My name is Ohad, and I’m a board member.

It took some effort to admit this, given how much crap I’ve given the idea of board members, especially external ones.

I used to think that “independent”, non-investor board members were just window dressing, a fancy position used by well connected people to feel like they have a bit of influence, or by other influential people to throw their old coporate peeps a bone late in their career.

I still think that, but I used to think that as well!

The only thing I’d add is: sometimes, for (probably) limited time periods, having someone with specific experience have a close under-the-hood look at your company and offer unvarnished feedback while being willing to roll their sleeves to solve a problem (and be aligned on incentives) is a good thing. Sometimes, that person is effective enough that they don’t need to join as an executive to make a difference. Sometimes.

I still think board appointments should be rare, and that founder CEOs should either be allowed to do their thing or be replaced. I haven’t really changed my view about early stage private company governance.

But sometimes… every rule has an exception.