Burden Of The Board
from the no-time dept
Ah, the latest burden to add to venture capitalists who are getting yelled at by their limited partners and who can’t dream up exit strategies for most of their companies, is that their board of director duties are beginning to pile up. First, they’re ending up on more boards than they were before – because they never seem to have the chance to cash out and leave. Then, they’re spending more time in board meetings, because company’s in distress tend to have board meetings every other day or so. Finally, many VCs didn’t realize that being on the board actually comes with (gasp) responsibility and (even worse) liability. Suddenly, they realize that not only does being on a board of directors sound good while golfing, it also opens you up to all kinds of lawsuits. So, now, many VCs are either looking for additional compensation to stay on boards – or they’re finding people to represent them on the board (often execs from other companies in their portfolios).
