a good exit without a motivated management team and employee base.

Some great carve out plan materials were recently shared with me so I thought best to “memorialize” them in a blog post.  Law firms often make startup “legal issues” materials available to help management teams better understand the startup landscape.  So, thanks to Fenwick & West for putting these together.    The first (Carving Up the Pie Using Change in Control Carve-Out Plans to Incentiviz… ) is a very well written memo on carve out plans in general.  The second (Liquidity_Bonus_Plan_-_Board_Meeting_Slides) is a power point presentation that a startup board might review when adopting a plan.   I am not giving legal advice……

Have a great weekend.

I am going to try to address a complex problem in a concise way.

Here is the big problem with investors – they dilute the founders’ ownership in the company.  Is this actually a big problem?  Well, that answer depends on your point of view.

Let’s cover some basics:

1.  It is impossible to issue stock to investors without existing shareholders (founders, employees and prior investors) being diluted.
2.  It is impossible to do a stock for stock business combination without existing shareholders being diluted.  But now the diluted shareholders own a smaller piece of a larger pie hopefully.
3.  If you have issues with dilution then raising outside investment will give you heartburn every time.  That is not a good situation to endure.

Given the basics, here is one key subjective data point that I always like to keep in mind:  what exit value is going to make the founders happy?.  The answer to this question is a function of (i) how much of the company do the founders own at time of exit and (ii) the exit value.   For example, a company may sell for a relatively small amount, say $18 million.   Are the founders happy?  Well, if they own 50% of it they well might be.  Typically, 50% ownership would mean that the company only has raised 1 or, at best, 2 rounds of equity funding.  Alternatively, if the founders own only 15% then they might not be too happy with an $18 million exit.   But they might be really happy with a $100 million exit.

Here is another basic truth:  the more a company raises, particularly in tough times when projections are not being met, for example, the greater the likelihood of real tension between the investors and the founders.  As investment dollars increase, founders ownership decreases.  And if dollars are raised in challenging times then valuation and other terms will favor the investors compounding the tension.  VCs deal with this situation most of the time.  The “up and to the right” valuation scenario is not at all common (unfortunately!) or only comes after millions and millions of investment.

It is up to the investors and founders to acknowledge the tension, discuss it and come up with solutions that dissipate it.  Often times, investors face situations where they must support a company that is going through growing pains.  These are tough times for the investors and founders.  It is up to the founders and investors to make sure that the founders stay motivated.  But it is up to the founders to acknowledge the situation the company might be in, particularly if sub-optimal.  There are ways to keep management teams motivated – additional stock option grants and management carve out plans are probably the 2 most common.  But the investors and founders need to have direct face to face open and trustworthy discussion.

The motivations of founders and investors are highly predictable and usually aligned (maximize company value!), which should make the discussion easier.   Luckily, the motivations are not political – I have been watching House of Cards recently…….