Building a strong board of directors can have powerful benefits for your fast-growth software company. The right board can help drive incisive advice on strategic decisions and steer you in the right direction with the right experience and contacts.

By outlining board strategies and best practices of successful fast-growth companies, our study offers the first step toward your board-building success. Questions from many of our fast-growth clients include:

• What is the appropriate size of technology company boards? Too large and they are unmanageable. Too small and they are not deep enough.
• Who should be on my board? What is the makeup that most benefits me? What makeup do successful companies have from a functional experience, industry experience, education, age, and diversity perspectives?
• What is the appropriate tenure for a board member?
• What are most common compensation strategies for technology company boards and is my company in the ball park to attract to talent?

When building a high performance board, you ultimately need to:

• Appreciate the benefits a seasoned board of directors can bring to your firm
• Learn how to leverage a board of directors for strategic planning and decision making
• Determine the best means to compensate your directors
• Develop a process to determine what types of individuals should make up your board and how you can recruit them to the table
• Discover the ins and outs of producing an agenda that sets the stage for results driven board meetings

Results and conclusions in this report are based on the study of the top 10 fastest-growth software companies with revenues ranging from $100 million to $1 billion. This list of companies originated from the 2008 Software 500 ranking by Software Magazine (www.softwaremag.com). Financial and technical data were collected from the Software 500 list, as well as Hoovers, ZoomInfo, and archived press releases.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this study further or discuss some of the additional elements listed above, please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Whether you are interested in commenting on one or more of the aspects of this study, share your experiences, or need assistance with creating or enhancing your board of directors, we would be more than happy to speak with you and hear your feedback and experiences.

Best regards,

Dora Vell