Board Deck Template
By: Simon Schmincke
Tags: Startup, Template, Board, Governance, Resources

Why are we sharing this? Creandum typically invests at a stage before companies run structured board meetings. We see it as our task to help entrepreneurs prepare their governance for the next level when board meetings are the norm. This template helps them to start from scratch, or refine the material they have used so far.

If you have not yet, start by reading our post on How to get the most from your board as a Seed or Series A entrepreneur. It should be the base on how to work with your board, and what you can expect from your board members.

Link to Template

Structuring your board deck

Structuring your board in six general parts has proven to to be useful: A general update, a deep dive into the numbers, and then an update on your organisation and your product before a deep dive into various, strategic topics. Followed by housekeeping.

First, a CEO Update — 15 Minutes

Start with the most important high-level update since the last board meeting: What is going well, and where is still room for improvement in general?

This can be one slide, or multiple, If you briefly want to highlight specific topic, give an update like fundraising, or want to follow up on a previous decision — now is the time.

Try to find a structure for your CEO update that you want to more or less stick to going forward.

KPI Update

You can assume that your board members have read these slides. Many CEOs therefore do not repeat these numbers and skip this chapter entirely during the board meeting. Only if there are questions or if later topics refer to certain KPIs, these slides are opened.

Some decks include more than these five example KPI slides. Staying under 10 KPIs has proven a good detail level compromise.

Always make sure to:

Include forecast and current values — ideally you show 6 to 12 months of historic data. Make sure it is clear to understand current KPI level — include data points in graphs.

You always want to make sure your board understands your top line, your bottom line, and its most important levers.

Organisational Update

One of the most important topics for the board to discuss is how you structure your team. Often, the board is involved in recruiting — sourcing, interviewing, or guiding you through an executive search process.

It is also crucial to understand when, and why people leave. Gaps in the organization can slow things down, hence the board should be informed if you feel you can not achieve what you aim for, for the lack of the right people.

Often times, the board needs to agree if you want to hand out ESOP outside the ordinary. Sometimes, every single ESOP grant needs to be ok’ed. That depends on your shareholders agreement.

Product Update

What is new with the product? How is the offering development? Which prioritization decisions need to be made?

The board does not make operational, product feature prioritization decisions, but when it comes to shifting resources, or cutting offerings, discussions are often held on the board level.

An update to the roadmap to make sure everyone understands what is coming ahead is helpful, too.

Strategic Topics

Usually, you should try to allocate 50%+ of your time on strategic topics, Nevertheless, you as the CEO are trying to get something out of this meeting. And that is usually guidance and decisions on the important matters for your company.

Hence, the slides in this chapter are as diverse as your business. Providing a template would provide little value. Include the follow minimum structure in your slides, for each strategic topic:

Description, background, information regarding the area / decision / topic, If there is optionality, describe the different options both if the company does go this way, and if the company chooses to do something different / defer a decision Business impact of each option Recommended option by the management

In the template, this chapter looks small. Since each chapter can include 5–10 slides, in your board deck it will be the majority of the material.

Housekeeping

As usual, there is the miscellaneous chapter. Errant topics that need to be discussed, decided upon, or simply flagged to the board go here.

Feel free to drag the ESOP decision from the first chapter here. Depending on your jurisdiction these might be long lists to decide upon.

Feel free to add slides on more operational than strategic decision like new office space, new IT systems, service provider changes or other things you want the buy in from your board. The border between update and decision is sometimes blurry.