I really embrace transparency from our companies. I think most VCs encourage it. But one of our companies took an extra step recently and I thought I'd share it here since it is different, more structured and more importantly the idea originated from the management team, not investors.
But first, I need to provide some background.
In most of the board meetings we are part of, we hear a lot from the C-level people on the management team. If the company is smaller (say south of 2m in revs), usually the CEO is the one communicating 75%+ of the board package. But as the company grows, fills out and has more of a team, the COO, CFO are included and they share in providing an update and are active in the discussion.
What sometimes gets left out of these meetings is hearing from people like the VP/Dir of Sales or VP of Engineering. Part of this is based on time. You can't hear from everyone in the company at every meeting.
So, what ends up happening is guys like me who want to engage and build a relationship with them, have to find other ways to do that - schedule separate meetings (lunch, coffee, chat in the halls, drinks after work, etc.). I think as an investor, it is good to meet with lots of different people at a company - at all different levels within the organization - even down to the most junior people. I think that is how we can really take the pulse of a company and sometimes some of the best strategy ideas can come from meetings like that. I find these meetings enjoyable and the employees like hearing the enthusiasm of an investor.
Okay, now to what one of our companies is doing.
The CEO sent out the regular board schedule for the year. It includes the 7 face-to-face board meetings for 2010. But this year, he added 7 scheduled calls linking each investor with an exec on the team. So, I now have separate calls scheduled with the CTO, VP of Sales, VP of Bus Dev and Chief Revenue Officer. And how it works is it rotates to the next person each time. Sure, I talk with these guys regularly anyway, but the scheduled call makes it happen not only for me, but all the other VCs as well. And at the same time, 4 VC firms are updated on the company's activities and each exec is given more of a connection to investors over the course of a year. The calls will be much more informal than a board meeting and probably include a deeper dive into that person's group.
I really like this approach. I'm glad the CEO and team there were proactive to do something like this. Some of the boards we see are more active than others. I think actions like this will help create a more informed/engaged board, which I think will make this company even stronger for years to come.
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