Global Board Report Series: What it takes to build and manage a high-impact, resilient, and future-focussed Board of Directors.

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To find out how today's high-impact boards are being assembled, managed, and evolved, we've built the most comprehensive set of data addressing board-building at start-ups and mid-stage companies in the world.

Our Global Board Report Series features conversations and insights from 750+ Board members, Advisors, Founders, CEOs, and business leaders from around the globe.

We've produced three deep-dive regional reports that cover the current landscape, challenges, and opportunities in: The US, the UK & Europe, and APJ. Each regional report contains a Global Snapshot of the trends reshaping start-up and scale-up ecosystems around the world.

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Here’s just some of what’s inside: 

• the changing focus, composition, and dynamics of high impact Boards
• how to assemble the right team to facilitate growth and scaling
• strategic guidance versus operational involvement
• the role and value of independent board members
• the impact of AI on Board expertise requirements
• Founder-Board relationship management
• redefining the strategy cycle

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Who it’s for

• Founders & CEOs planning the next raise, expansion, or leadership upgrade.
• Chairs, NEDs & INEDs modernising board practice and cadence.
• Operators (CRO/COO/CPO/CFO) who want a board that accelerates execution, not just oversight.
• Investors aiming to de-risk and improve strategy discipline across the portfolio.

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Download for free:

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Founder & Board FAQs

When’s the right time to build a formal board?

Generally, a business will build its first board around the time it raises its first funding round, usually Seed or Series A. At this stage, investors will often require board representation as a condition of their investments.

What skills should an early-stage board have?

The data shows it’s less about titles and more about value. But, when we analysed what the best boards have in common, it comes down to a healthy balance of directors, NEDs, and INEDs, a strong blend of skills, experience, and network, a culture of openness, candor, and respect, a proactive approach to strategy setting, a bias toward action and evolution, and members with high EQs.

Do diverse boards actually perform better?

Data collected in all three regions (the UK & Europe, the US, and APJ) provide evidence of improved performance with diverse boards. For example, in the UK and Europe, companies with more women on their boards said they had seen 53% higher returns on equity, 42% returns to sales, and 66% higher invested returns on capital.

How involved should a board be in operations?

The conversations and data we collected for all regions in the Global Board Report Series, show that board members need to become more operationally involved and offer more hands-on support. 31% of board members and business leaders across the UK & Europe believe that operational support is one of the top three valuable benefits in having a board in the first place.

What’s the role of independent directors in a startup?

An INED doesn’t have any current or former managerial or operational role within the company. Because INEDs don’t have any connections to the organisation or to other members of the board, they are uniquely able to provide an independent and objective opinion.‍

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How do I build a board that actually adds value?

A few of the top 10 green flags that business leaders shared they look for when appointing a board member include strategic thinking, qualifications, soft skills, experience on other successful boards, network and influence, and chemistry fit.

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