An independent director can play a crucial role in mitigating conflicts of interest among board members while also providing valuable input. Heidi explains what an independent director does and why it's important for a founder to include one on their board.

More information: https://www.threshold.vc/podcast/the-case-for-the-independent-director

Further Reading:

• Every entrepreneur who raises capital should understand how preference structures work and the inherent pitfalls this creates in corporate governance. Excellent article on the topic here: https://thevcfactory.com/liquidation-preference-conflicts-venture-capital
• Fortune recently published an interesting piece on director independence. While it is mostly aimed at public companies, there are good considerations for private companies too: https://fortune.com/2023/10/16/modern-board-directors-independence
• PwC issued this handy guidebook to the whys and hows of adding independent directors to private boards, which you can find here: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/governance-insights-center/pwc-why-private-company-boards-need-outside-directors-v2.pdf
• A solid checklist from Underscore.vc for bringing on an independent director here: https://underscore.vc/startupsecrets/add-an-independent-director-to-your-board
• And finally, when you're ready to actually look for that great independent director, theBoardlist (https://www.theboardlist.com) can be a great resource for you, as can Bolster (https://bolster.com).