http://www.pascalsview.com/pascalsview/2007/10/whats-new-in-the-expanded-a-simple-guide-to-the-basic-responsibilities-of-vc-backed-company-directors.html Focused Commentary on the Family Enterprise, Entrepreneurship, Board Governance Best Practices, Venture Capital, and Public Policy Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:12:29 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.pascalsview.com/pascalsview/2007/10/whats-new-in-the-expanded-a-simple-guide-to-the-basic-responsibilities-of-vc-backed-company-directors.html/comment-page-1#comment-252 Pascal Levensohn Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:07:45 +0000 http://pascalsview.chime.com/?p=431#comment-252 Hal-- Thanks for your thoughtful comment. We will keep your nomenclature recommendation under advisement for the next revision! It is unfortunate that your experience advising VCs has been frustrated by lack of attention/participation. Our work is not rocket science-- many readers comment that it is 'common sense'-- which is exactly the point. I would suggest that you start by acknowledging that everybody does know -- or should know-- the common sense principles of best practices in the board room. What negatively impacts the behavior of many people who do know better is a lack of attention to process implementation. We should all remember our fiduciary duty of oversight-- the consequences of failing to exercise it are not trivial. Hal–
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. We will keep your nomenclature recommendation under advisement for the next revision! It is unfortunate that your experience advising VCs has been frustrated by lack of attention/participation. Our work is not rocket science– many readers comment that it is ‘common sense’– which is exactly the point. I would suggest that you start by acknowledging that everybody does know — or should know– the common sense principles of best practices in the board room. What negatively impacts the behavior of many people who do know better is a lack of attention to process implementation. We should all remember our fiduciary duty of oversight– the consequences of failing to exercise it are not trivial.

]]> http://www.pascalsview.com/pascalsview/2007/10/whats-new-in-the-expanded-a-simple-guide-to-the-basic-responsibilities-of-vc-backed-company-directors.html/comment-page-1#comment-251 hal shear Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:33:32 +0000 http://pascalsview.chime.com/?p=431#comment-251 This is a very well done document, building on the first two in the series. Extraordinary thought went into the text as it walks the line between governance and management from an entrepreneur, VC and independent director point of view. As one who has tried to educate VC partners and associates on emerging company governance,it is spot on. I had limited success because most were too busy to attend; most of those who did felt (and said) they knew it all. My only gripe is the use of the term "Peer" assessment. That's just incorrect. Peer assessment is when Peers evaluate each other. In this case, the report describes a Board Assessment process where each director is giving his or her views on board matters. But that's a minor concern. This a great advancement on the state of art.I hope VC directors will become educated on its messages and follow some version of them to success. This is a very well done document, building on the first two in the series. Extraordinary thought went into the text as it walks the line between governance and management from an entrepreneur, VC and independent director point of view. As one who has tried to educate VC partners and associates on emerging company governance,it is spot on. I had limited success because most were too busy to attend; most of those who did felt (and said) they knew it all. My only gripe is the use of the term “Peer” assessment. That’s just incorrect. Peer assessment is when Peers evaluate each other. In this case, the report describes a Board Assessment process where each director is giving his or her views on board matters.
But that’s a minor concern. This a great advancement on the state of art.I hope VC directors will become educated on its messages and follow some version of them to success.

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