The Subtle Art of Not Faking It for Your Board
How to turn awkward investor theater into a strategy session that actually helps
There are two kinds of founders in board meetings: Those trying to ace the test. And those handing out the test.
The first kind sends a 94-slide update deck at midnight, walks the board through ARR growth by geo and social media impressions by channel, and then opens the floor to “any questions” with 11 minutes left.
The second kind says: “Here’s what’s on fire. Here’s what we’re doing. Here’s where I need you.”
Guess which kind gets actual help.
Early on, it’s easy to fall into the first camp. You obsess over the deck, rehearse the numbers, try to look unflappable. I get it. But the sooner you realize this, the better: you’re not there to impress the board. You’re there to use them.
Here are 5 tactical lessons I’ve picked up watching great founders turn board meetings into actual leverage:
Simplify ruthlessly.
Board meetings are expensive, not in money, but in attention. You have the full brainpower of your investors for 90+ minutes. Don’t spend that time reading them slides. Send updates in advance. Assume they’ve read them
Use the meeting to do things you can’t do asynchronously: argue, decide, wrestle with uncomfortable tradeoffs. If everyone agrees with everything, you’re not doing it right.
Name your monsters.
The best board meetings start with: “Here’s what’s keeping me up at night.”
You’ll get better advice when you’re vulnerable and specific than when you’re polished and vague.
At any given time, your company has 2–3 existential questions. Talk about those:
Should we double down on this GTM motion?
Is this product bet a distraction or the future?
Are we hiring ahead of plan or ahead of reality?
Also - don’t save the scary stuff for the end. Fundraising. Burn. Churn. Talent gaps. Strategic pivots. These always end up last on the agenda… and get rushed.
Flip it. Start with the hard, emotionally charged stuff. Save the feel-good functional updates for later - or better, the pre-read.
Context is key.
Never present metrics in isolation. Raw numbers are meaningless without trendlines, benchmarks, and expectations.
No one cares that revenue was $1.2M unless you told them last quarter it would be $1.5M. Or $800K. Or that you said $1.3M, then changed it to $1.1M two weeks ago, and now it’s $1.2M.
Forecasts are the mirror. Variance is the story.
Over time, your ability to forecast becomes a signal of whether you understand your business - or are just reacting to it.
Forecast accuracy is a measure of operational maturity. Track it, improve it, and make it visible.
Use the board.
Your board isn’t there to give you a grade. They’re there to give you leverage.
Ask real questions:
“Who’s solved this before?”
“Who can we talk to?”
“Where am I missing something?”
Push back. Ask for intros. Let them disagree. The real deliverable from a board meeting isn’t alignment - it’s clarity.
Close the loop.
If you don’t send a recap email within 48 hours, the whole thing disappears into a haze of half-formed opinions and plausible deniability.
Great board meetings have aftershocks - intros, insights, second conversations.
Close the loop within 48 hours:
What was decided
What you’re testing
What you need from them
If the meeting ends in polite nods and no follow-ups, you just spent 90 minutes managing perception instead of building a business. The best board meetings don’t look like TED Talks. They look like war rooms with snacks.
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