Preparing a Board Deck

Board Management
Written By Trevor Hubbard
 

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN SCHREIER
SEQUOIA CAPITAL


Bryan Schreier at Sequoia Capital has outlined an effective prep checklist and template for successful board meetings. We’ve included his frameworks below. For more color, you can find Bryan’s original post here.


Preparing For a Board Meeting

  • Prepare Just Enough

    • A good board deck is essential for keeping the meeting on track. “A board's job is to give advice, help solve problems, reinforce best practices, and so on. When all of this is on topic, it can help guide you through the company-building process. When board members are left to explore whichever topics they choose...look out.”

  • Focus on Calibration

    • Bring board members up to speed and get everyone on the same page. “The primary difference between company meetings and board meetings is that your employees spend every day at your company, which even the most committed board members can’t do.”

  • Take a Step Back

    • “Treat board meeting prep as an opportunity to pull yourself out of the day to day and take a look at your company as if you were sitting on the moon viewing the earth.”

  • Don’t Overthink It

    • Don’t create more work for yourself than necessary. “Report to the board leveraging the materials you use to run the company.”

  • Share Materials Early

    • “Distribute the board materials one to two days in advance and ask your board members to study the material ahead of time so you can spend the meeting discussing rather than presenting.”

Board Meeting Template


Big Picture: 15 minutes

  • CEO update

  • Highlights since last meeting

  • Lowlights/challenges since last meeting

  • Where the company needs help (e.g. hiring, customers, partnerships, product, and marketing)

Calibration: 45 minutes to 60 minutes

  • Financial performance and updated forecast (quarterly)

  • Marketing performance vs. awareness and lead generation targets

  • Revenue/sales performance vs. targets

  • Product engagement metrics (signups, downloads, activations, engagement, retention)

  • Product delivery / launches

  • Quality of customer experience: ie: NPS

Company Building: 30 minutes

  • Forward-looking org chart: show current team and positions to be filled over the next six months

  • Product roadmap: include major launches and achievements since last meeting; provide a view on where the company is heading

  • Engineering and technical update: include major launches and achievements since last meeting; surface challenges and where help is needed

  • Growth team update: performance against Growth Team KPIs

  • Corporate marketing update: execution on positioning, brand, messaging, and PR

  • Business development: list of top 10 needle-moving partners the company wants (vs. inbound partner interest) and progress on each

  • Operations (if appropriate): performance against KPIs; surface challenges and where help is needed

  • Monthly Waterfalls for each of: revenue, burn, cash balance, headcount

Working Session: 30 minutes per topic

  • Topic 1: deep dive in a particular functional area, deep dive on a large partnership opportunity, deep dive on a business challenge, etc

  • Topic 2: deep dive on quarterly company goals, product challenges, etc


Closed Session: 15 minutes

  • Feedback to founders, formalities, stock option grant etc



Originally Published: Preparing a Board Deck, Bryan Schreier - Sequoia Capital

 
Trevor Hubbard
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