Governance 101
Early-‐ and Growth-‐Stage Tech Companies
Dave Litwiller Execu>ve-‐in-‐Residence
March 5, 2014
Important Disclaimer This presenta>on is made with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering legal, accoun>ng, securi>es, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
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Overview
• Board of Directors and Board of Advisors
• Roles and responsibili>es of directors
• Building, managing and evalua>ng the Board of Directors
• Evolving governance at the speed of a rapidly changing business
• Director compensa>on
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My Background • Twenty+ year opera>ng trajectory in early-‐, growth-‐ and
scaled-‐up tech companies in the Waterloo region – R&D; marke>ng and sales; manufacturing; finance and accoun>ng; HR;
general management; acquisi>ons, dives>tures and turnarounds
• Board director of three early-‐ and growth-‐stage companies; two in enterprise SaaS, and one in photonics instrumenta>on
• Board observer to several other technology company boards
• Advisor to many technology start-‐ups spanning soYware through clean energy and medical technology
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Board of Directors vs. Board of Advisors
Directors Advisors
Choice of Members By shareholders By management
Purpose Oversee business affairs Advise as requested
Obliga>ons Under Statutory and Case Law
Yes: CBCA, OBCA, BIA, OESA, others
No
Agenda Sets own Set by management
Power to Hire and Fire Yes: CEO; appoints officers No
Liability Significant and growing Lible
Du>es Fiduciary, care At convenience of management
Compulsory Disclosure of Business Informa>on
Yes No: informa>on can be selec>vely disclosed
Time Commitment 250 to 450 hours per year Flexible, by mutual accord
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Board of Directors (BoD)
Duty of Loyalty (Fiduciary Duty) • To act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the corpora>on – Unqualified priority to the corpora>on over personal interests or other compe>ng claims
– Act openly and honestly – Disclose significant informa>on within his/her knowledge
– Maintain confiden>ality of the corpora>on’s informa>on
– Exercise independent judgment – Act with one voice outside of the boardroom
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Duty of Care
• To exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances – Act in good faith – Act ra>onally, reasonably and on an informed basis
– Iden>fy and act upon problems which should have been apparent
– Follow reasonable processes and prac>ces
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Further Obliga>ons
• Inform and Advise Shareholders – Provide shareholders with all material informa>on rela>ng to mabers for which shareholder ac>on is sought
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Standard of Performance • Due Diligence
– Informa>on access and review – Delibera>ve process – Reliance on experts and independent authori>es when appropriate
– Record proceedings
• Business Judgment – Act in a manner reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the corpora>on at the same >me as fulfilling other du>es
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Leading Prac>cal Issues
• Mentoring CEO – Support and appraise – If necessary, remove and replace
• Never running out of cash • Delibera>ng strategic shiYs • Selling the company; building buyer value
– Next round investors, liquidity event • Shareholder communica>on
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Director-‐CEO Rela>onship
Good Directors: • Indicate important ques>ons in advance of mee>ngs to the chair and CEO
• Don’t always demand more data to make a decision
• Forewarn the CEO about the director’s stance on major issues
• Avoid ganging up on the CEO to the extent possible
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BoD Reali>es
• It is work, and people need to be work-‐like
• Liability is significant – Good directors will require D&O insurance
• The board needs to collec>vely be knowledgeable about all salient aspects of the business and its context, even though individual directors’ skills can be more narrow
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BoD Reali>es • All directors need to be engaged, ac>ve contributors, and documented as such
• The risk tolerance of directors needs to match the risk profile and stage of development of the business
• Lible staff or management board support bandwidth; this isn’t like blue chip company governance
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Evolving the BoD -‐ General • Term limits, typically three years
• Current directors and officers rou>nely networking to develop director candidates
• Periodic board self-‐assessment to iden>fy weaknesses and skill gaps as the basis for targe>ng new nominees and beber prac>ces
• Lead director or non-‐execu>ve chairman (not the CEO) to provide improvement feedback to other directors
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Evolving BoD Skills with the Stage of Company Development
Company Stage
Typical # of Directors
Typical Director Mix
Key Skills
Concept 1 1 Founder Business forma>on, F3 funding, early customer and technical discovery
Seed and Start-‐up
3 1 Founder 1 Investor 1 Independent
Recrui>ng, technology, opera>onal set-‐up, angel/VC funding, ecosystem rela>onship development cri>cal to success over next 18 months
Growth 5 2 Founders 2 Investors 1 Independent
Commercializa>on, opera>onal refinement, ins>tu>onalizing know-‐how, scaling, growth finance, working capital management, interna>onal reach
Late Expansion
7 2 Founders 2 Investors 3 Independents
Increasing financial sophis>ca>on, acquisi>on or IPO savvy, governance discipline, reduc>on of surprises
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Changing Nature of BoD Issues Company Stage
Sales AccounAng Legal
Seed • Customer discovery
• Managing by bank statements
• IP: rights, deadlines, chain of >tle & assignment, licenses
Start-‐up • Early sales • Strengthening
value prop • Compe>>ve
strength
• P/T bookkeeper • Monthly I/S and B/S • Tax returns done • Source deduc>ons
made and remibed
• Director resolu>ons to approve equity rights grants
• Complete minute book • Material contract review
Growth • Accelera>ng growth
• Revenue predictability and quality
• Rising efficiency
• F/T CFO • Audited financial
statements • Annual forecasts
with predic>ve value • Variance review
• Records management • Compliance • Risk management • Li>ga>on, real or
threatened, especially employment, partner, and IP
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High Impact Board Prac>ces Company Stage
PracAce Helps
Seed and Start-‐up
• Prospec>ve hindsight • Reference class analysis • Pre-‐commitment • Commitment limits
• Manage risk, coaching, coach-‐ability • Reduce sampling and intui>on errors • Catalyze learning, an>dote groupthink • Counter decision driY & confirma>on bias • Do more with less; pivot effec>vely
Growth • Execu>ve sessions • CEO and management
performance feedback • Agenda effort
• Independence of board • Correct quickly and early • Keep up spirited inquiry in the most
impacnul areas
Late Expansion
• Con>nuous improvement of governance
• Methodical director onboarding
• Evolu>on of the BoD as a self-‐regula>ng body
• Accelerates >me to full individual and group produc>vity, facilita>ng renewal
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BoD Advice (I) • There’s no shortcut for spending the >me and doing a lot of reading and
networking for a director to bring an informed, independent viewpoint about a company’s strategic environment
• Speed, decisiveness and dexterity improve with a somewhat smaller board than larger, IFF, sufficiently broad, experienced, and dedicated directors are available to span the requisite disciplines with a marginally smaller group
• Meet eight >mes per year, in person
• Don’t let the flurry of other business push aside a deep dive each mee>ng into the mabers which are keeping the CEO and CFO up at night, and to understand what alternate data , viewpoints and interpreta>ons exist to richen the discussion on those mabers
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BoD Advice (II) • Require board packages be delivered to directors 72 hours in advance of
mee>ng, with a cover memo iden>fying which items are informa>onal only, and those which will be deliberated and decided
• Structure discussion so that management’s recommenda>ons are clear, yet with room for director input, but stopping short (usually) of unbounded possibili>es
• At every board mee>ng, discuss the quality of informa>on, agenda, >me alloca>on, and delibera>on process with each director contribu>ng 1-‐2 improvements for future mee>ngs
• Conduct brief execu>ve sessions at each board mee>ng to discuss management and board performance without members of management present, as well as who will deliver that feedback
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BoD Advice (III) • Have execu>ve management provide regular feedback on where it has
goben the most help, and the most frustra>on, from the BoD
• In normal circumstances, use 75% of >me in the boardroom looking forward (strategic, market), and 25% looking back (finance, ops)
• Always know the company’s financial runway, be proac>ve raising funds, and become expert in accessing alterna>ves in the financial model and capital structure to improve funding op>ons
• Rotate which board member will take a hard stand on difficult issues as they arise, so that one person does not always take the role of cri>c
• Designate one responsible director for the CEO performance evalua>on process, even though all directors par>cipate
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BoD Advice (IV)
• Know what is in the ar>cles of incorpora>on, corporate by-‐laws and shareholders’ agreement detailing which issues require board approval and which ones require shareholder approval
• If there is debt in the business’ capital structure, have a summary of covenants as an appendix to each board reading package
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Board of Directors Compensa>on As a company moves towards IPO, Board of Directors op>on grants decline. The following chart presents
the low to high ranges of typical Board op>on awards (for independent Directors). Cash compensa>on is not generally employed un>l the IPO run-‐up period. Appropriate levels of cash compensa>on are highly dependent upon firm size and industry.
Extremely Rare
• Tend to be significant advisors or
mentors
• At most 1-2 Directors
Rare
• Tend to be significant advisors or
“names”
• At most 1-2 Directors
1st Independent Director
• Tend to be industry figures
• 2-3 Directors
More Common
• Tend to be industry figures,
related businesses
• 2-3 Directors
Almost Mandatory
• Tend to be industry figures,
“brand enhancers”
• 3-5 Directors
Independent Director Pre-IPO Equity Participation
0.00%
0.50%
1.00%
1.50%
2.00%
Pre-Angel Pre-Round 1 Pre-Round 2 Post-Round 2 IPO Run-Up
Equi
ty P
artic
ipat
ion
(una
djus
ted
for d
ilutio
n)
Source: DolmatConnell & Partners
Board of Directors Compensa>on For an independent director: • Three to four year ves>ng, with the ves>ng term oYen matched to
s>pulated director term limits (typically three years)
• One year cliff for new independent directors, no cliff for incumbent directors
• Monthly or quarterly ves>ng aYer the cliff
• Post-‐service exercise term of one year
• Full accelera>on of ves>ng upon acquisi>on (since directors have a large amount of work in the run up to an acquisi>on)
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Resources and Further Reading
• Board of Directors – Directors’ Du>es in Canada, Barry Reiter
hbp://www.cch.ca/product.aspx?WebID=3688
– Startup Boards, Brad Feld and M. Ramsinghani hbp://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-‐1118443667.html
-‐ Angel and VC-‐Backed Compensa>on, DolmatConnell hbp://www.hr.com/en?t=/documentManager/sfdoc.file.supply&s=iQATS1TdtcHxlqC5L&fileID=1207584777466
• Board of Advisors
– The Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steve Blank hbp://www.stevenblank.com/books.html
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Follow-‐up Discussion
Contact:
dave [dot] litwiller [at] communitech.ca
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Supplementary Slides: Board of Advisors
(BoA)
BoA Roles and Responsibili>es
• Provide independent advice to CEO and management without fiduciary or duty of care obliga>ons
• Advise and lend credence to the company in the areas most significant to success over the coming two years
• Can be any number of members, but typically four to seven
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Three Common Forms of BoAs • Customer
– To gain heightened voice of the customer in the company’s product and business strategy
• Scien>fic or Technical – To help with complex underlying science or technology
• Business – To gain selec>ve input on business issues from advisors without either side taking on the mutual obliga>ons or formalism of a fiduciary board posi>on
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Ideal BoA Member Profile • Expert and nearly invaluable knowledge • World-‐class networks • Abracts outstanding employees • Provides an aura of success in advance of the business achieving it
• Works hard and is responsive • Comfortable lending name and credibility to the business, and advoca>ng on behalf of the company
• Someone you’d love to have as a senior employee but is not affordable or abainable on that basis
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BoA Nomina>on Criteria
• Scien>fic or technical skill • Business strategy and company building • Product development • Customer and sales channel development • Business development and ecosystem rela>onships • Regulatory wherewithal
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BoA Challenges
• Only half of CEOs with BoAs are sa>sfied with them aYer working together
• Typical issues:
– Ongoing responsiveness – Advisors taking the >me to fully contextualize the company’s circumstances
– Interpersonal chemistry – Self-‐interested advisor behaviour
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BoA Success
• Likelihood of construc>vely using a formal BoA: – Highest: Tech start-‐ups requiring $ millions of funding and several years to get to revenue
• Biotech/pharma, med devices, semiconductors, telecom/datacom capital equipment, u>lity-‐scale cleantech, advanced materials
• Enterprises with large regulatory hurdles and risks
– Mid: • Enterprise soYware, consumer electronics, industrial technologies
– Low: • Consumer web services, mobile apps, soYware-‐in-‐plas>c gadgets
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BoA Advice
• In lower investment stake businesses, formal advisors who aren’t also investors can raise more ques>ons about the business for outsiders than they help solve
• Have an hour+ working session at the outset with a nominee BoA member to assess communica>on, thinking style, energy, and mutual fit
• Have a wriben charter or mandate which lays out expected commitments and contribu>ons
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Managing the BoA for Impact and Produc>vity
• The BoA will typically only put out as much as the CEO and management team puts into it: – Be explicit about the expected >me commitment and speed of responsiveness
– Hold mee>ngs regularly, typically two to four >mes per year – Set agendas and send materials beforehand – Ask advisors to present on specific topics for informa>on or discussion to management and the BoA
– Ask advisors for feedback on industry reports and management plans
– Ask for referrals and introduc>ons – Poll for input on point issues 1:1 as they arise – Keep advisors up to date on the company’s progress, such as with a monthly summary e-‐mail
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BoA Advice • Set term limits, typically one to two years
– Interest and impact typically wane over longer periods – Forces everyone to revisit relevance and changing circumstances with
a fast growing business – Removes s>gma of departure, par>cularly when customers or
partners are represented on the BoA – Terms should be renewable if the rela>onship is working out well
• To keep aben>on up, consider compensa>ng not on a retainer basis, but linked to deliverables such as mee>ng prepara>on, abendance and referrals
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Renewing the BoA
• Regularly revisit the top three things that the business needs to achieve over the coming two years – Early stage: De-‐risk value proposi>on or raise funds – Later stage: Drive growth, scale and cash flow
• Ask if the BoA is helping those things happen faster than opera>ng management could on its own – If it is, it is likely the right BoA at the right >me – If not, it is >me to revisit skills gaps, composi>on, and even the ongoing value of a BoA
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