Board Best Practices
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Board Best Practices
Collectively, the MVF Team has the distinct honor and unique perspective of sitting on over two dozen startup boards from within our 65+ company portfolio. We’ve been reflecting on these closed-door discussions and want to offer a few bits of unsolicited advice below for equity-backed startups in Maine as we look forward to what is in store in 2026:
In board meetings, talk about the hard stuff: Boards tend to spend more time on positive updates than challenges. Positive updates are usually first on the agenda, too, which means invariably the real meat of the conversation (and greatest benefit to the CEO, however uncomfortable) gets short shrift as time runs out. The best boards spend the majority of their time addressing obstacles that the CEO has proactively surfaced. MVF provides a quick-reference board meeting scorecard here and longer form governance best practices guide here.
Consider making profitability the near term goal: In a challenging fundraising environment, companies without eye-popping growth rates that can’t induce investors off of the sidelines can sometimes drive to profitability to minimize reliance on outside funding. Popular startup culture tends to measure startup success by the amount of venture capital raised. While some business models require outside funding from the get go, others would be well advised to bootstrap and generally run as lean as possible for the early years until product market fit is established firmly before considering raising external capital.
Exit planning - pivot and fail fast: More often than not, the original investment thesis doesn’t play out, and CEOs, boards and investors should thus be flexible enough to pivot towards a more attractive business model once the writing is on the wall. Sometimes the pivots themselves come up empty, and then it can be time to consider failing fast assuming the CEO and Board collectively simply cannot find their groove. All stakeholders should recognize the opportunity cost of grinding away for years without traction, especially if morale has faded.
Beyond Maine: Maine’s startup resources are many, but when it comes to the magnitude of capital generally needed to finance even an efficient company, most will need to spend time cultivating networks outside of the state as well. While still challenging, it has never been easier for Maine companies to find talent, capital, customers, partners, mentors, and board members from a broader region due to our increasingly connected world.
For our part, MVF is always working on strategies to help bridge outside resources to Maine companies, and we’re here to help in any way we can. For a list of the resources that do exist here in the state, check out our webpage dedicated to the topic here.
About Maine Venture Fund
Maine Venture Fund invests in Maine businesses that have the highest potential for growth and impact. For more information, visit maineventurefund.com.
Inquiries:
Terri Wark
Maine Venture Fund
(207) 305-0006
terri@maineventurefund.com
