DP15024 Board dynamics over the startup life cycle

Author(s):	Michael Ewens, Nadya Malenko
Publication Date:	July 2020
Date Revised:	August 2020
Keyword(s):	Allocation of control, Board Of Directors, corporate governance, Independent Directors, Mediation role, venture capital
JEL(s):	G24, G34
Programme Areas:	Financial Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15024

Venture capital (VC) backed firms face neither the governance requirements nor a major separation of ownership and control of their public peers. These differences suggest that independent directors could play a unique role on private firm boards. This paper explores the dynamics of VC-backed startup boards using new data on board member entry, exit, and individual director characteristics. We document several new facts about board size, the allocation of control, and composition dynamics. At formation, a typical board has four members and is entrepreneur-controlled. Independent directors are found on the median board after the second financing event, when control over the board becomes shared, with independent directors holding the tie-breaking vote. These patterns are consistent with independent directors playing both a mediating and advising role over the startup life cycle, and thus representing another potential source of value-add to entrepreneurial firm performance.