????上周，我與我們最近所投資公司的CEO們進行了兩次會談，談到了“理想的董事會會議是什么樣的？”。我正在就這個問題寫一本書《初創公司董事會：重構董事會，給創業者更好的支持》（Startup Boards: Reinventing the Board of Directors to Better Support the Entrepreneur），因此要解釋我認為理想的董事會會議對我而言并不難，因為我對此已經進行了非常深入的思考。

????我一直建議CEO們到其他公司擔任外部董事。不管公司規模大小，不管是否與這家公司有關聯，或者CEO是否了解相關的創業者。我更感興趣的是CEO將獲得在別人的公司擔任董事的經驗。

????在一家迅速成長的初創企業擔任CEO是項艱巨的任務。既有欣喜，也有沮喪，更多的日子則是介于兩者之間。我從未遇到過一家初創公司是一帆風順地成長，也從未遇到過哪個CEO不需要定期學習新事物、沒有遭遇過挫折、也沒有經歷過巨大的不確定性和掙扎。

????鑒于我已經不再擔任CEO（雖然我曾經是CEO，而且當了7年），我沒有承受作為CEO的壓力。十七年來，我一直向一起工作的CEO們提供意見。即便我大筆投資一家公司，我也能在情感上和職能上超越CEO日常的壓力和變動，但與此同時仍能理解這些問題，因為我也曾經有過這樣的經歷。

????現在想象一下，你就是一家迅速成長的初創公司的CEO。如果能花一小部分時間，像我一樣以同樣超然的情感和職能思考別人的公司，是不是很棒？它不僅能拓展你的新才能，還將給你一個更寬廣的視角來審視“CEO職務”到底應該如何履行。你或許會對CEO產生一些新的感受，包括共鳴（因為你也是一名CEO）——這對于有些人而言可能很難理解，但從本質上說這是更好地認識你自己，特別是當你的情緒有些低落的時候。你會對其他董事產生共鳴，幫助你更好地認識自己公司的董事，或者學到一些方式方法，與他們建立起更有效的關系，或者決定你是否需要換董事。

????此外，還有很多微妙的收獲。你的人際網絡將得到拓展。你將從另一個不同的視角來審視一家公司。你將站在融資討論的另一邊（你是董事，不是CEO）。你將更深入地理解“受托責任”。你將和另一名CEO建立起同儕關系，融入董事會-CEO關系之中。你將接觸到新的管理風格。你將經歷不同的沖突，但沒有相同的壓力。這種收獲說也說不完。

????我通常建議只擔當一家公司的外部董事。而不是兩家、三家——就一家。超過一家就太多了——作為在任CEO，你不可能有太多時間對擔任外部董事抱有認真態度并深思熟慮。或許你感覺自己有能力擔任多家公司的董事，但你自己的公司才是第一位的。當然，也有例外，特別是連續創業的企業家與某一位投資者之間，這是一種涉及多家公司、更深入的合作關系（我手頭就有幾家這樣的公司）。但通常情況下，一家就足夠了。

????這里面不包括非營利機構的董事。非營利機構的董事你想做多少都隨你。但在非營利機構，你將學到和體驗到的變化、激勵、動機等等是完全不同的。這不是我們今天要討論的問題。

????如果你是一家初創公司的CEO，還沒有在另外一家公司擔任董事，不妨想想怎么來做。如果你在我的圈子里，還沒有擔任外部公司董事，不妨聯系我，或許我可以幫你結識一些人。

????布拉德?菲爾德(@bfeld)作為早期投資者和創業者已有二十多年。在共同創立Foundry Group前，他共同創立了風險投資公司Mobius Venture Capital以及幫助建立和經營軟件公司的Intensity Ventures。布拉德還是創業公司孵化器TechStars的共同創始人，他的博客地址是www.feld.com/wp/。

????譯者：早稻米

????Last week I had two meetings with CEOs of companies we've recently invested in where the question of "what is an ideal board meeting" came up. I'm writing an entire book on it called Startup Boards: Reinventing the Board of Directors to Better Support the Entrepreneur, so it's easy for me to define my ideal board meeting at this point since my head is pretty deep into it intellectually.

????One of the things I always suggest to CEOs is that they be an outside director for one company that is not their own. I don't care how big or small the company is, whether or not I have an involvement in the company or if the CEO knows the entrepreneurs involved. I'm much more interested in the CEO having the experience of being a board member for someone else's company.

????Being CEO of a fast growing startup is a tough job. There are awesome days, dismal days, and lots of in-between days. I've never been in a startup that was a straight line of progress, and I've never worked with a CEO who didn't regularly learn new things, have stuff not work or not go through stretches of huge uncertainty and struggle.

????Given that I am no longer a CEO (although I was once – for seven years) I don't feel the pressure of being CEO. As a result I've spent a lot of the past 17 years being able to provide perspective for the CEOs I work with. Even when I'm deeply invested in the company, I can be emotionally and functionally detached from the pressure and dynamics of what the CEO is going through on a daily basis while still understanding the issues since I've had the experience.

????Now, imagine you are a CEO of a fast growing startup. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to spend a small amount of your time in that same emotional and functional detachment for someone else's company? Not only would it stretch some new muscles for you, it'd give you a much broader perspective on how "the job of a CEO" works. You might have new empathy for a CEO, which could include self-empathy (since you are also a CEO) – which is a tough concept for some, but is fundamentally about understanding yourself better, especially when you are under emotional distress of some sort. You'd have empathy for other board members and would either appreciate your own board members more, or learn tools and approaches to develop a more effective relationship with them, or decide you need different ones.

????There are lots of other subtle benefits. You'll extend your network. You'll view a company from a different vantage point. You'll be on the other side of the financing discussions (a board member, rather than the CEO). You'll understand "fiduciary responsibility" more deeply. You'll have a peer relationship with another CEO that you have a vested interest in that crosses over to a board – CEO relationship. You'll get exposed to new management styles. You'll experience different conflicts that you won't have the same type of pressure from. The list goes on and on.

????I usually recommend only one outside board. Not two, not three – just one. Any more than one is too many – as an active CEO you just won't have time to be serious and deliberate about it. While you might feel like you have capacity for more, your company needs your attention first. There are exceptions, especially with serial entrepreneurs who have a unique relationship with an investor where it's a deeper, collaborative relationship across multiple companies (I have a few of these), but generally one is plenty.

????I don't count non-profit boards in this mix. Do as much non-profit stuff as you want. The dynamics, incentives, motivations, and things you'll learn and experience are totally different. That's not what this is about.

????If you are a CEO of a startup and you aren't on one other board as an outside director, think hard about doing it. And, if you are in my world and aren't on an outside board, holler if you want my help getting you connected up with some folks.

????Brad Feld (@bfeld) has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars, and blogs at http://www.feld.com/wp/