100% agreed. I've seen way too many "toxic boards" or "toxic business angels", for these exact reasons. Fortunately, I've also been able to warn some co-founders regularly through acceleration programs I was involved in, and to give them advice for their (advisory) board or the type of profiles that'd fit best to their projects / to them.
It’s one of the hardest but most crucial things to get right -> creating a space where tough conversations happen, no politics, no fluff, just straight talk.
This happens ot just on board but also within the startup team everyday operation.
Would love to hear how you’ve cultivated that in practice in the next NL 🖖🏼
Truly amazing how you capture the hiring problem with board members. I faced this exact situation with a top executive who was not the right fit for my company at that stage—too high profile, too expensive, and inefficient. The total cost was $1M in less than a year. Had we not been in good financial shape, it could have killed us.
100% agreed. I've seen way too many "toxic boards" or "toxic business angels", for these exact reasons. Fortunately, I've also been able to warn some co-founders regularly through acceleration programs I was involved in, and to give them advice for their (advisory) board or the type of profiles that'd fit best to their projects / to them.
Great piece Jean. Some similar thinking here: https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship/what-all-tech-start-ups-need-succeed
And here too:
https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship/maximising-entrepreneurial-potential-governance-insurance
It’s one of the hardest but most crucial things to get right -> creating a space where tough conversations happen, no politics, no fluff, just straight talk.
This happens ot just on board but also within the startup team everyday operation.
Would love to hear how you’ve cultivated that in practice in the next NL 🖖🏼
Bravo ! Not discussed often enough!
super insight.
Nous avons crée un outil pour permettre de repérer des désalignement de cadres mentaux des entrepreneurs vs les investisseurs.
Cf https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7292054693462077440/
Truly amazing how you capture the hiring problem with board members. I faced this exact situation with a top executive who was not the right fit for my company at that stage—too high profile, too expensive, and inefficient. The total cost was $1M in less than a year. Had we not been in good financial shape, it could have killed us.
Great writing, Jean