Best Practices for Managing your Board - (Founder Fundamentals Series)
- Date
- 2026-03-25
- Location
- There is paid parking available under Pier 70 or at the SAM Sculpture Garden. Entrance to AI House is up the staircase closest to the water, furthest from the street., Seattle, WA, USA
- Host
- JP Morgan Events
About this event
A strong board can help a company move faster, make better decisions, and avoid preventable mistakes. A poorly managed board can do the opposite. This session is built for founders who want to be intentional about how they work with their board from the start, with practical guidance on setting expectations, running productive meetings, and turning board time into a real advantage. About the Event Best Practices for Managing your Board is part of the Founder Fundamentals Series, a practical event designed to help founders build the operating habits that matter as their companies grow. Rather than treating board management as a formality, this session focuses on how to make the board relationship useful, efficient, and aligned with the needs of the business. This is an in-person gathering in Seattle with room for real conversation, not just passive listening. Expect a setting where founders, operators, and community members can learn from shared experience, compare approaches, and leave with a clearer picture of what strong board management looks like in practice. The focus is on the fundamentals: how to communicate with board members, how to prepare for meetings, how to handle updates and reporting, and how to create a board dynamic that supports thoughtful oversight without slowing the company down. Whether you already have a board or expect to form one in the future, these are skills worth building early. What to Expect The session is designed to be practical and discussion-oriented. You can expect a mix of structured guidance, examples of common board-management scenarios, and opportunities to connect with others navigating similar questions. Topics will likely include: Board meeting preparation: what to send in advance, what to cover live, and how to keep meetings focused Founder-board communication: how to build trust through clarity, consistency, and honest updates Roles and expectations: how to think about what your board should do, and what should stay with the operating team Decision-making and governance: how to use the board well on major company questions without creating confusion or bottlenecks Ongoing rhythms: how to establish a cadence for updates, follow-ups, and accountability between meetings Because this is part of a broader founder-focused series, the tone is likely to be grounded and useful rather than overly theoretical. The goal is not to make board management sound complicated. It is to help founders approach it with more confidence, structure, and intention. You should also expect informal networking before or after the session. With tags spanning tech, community, networking, meetup, and social, this event is a good fit if you value learning in a room with other ambitious builders and operators. Why Attend Many founders spend a lot of time learning how to raise capital, hire, and build product, but much less time learning how to manage the board once it exists. That gap can create avoidable stress. This event helps close it by focusing on a leadership skill that becomes more important as stakes rise. Attending can help you better understand how to: Run more effective board meetings that create alignment instead of drag Communicate hard truths early while maintaining credibility and trust Use your board strategically for perspective, pattern recognition, and support Avoid common board-management mistakes that waste time or create friction Build durable governance habits that will serve you as the company evolves This is especially valuable if you are approaching your first board, already working with investors, or trying to level up how you lead the company externally as well as internally. Even if your board is still small or informal, better practices now can save significant time and headaches later. Just as importantly, being in the room with other founders can help normalize the questions that often stay behind closed doors. Board dynamics can feel opaque when you are figuring them out alone. A focused in-person event gives you a chance to learn faster, pressure-test your assumptions, and leave with ideas you can apply immediately. Practical Details When: Wednesday, March 25 at 12:30 PM PDT Where: In person in Seattle, USA at AI House. If you are driving, paid parking is available under Pier 70 or at the SAM Sculpture Garden. Entrance details matter here: the entrance to AI House is up the staircase closest to the water, furthest from the street. If this is your first time at the venue, give yourself a little extra time so you can arrive settled and ready to engage. Because this is an in-person midday event, it is well suited for founders and operators who want a focused learning session without the sprawl of a full-day program. Come ready to take notes, ask questions, and meet people who care about building companies thoughtfully. If board management is becoming more relevant to your role, this is exactly the kind of session that can sharpen your approach quickly.
Who should attend
This is for people who want practical guidance on working with a board, not abstract advice. - **You are a founder preparing to form your first board** and want to understand the basics before the stakes get higher. - **You already have a board and want to run it better**, with clearer communication, stronger meeting structure, and more productive discussions. - **You are an early-stage startup leader or operator** who supports investor updates, board materials, or internal planning and wants better context on how the process should work. - **You are navigating growth, fundraising, or major company decisions** and want a stronger framework for using your board as a strategic resource. - **You value learning in person with other founders and builders** and want a session that combines useful content with genuine community connection. - **You appreciate concrete founder education** and are looking for actionable fundamentals you can apply right away to your company and leadership style.