The board you should be forming before your first raise

Educational discussion only. Every company's facts differ, and nothing here is legal advice.

Founders often treat governance as something to install after funding. In practice, the absence of it becomes a diligence item: no minutes, no approvals, no clear record of who authorized what.

A workable starting point is small: a defined board seat structure, a short list of decisions that require board approval, quarterly meetings with written minutes, and a conflicts policy.

Done early, this takes hours. Reconstructed later, it takes months and invites questions you would rather not answer in the middle of a raise.