“The board is a team of people in dynamic collaboration with the CEO” And actually, as you’ve read, my view of the key thing in hiring a CEO is to look at it as bringing on a later-stage cofounder. If the two founders hired a CEO, that CEO is essentially a third founder. The board is a team of people in dynamic collaboration with the CEO, who, in a startup company, is almost always a founder. It’s actually people who are collaborating with you. Part of the reason that that conception of the board is incomplete is because a board is not just standing as judge and jury. The CEO doesn’t decide to say, “Oh, I’m just going to go and sell the company,” or, “I’m going to go buy this other company,” or, “I’m going to go deploy all my capital on X.” They have to talk to the board about it. The board cannot operate itself, so it’s done by the selection of a CEO and agreement with the CEO and so forth. Now, some people say-and it’s right in part-that the only responsibility of the board is to hire, fire, and compensate the CEO, because the CEO is what essentially expresses that forward strategy. What do you consider their primary function?įundamentally, a board is the in-depth control of what is being set for the future of the company. I jumped at the chance to hear his thoughts on boards of directors, CEO transitions, and other topics that founders and executives need to navigate amid the chaotic ups and downs of high-growth companies.Įlad Gil: You’ve seen quite a few boards in action.
#Reid hoffman series#
There is also a great series of videos on YouTube from the Stanford class he taught where you can watch lessons on this.
Reid has more recently focused on “Blitzscaling” (i.e., the art of growing a company very rapidly), which is also the title of his forthecoming book on the subject of scaling companies. Lucky for us all, Reid has shared a small part of what he’s learned, penning two bestselling books (The Startup of You and The Alliance) and an ongoing series of essays on all things startup. Reid Hoffman is one of the most respected and connected investors, entrepreneurs, and advisors in Silicon Valley. Reid earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in symbolic systems from Stanford University. Prior to joining Greylock, he angel-invested in many influential internet companies, including Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, and Zynga. In addition, he serves on a number of not-for-profit boards, including Kiva, Endeavor, CZI Biohub, and Do Something. Now a partner at Greylock Partners, Reid currently serves on the boards of Airbnb, Aurora, Coda, Convoy, Entrepreneur First, Gixo, Microsoft, Nauto, Xapo, and a few early stage companies still in stealth. Prior to LinkedIn, Reid served as Executive Vice President at PayPal, where he was also a founding board member. He led LinkedIn through its first four years and to profitability as Chief Executive Officer.
#Reid hoffman professional#
Reid Hoffman ( cofounded LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking service, in 2003.
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