The Real Reason I Prefer to Sit on Company Boards

Last week, I enjoyed sitting on my first board meeting with the team at Datum Source. Datum Source offers supply-chain-as-a-service solutions for advanced hardware manufacturing companies. The founders are exceptional.

One of the greatest pleasures I have as an investor is the ability to sit on company boards. My preference to sit as a director or an observer is because it gets me more emotionally involved with the company. In addition, board meeting insights give me a compass on how to create value.

At my first fund, we were syndicate/passive investors. The only time we talked to our portfolio founders was when they needed money again. It was a bad look.

During board meetings, I feel my job as an investor is to have the founders stop and reflect on their progress since the investment. How did they execute compared to their projections? Where were their assumptions correct, and where can they sharpen their focus?

It is not always parties and birthday cake, however. Companies often have market headwinds, key employees leaving, founder disputes, lawsuits, ad infinitum. Nothing is better than coming through the other side of these conflicts, however. If this were easy, everyone would do it!