Have a Board Meeting, Even Without a Board
Why all early-stage founders should have quarterly "board" meetings
Most pre-seed companies don't have formal boards with outside directors. There are a variety of reasons why that include formality, governance, and cost. But the reality is some of the best founders I work with at Garuda Ventures have figured out a secret: they run quarterly "board meetings" anyway.
The Benefits of a “Not a Board Meeting” Meeting
These quarterly sessions (let's call them "Not a Board Meetings" or NBMs for short) are different from your standard weekly or biweekly investor update calls. While monthly updates and bi-weekly check-ins with investors have the benefit of quick feedback cycles that are required at pre-seed, NBMs serve multiple purposes that these informal touchpoints simply can't match:
Clarity and accountability on what matters. Presenting the quarter’s highlights and lowlights in the aggregate requires elevating out of the day to day execution and firefighting. It forces clarity around what actually matters to distill your progress and challenges into a coherent narrative.
Stakeholder alignment. Early investors want to help, but they need context to be effective. NBMs create shared understanding across your investor group and prevent the misalignment that emerges when everyone has different pieces of the puzzle through 1:1 catch-ups that likely happen at different times and with different groups.
Story-telling practice that compounds. The discipline of crafting a data-driven quarterly narrative about your business and market, where you're going, what you're learning, makes you a better communicator with customers, future investors, and your own team.
Practice makes perfect. Learning to run an effective board meeting is a skill, and like any skill, it improves with time and practice. It is better to start developing this muscle early on, well ahead of when the board process formalizes, whether as early as seed or at Series A.
How to Run These Meetings Right
Here's the most important thing to remember upfront: The meeting should NOT be a readout of your materials. That's a waste of everyone's time, and you don’t want these to turn into “bored” meetings. The meeting should help you solve problems and make decisions. Come with real questions, share genuine challenges, and ask for specific help.
Materials that Matter
Create a template that you can update quarterly. It'll take work the first time, but each subsequent quarter gets easier. Include:
Highlights / lowlights: The good, bad, and ugly of the quarter
Metrics: The same key metrics every quarter so everyone can track progress and spot trends
Business Deep-Dive: Product updates, go-to-market progress, pipeline status, new hires. Really whatever's most relevant for your stage
Next quarter goals: Clear targets for key metrics and initiatives
Discussion topics: 1-3 meaty subjects you want input on: pricing strategy, hiring priorities, product roadmap, anything you're grappling with. Provide context and data, then lay out specific questions for discussion.
Set Expectations and Give Time
Send materials at least 48 hours before the meeting. If you're meeting Tuesday, get the packet out Friday. This lets everyone digest the information and come with thoughtful questions rather than clarifying ones. Be explicit about expectations: "We will not be doing a page turn during the meeting. Please come prepared with questions and ready to dig into the discussion topics."
Meeting Agenda
For a two hour meeting, the below is what I’ve found to be most helpful:
~20 minutes: Quarter in review (highlights and lowlights, key challenges and Q&A based on materials shared ahead of time)
~60 minutes: Deep discussion on your one to three topics (20-25 minutes each)
10 minutes: Open discussion
10 minutes: Investor-only time for discussion
Follow up
Take notes and follow up within 24 hours. Send action items to everyone and hold people accountable to their commitments, whether that's making an introduction, providing feedback on strategy, or connecting you with a potential customer. You want to create a culture of follow-through on what you said, even at this level.
Lasting Value
Founders who establish these operating rhythms early end up dramatically better prepared when formal boards are established. They also have a stronger grasp of their business and the important metrics and milestones. They've learned to synthesize complex information into digestible updates, facilitate productive discussions among strong personalities, and use their investors as a strategic asset rather than just a reporting obligation.
Perhaps most importantly, they've created a culture of transparency and collaborative problem-solving with their investors. When challenges inevitably arise within the business (and trust me, they will) there's already a foundation of trust and regular communication in place.
NBMs shouldn't feel like performance theater with perfectly polished slides and carefully curated success stories. You shouldn't feel like you're walking into the principal's office, worried about whether you’re going to get detention. Your investors are fundamentally on your team, and it's up to you to use them as such.
Have you tried a quarterly “NBM” format? I'd love to hear what's worked (or hasn't worked) for you.