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Like many entrepreneurs, my company has a board of directors.
But I also have what I call a “Personal Board of Directors.” These people have no contractual obligations to me and are not paid a salary. They are a group of advisors and mentors that I trust and rely on during difficult times.
If you do not have your own personal advisory board, we highly recommend creating one. However, you cannot add anyone to the committee. Like any good team, I’ve found that personal boards are most effective when they’re built to complement everyone else’s experience (often through diametrically opposed opinions). I did.
I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished. My companies, BondIt Media Capital and Buffalo 8, help fund entertainment projects. And over the past 13 years, my team and I have won his two Emmy Awards and raised and invested more than $350 million. He put money directly into film, television and music projects, worked with world-class creators like Spike Lee, Kevin Smith and Robert De Niro, and then exited the business for a major private equity firm.
But none of this would be possible without the five key members of my personal board of directors. Here’s the framework I’m currently using, her five types of board members as I see them. We believe this will help entrepreneurs and business owners in their pursuits, both large and small.
Member #1: Founder Operator
There’s no question that there’s something distinctly unique about founders, especially those who started their businesses young and struggled to grow their organizations while running their day-to-day operations in the present tense. Thanks to being able to openly troubleshoot with founder operators, my wins and losses are shared experiences and others who have chosen to build, scale, and manage their own companies, even on the most hellish days. You’ll always know what’s being shared with you.
Operating a business in the present tense is fundamentally different from other board members outlined below. Because, unlike other members, they are familiar with the current economy, the current workforce, the current technology, and the current global perspective.
Member #2: Investor
Unless you are lucky enough to find and scale a company with an organic/bootstrap cash flow model, you will need capital from outside investors. I was fortunate to grow up with a father who was a professional investment and fund manager (mostly Fortune 500 publicly traded companies), which gave me a lot of insight into investors’ business models, management teams, and leadership styles. I was able to understand the concept early on. From M&A strategies to disciplined financial reporting and communication requirements to grow any business.
When I talk to investors, I often get disappointed when I boil down the enormous amount of work that entrepreneurs and founders do into very simple words. In other words, is it interesting as an investment because it is creating value in the short term, or is it losing value in the long term? Is it interesting as a distressed/revitalization investment because it’s an immediate investment?Although hyper-clinical, this advisor will help you see the forest for the trees, reshape your perspective, form a bigger vision, and Telling a story helps businesses think bigger than the current state of their investment capabilities. Captivate investors at the level of thought process.
Member #3: Past Exit
Past exiters are board members who started a business, grew the business as leaders, and oversaw sales in meaningful deals to high-quality buyers (both the size and ability of the buyer (To be determined based on the family’s own history). It’s refreshing to spend time with Exits from the past (although I sometimes envy those who have already reached the top in the daily battle of running and growing a business).
“My Past Exit” gives you perspective on shaping potential sales stories, navigating capital conversations, and providing personalized advice on what to do next once the sale actually closes. For example, as I was writing this in a conference room this afternoon, I literally spoke to a past retiree. He said, “Since he retired young, he needs to find a real job himself. He’s bored,” and a thousand thoughts ran through him. In my head, I create a personal mapping of how I want my business to serve me now, when I sell it in the future, and later when I change jobs.
Member #4: Accelerating modern people
Accelerated Contemporary is something I’m used to considering that he’s a contemporary of mine and someone in my industry who is several steps ahead of myself and my company in terms of revenue, influence, and influence. This is the individual board member that took the longest time to develop. and market influence. It took me a while to feel comfortable accepting advice from people many would consider competitors or, frankly, hard to trust, but over time I realized that with smart entrepreneurial thinking I’ve found that people often want to surround themselves with other smart entrepreneurial people, listen to them, and learn from them. , while providing advice and trying to find areas of synergy by working together.
My Accelerated Contemporary is a great way to see what’s possible and how you can unlock greater potential within your industry, especially when you’re feeling defeated or dark clouds are swirling around your thought process. Helpful. Additionally, I have been able to connect the dots with Accelerated Contemporary and launch deals and initiatives that would not have been possible if we had not forged a deeper bond beyond just being contemporaries. I did.
Member #5: Legal/Other Industry Siblings
Big Sibling Legal / Other Industry Minds are personal board members who provide support and guidance in an almost brotherly way, from ages not too close or too far. I grew up as the eldest of her three children, so I didn’t have any older siblings, but as I ventured into business, I connected with many interesting lawyers, bankers, investors, doctors, professors, etc. It’s done. She is about 10-15 years older than me and has provided both personal and professional perspectives that have helped shape my thinking, strategic planning, and actions. It often soothed my younger, more enthusiastic mind.
Today I’m going to talk to my brother and sister Legal/Other industry-minded individual directors about family life, raising children while running a business, the biggest wins and losses to find lessons from my own journey, and often from a lawyer’s perspective. We talk about a variety of topics. One of my brother’s legal/other industry minds happens to be an experienced lawyer and has experience working within large corporations as well as running his own company. They helped me stress test my roadmap and think about the legality of risks.
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