Board meeting Template

Make the most out of your board's time with this board meeting template from Sequoia Capital.

Or download as:
Word
Excel
PDF

About this template

Board meetings don't have to be focused on the deck. What's important is that you're able to communicate the information effectively to the board while maximizing the value you get as a founder. This template is sourced from Sequoia Capital.

Preview About FAQs Usage Stats Similar Templates

Updated Mar 15, 2022

Board meeting FAQs

How long should a board meeting be?

You should initially set your board meetings for 3 hours with your team. If you prepare and share an agenda in advance you're likely to get through more faster.

How often should you have board meetings?

Most board meetings tend to occur monthly. As you go through a few iterations of them you may need to increase or decrease the frequency.

How do you structure a board meeting?

You should think about deviding the meeting into 5 sections: Big picture (15 minutes), Calibration (45-60 minutes), Company building (30 mintues), Working session (1 hour), Closing Remarks (15 minutes). Then adding the following board meeting topics, where appropriate:

CEO Update
Highlights since last meeting
Lowlights/challenges since last meeting
Where the company needs help (I.e. hiring, partnerships, product, etc)
Financial performance and updated forecast (quarterly)
Marketing performance vs. targets
Revenue/sales performance vs. targets
Product engagement metrics (signups, downloads, activations, engagement, retention)
Product delivery and upcoming launches
Quality of customer experience (NPS but with added context)
Forward-looking org chat (current team + positions to fill)
Product roadmap (a view on where the company is heading)
Engineering and technical update
Growth team update
Corporate marketing update
Business development (list out 10 needle-moving partners and progress on each)
Operations (if relevant)
Monthly waterfalls for revenue, burn, cash balance, headcount
Topic 1 (I.e. Deep dive into a functional area, large partnership opp, or business challenge, etc) - 30 minutes
Topic 2 (I.e. Deep dive on quarterly company goals, product challenges, etc)
Feedback for founders, formalities, stock option grants, etc

What should you discuss during a board meeting?

21 great things to discuss in your Board meeting:

CEO Update
Highlights since last meeting
Lowlights/challenges since last meeting
Where the company needs help (I.e. hiring, partnerships, product, etc)
Financial performance and updated forecast (quarterly)
Marketing performance vs. targets
Revenue/sales performance vs. targets
Product engagement metrics (signups, downloads, activations, engagement, retention)
Product delivery and upcoming launches
Quality of customer experience (NPS but with added context)
Forward-looking org chat (current team + positions to fill)
Product roadmap (a view on where the company is heading)
Engineering and technical update
Growth team update
Corporate marketing update
Business development (list out 10 needle-moving partners and progress on each)
Operations (if relevant)
Monthly waterfalls for revenue, burn, cash balance, headcount
Topic 1 (I.e. Deep dive into a functional area, large partnership opp, or business challenge, etc) - 30 minutes
Topic 2 (I.e. Deep dive on quarterly company goals, product challenges, etc)
Feedback for founders, formalities, stock option grants, etc