In reading Jeff Bussgang's 5 reasons entrepreneurs don't like VCs, I was reminded again of the common misunderstanding that perpetuates among entrepreneurs. They believe a board is there only to help them. It is not. It is also and essentially to monitor what is going on at the company on behalf of shareholders. Yes, value add is perhaps what the VC spent most of his/her time selling the entrepreneur on, but at the end of the day, the little time the VC has will be spent often just on the basic monitoring.
Reason number one was: "Board room M.O.: show up late, pound on the Blackberry, look up and ask a question that was answered 2 hours ago." That is a clear sign of a sloppy, ill-prepared, over-committed board member who ideally should be replaced. Since most boards won't do that, remember for next time, entrepreneurs, to look deeply into the eyes of the prospective investor, know what their time committments and what their board habits are before you sign the deal.
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