As a Founder, Do You Ask Yourself These Questions About Your Board?

Reflections on governance, growth, and scaling well

Building a company is hard.
Building a great board might be even harder.

As a founder, your focus (rightly) tends to go into building the team—hiring smart people, shaping culture, creating momentum. But all too often, founders spend far less time thinking about the structure, composition, and function of their board. And yet, your board can be the difference between scaling smart or stalling out.

Over the years, I’ve worked with cleantech founders, VCs, and accelerators like Rockstart and Techstars to help leadership teams think more clearly about governance and board dynamics. I have also been a founder myself—and I know how easy it is to push board thinking down the priority list.

So, if you are a founder or co-founder, here are a few questions worth asking:

💭 Does every person on our board still add value, or are we carrying passengers?
Boards are like founding teams. Some early members are right for the beginning, but not for the next stage. If you were assembling your board today, would you reappoint everyone?

💡 Are our board meetings strategic, or just status updates?
If your meetings are all report and no real-time thinking, something is broken. A great board should challenge your thinking, not just review your numbers.

🔍 What skills are we missing around the table?
Are you scaling internationally? Breaking into new markets? Prepping for exit? Your board should reflect those ambitions—not just your past.

🔄 If your Chair stepped down tomorrow, who would you call?
Succession planning isn’t just for the executive team. If you don’t have a strong pipeline for future Chairs or NEDs, you’re carrying real business risk.

Why does all this matter?

Because your board sends signals—about maturity, about ambition, and about how ready you are to build beyond yourself. Investors notice. So do acquirers. But more importantly, your board affects how you think, how you lead, and how you grow.

If any of these questions made you pause, that is a good thing.

It might be time for a board refresh. Or just a deeper conversation about succession, structure, and strategy.

That is where I come in.

Let’s raise the bar.