What is a board of directors? What is its purpose, and what makes for a good board member? And how can you get value from a board, especially if you're a startup?

This week, we have another tactical learning episode to answer these questions and much more. Brad Feld and Matt Blumberg – together with Mahendra Ramsinghani – recently republished and vastly expanded the second edition of their book: "Startup Boards: A Field Guide to Building and Leading an Effective Board of Directors."

Brad has been a venture capitalist since the '90s, with a special focus on technology companies like Zynga and Fitbit. Matt has been a VC and a start-up founder, having created and sold numerous companies, and worked for larger ones like AOL and General Atlantic Partners.

They both agree there's no better time to discuss the value in building a great board, than when you first start a company.