Resilience, Risk, and the Right Board: Lessons from a 25-Year Tech Entrepreneur

In this insightful episode of Board Dynamics, Dorrit welcomes serial startup founder and CEO Niclas Persson, co-founder of the sustainability tech startup, Deedster. Drawing from over 25 years of experience in the tech and financial technology sectors, Nicholas shares candid lessons on the crucial, often challenging, role of the board in a fast-paced startup environment.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The Necessity of an External Board Member: Bringing in a professional, external board member early on is crucial for introducing accountability, challenging assumptions, and helping the founder team work more effectively together. Crises Force Focus and Unity: Periods of crisis, such as the pandemic or economic downturns, are pivotal moments that force the board and founder team to revert to their core purpose and execute with high efficiency. Founders Must Prepare for Role Changes: As a startup scales and its needs evolve, the initial founder roles may need to change, and the board is essential in managing these delicate, sometimes painful, transitions. The CEO's Isolation Increases with Scale: As the company grows and institutional investors join the board, the CEO's role becomes more professionalized and isolated, underscoring the importance of a strong chairman. Trust and Preparation are the Foundation of a Good Board: Efficient board work relies on proper preparation, making time to understand the material, and a high level of trust among members.  BEST MOMENTS "You are a serial startup founder, and I know there are a lot of things going on when you work as a startup... How is it that board dynamics actually both make the board work better and also can stall what we're actually doing in the board?" "You must be constantly talking to yourself, what to do and what not to do. And how does that affect the board?" "The first thing is to start, 'okay, well, you have the founders, and you work in your operations every day, but here's the board that's strategic.' Let's... then comes accountability." "Then it's the few reasons that you will survive and succeed. That's where you need to focus." "If you haven't been professional in your board work before, then it can be really painful... because then suddenly you have a very different dynamics in your board when you have investors, lead investors, institutions joining in." TO CONNECT WITH NICLAS https://www.linkedin.com/in/niclas-persson-2870247/ TO CONNECT WITH YOUR HOST https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorrit-kromann-29b4041/  HOST BIO Dorrit Kromann uses her competent network to provide solutions to real problems in boards. Dorrit is experienced in organisational development, going from turnarounds in hospitals to the growth of IT start-ups. From the board experience, Dorrit has used the psychodynamic organisational psychology to onboard, understand, and solve any board challenge, going from how to recruit new members to business challenges to conflicts of interest. PODCAST DESCRIPTION Have you ever been stuck in a challenge in a board meeting? Have you ever felt unheard in a board meeting? Have you ever thought that the business and strategy go in the wrong direction? Have you ever had a suspicion that something was wrong in the company? Board Dynamics podcast will take you through some cases showing these challenges, analyse the cases, and tell you what to do in such situations.

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