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One perspective that one often hears, but nobody seems to have brought up here, is that the role of the board is essentially a kind of joke that doesn't really
by lordnacho 3y ago
One perspective that one often hears, but nobody seems to have brought up here, is that the role of the board is essentially a kind of joke that doesn't really do what it says on the tin. A bunch of friends of the management, given a lot of money for very little work.
People here have even pointed out how unqualified they think the board members are, or how they have conflicts of interest.
Picture yourself in this world where you essentially get free money for pretending to advise a company. Most of the time, you don't need to do shit. Other people have got you covered, the company does some well known widget-making business and everyone has known since business school how the business works. You just nod your head when there's a board meeting and otherwise try to keep a good handicap at the country club. When there's a decision to be made, you feel out which side will win and hedge your bets. You've get several of these board jobs, and each of them thinks the other memberships are why they are hiring you.
One day, your friend invites you to be on the board of a company that does something truly new and interesting. In fact some people say this is the modern day Manhattan project, taking humanity into a new yet potentially dangerous age. It's prestigious, and you think how different can it really be to any other business?
As time passes, you realize your strategy of just doing whatever the other board members are doing is not going to work. There is this really big question of what you should do about keeping things "safe", a vague idea that you've heard of from some prominent employees. It dawns upon you that you might actually have to think about what to do.
Eventually, you crap yourself, and you decide to use some of the formal powers of the board. You saw on Silicon Valley that the board can depose the CEO, maybe that should be done? You know a bunch of people who have talked about AI in the past, perhaps one of them has a clue about what to do?
- the_gipsy 3y agoI love this take!
- vasco 3y agoHow many board meetings have you attended, in any capacity?
- lordnacho 3y agoSeveral but not many, as a board member. None of the boards I was on had frequent meetings. But also I was always on the "working" side of the board. My impression of the external side is somewhat similar to the view I'm presenting above. It's not that they are completely unqualified to comment on the company, they actually had tangentially relevant experience. But what did they really add, other than making our webpage look better? And if things went wrong, what would they really lose? They are just curious folks who are excited to be around business, and can introduce us to interested parties. The other thing the board is supposed to do is pull the emergency break if stuff goes wrong. It's hard to know how closely they monitored that sort of thing, given it doesn't happen that much. Also if things get bad, do they jump ship or act like what a bystander might in a car accident, ie try to call emergency services but not stick their head in the fire? Because the rest of us have our heads in the fire.
- vasco 3y agoThanks, never had the chance and it helps qualify your opinions vs an outsider.
- wand3r 3y agoI totally agree in general but usually early stage tech companies have decent boards. Usually because it is investors representing their interests. Also, in a nascent tech sector you usually have at least the appearance of strong reputation, like Theranos for example. That said, if we look at OpenAI like the non-profit it was founded to be, those are exactly as you describe, a fun way to boost reputation for rich people and dole out some cash to connections. Also, Sam and Greg were cut out of the board, they were likely the true boardroom know how.