#136 - Anu Hariharan on Managing a Board

Y Combinator Startup Podcast - A podcast by Y Combinator

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Anu Hariharan is a partner at YC. Today’s episode is about her recent post, How To Manage a Board.

You can find her on Twitter @anuhariharan.

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Topics

00:00 - Intro

00:57 - Why Anu wrote How to Manage a Board

2:27 - Board composition

4:27 - Adding independent board members

6:27 - The responsibilities of a board member

9:12 - Productive board meetings

12:52 - Sharing materials before the meeting

13:42 - Bringing executives into the meeting

16:57 - Dealing with board conflict

18:22 - Following up after a board meeting

21:12 - Dealing with difficult board members

23:57 - Reality distortion

24:52 - Agustin Feuerhake asks - What does it take to be a great board member?

27:22 - Dave Bailey asks - To what extent should the board culture reflect the company culture?

29:42 - Connor Abene asks - How do you think about adding board members who haven't worked in your industry but you think are good?

33:22 - Rhina asks - Could you address managing a board during product market fit time/ pivot times?