Beyond the Founding Team | A Leadership Playbook for Growth: Board

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The first independent director is placed within a year of achieving major funding as growth companies begin to elevate governance

^{Source: 2022 RRA Growth Co Analysis, n = 42 Independent Directors}

Building the Independent Board

• The second board placement is typically a QFE, most commonly brought in 1-2 years pre-IPO.
• A third independent director often brings additional functional expertise (go-to-market, voice of the customer etc.).
• At this stage, significant emphasis is placed on finding gender and ethnic/racially diverse candidates if not already represented on the board.

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Authors

• Robert Alexander is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Technology Knowledge team. He is based in New York City.
• Agnes Greaves co-leads the firm’s Core & Growth Technology practice globally and the Consumer Digital & Media practice in Europe. She is based in London.
• Tuck Rickards heads the firm’s San Francisco office and co-leads the Core & Growth Technology practice. He is based in San Francisco.

Methodology and Notes

• Analysis of 40 tech/tech-enabled companies that were founded since 2005 and IPO’d 2017-2021, were largest by region according to valuation at time of deal, and achieved ≥20% revenue growth rate over the three-year period prior to IPO
• Industry verticals included: fintech, healthtech, automotive/transportation, eCommerce/marketplace, software/cloud
• Analysis includes only the appointment of non-founder executives
• Major funding rounds: approximate point in time at which each company reached series C/later stage funding
• APAC excluded from study due to data accessibility
• Sources: Pitchbook, Board Ex