And I quote verbatim - you can see the original post here. I don't have Fred Wilson's permission to reproduce this post. He is the reason I blog and I have yet to come across someone as prolific as Fred. You'd do well to follow him.
A “trophy” board member is someone with a big name who, in theory brings credibility and connections to your company. They are often out of the world of politics, or a Fortune 500 CEO job, or Wall Street. Trophy board members are more concerned about their reputations than your company and will often react badly in times of crisis and challenge, which is exactly when you need your board members at your side more than ever.
Trophy board members often miss board meetings, show up unprepared, and frequently don’t take the time and effort to truly understand your business.
I am a huge fan of independent directors to compliment the founders and investors on a board. The quality of the board is highest when there are more independents on it than investors and founders. Try to get that ratio right on your board as soon as practical.
But don’t put “names” on your board. Put operators, ideally very seasoned operators, who have done everything you want to do, ideally multiple times, and can help you spot the issues before they become problems and spot the opportunities with enough time to go after them.
These ideal board members are often not big names and they usually don’t have big egos. They are solid, steady, and worth their weight in gold. They come in male and female varieties and across the racial and ethnic spectrum too. It is true that it take a bit more work to build a diverse board of operationally focused board members but it is worth it.
But whatever you do, stay away from trophy board members. They rarely help and often hurt.
Not so easy to do here, there is immense pressure to put high profile people on larger companies' boards. One day when we have overcome our sensitivity about race and transformation, a case study will be written about the efficacy of the many trophy board members that grace the boards of our larger corporates. Danisa Baloyi is one example that comes to mind.
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