Building Your Board | Glenn Kelman

TL;DR

Glenn Kelman describes his evolution from adversarial relationship with his board to a deep partnership, arguing that the board is rarely the real problem and that founders must treat it as an advisor.

Key insights

• Venture board members are nearly impossible to fire; founders should spend significant time getting to know the partner before taking money, prioritizing a soulful connection over the firm’s brand.
• Big-company operators (Google, Facebook) are often a poor fit because they have never faced the same resource constraints; operators from companies at a similar scale are better peers who understand t
• Founders should write job descriptions for board seats, not just “big shot.” For Redfin, the ideal candidate turned out to be the founding CEO of Carmax, who had been waiting for the call because of a