Carefully curated

November 27, 2023

After the board meeting at the end of October where we got buy-in around the general direction of the forecast for 2024, the next step was to fine tune all the details. Between updates on vendor negotiations, finalized contracts, and a better assessment of deal volume growth based on the latest numbers from the past few weeks, we presented the final locked-in plan for revenue and expenses for 2024 to the board this past week.

To say the conversation went well is an understatement. A board member left us with a parting thought, which was that "I have never seen the team so focused and so dialed in. The amount of progress these past two months has been remarkable and something we haven't seen ever before in the past 2 years we've been an investor." The sentiment was echoed across the board by all of the directors, even though some are brand new to the company, they've shared their optimism in our results this quarter and it's giving them a ton of confidence in us heading into 2024.

A common mistake many startups make is choosing the wrong board members. Companies oftentimes don't give much thought to it, thinking that they'll always have autonomy as the management team when the reality couldn't be further from the truth. The board holds the votes, they hold the final say, and they can also approve or reject any major decision whether the company likes it or not. Board selection and board management is a very extensive process that has to be carefully navigated. We had 6 groups who wanted to join our board after our Series B and we had to do a delicate dance around the other 4 while also pushing the 2 we wanted to step up to the plate and ensure they understood what they were signing up for. Nowadays, board management takes up a significant portion of my time as I work to ensure that everyone is on the same page and bought in on any major changes or developments we're making.

We put in the work now so that when times are tough or when we need them most, we have them in our camp. These decisions we've made will have repercussions for years to come and it's encouraging to see we made the right decision every step of the way in how we brought this board together.