How To Build a Great Board
Talented board members and strong board culture can scale your business and impact to new heights. Learn about the several types of boards and how to manage your board to support your entrepreneurial journey and your company’s success. The series will be led by Karyn Barsa and will include several CEOs and experienced board members as guest speakers.
June 3: Board Type Matters
We’ll review types of boards, their purpose, and when to form one. After this session, you will be able to identify which board structure is right for your organization.
June 10: Getting the Most From Your Board
We’ll cover board components, how to manage a board, and how to construct meeting agendas. You’ll gain clarity about the benefits a properly managed board can provide to your venture. Guest speakers include Peter Horan, Horan MediaTech Advisors, and David Kenney, VertueLab.
Peter C. Horan is an entrepreneur and digital media investor with a history of building successful media, commerce, and ad technology businesses. As a CEO and independent director, he has been part of eight profitable exits in the last ten years totaling almost $1.8 billion in value and more than $4 billion in public market value creation. He has also been actively involved in $800 million in acquisitions over that same period. In February of 2014, Peter formed Horan MediaTech Advisors as an umbrella for his investment and consulting activities. Peter currently works with and/or has investments in AdZerk; Business.com, Candid, Digital Trends, Lending Tree; Outdoor Project; Purch; ShopPad; Skift; Slumberkins, TougHer, and WildFang. He also advises a number of other media companies. Peter is an active early-stage investor and is involved with the Oregon Angel Fund, Cascade Angels, and Portland Seed Fund.
David Kenney leads VertueLab, a nonprofit with a mission to unleash innovation and entrepreneurship to solve environmental challenges and catalyze shared economic prosperity. Focused on reversing climate change, VertueLab makes catalytic investments and provides support to early stage clean technology companies. During his thirteen years leading the organization, VertueLab launched the use of program-related investing (PRI) to support early stage cleantech startups and is actively working to connect more philanthropic capital to climate crisis solutions. Prior to VertueLab, Kenney spent twelve years at Intel Corp. He held leadership roles in finance, project management and business and organizational operations. He has a BA degree from the University of Washington and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
June 17: Should You Pay Board Members?
We’ll explore the question of whether to pay your board members, and the various compensation types to consider. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear both sides of this issue and to consider creative compensation elements. Guest speakers include Allie Magyar of Hubb and Steve Davis of Davis Wright Tremaine.
Allie Magyar, founder and CEO of Hubb, is the embodiment of the serial entrepreneur, innovator and industry disrupter. After conceptualizing, building and scaling two companies, she founded Hubb in 2015 to deliver technology innovation and data-driven decision-making to the events industry. At Hubb, Allie brings vision, heart and soul to the company’s strategic direction with an emphasis on integrating the mind of the meeting planner into Hubb’s product, partnerships, integrations, and growth. An inspirational leader and trailblazing female executive in the event-tech industry, Allie relishes breaking down barriers—whether in technology or in gender roles. She has been recognized as a Top Woman Entrepreneur by Smart Meetings and is a member of the Smart Meetings Women in Events Hall of Fame.
Steve Davis, as a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Steve focuses his practice on representing emerging growth companies and their investors. His clients are often companies that have participated in tech incubator and accelerator programs including Techstars, PIE, Portland Seed Fund or the PSU Business Accelerator, among others. He regularly represent startups and their investors in connection with securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. Steve holds degrees from NYU School of Law, Boston College School of Law, and University of Virginia.
June 24: Recruiting Board Members
We’ll talk about how to attract and retain board members. After this session, you’ll be able to locate and approach board candidates with confidence. Tyrone Poole will be guest speaker.
Tyrone Poole, founder of NoAppFee.com, didn’t develop his concept in a sleek Silicon Valley incubator. He developed it in a Portland homeless shelter, as a resident. Nine years ago, while training to become a fireman, Tyrone suffered a serious leg injury that put him in a hospital bed for nine months and on crutches for nearly a year. Upon his release he had lost everything. He was evicted, his car had been repossessed, and he had incurred over twenty thousand dollars in medical debt. After months of couch surfing he found himself checked in to the YWCA homeless shelter. This is where NoAppFee was founded. He worked as a housing advocate for the shelter, whilst being a resident, to find low income and homeless families’ places to live.
Details
Time: Thursdays 11am to 12:15pm (PDT)
Cost: $195 for OEN members; $275 for non-members. *Sorry, no refunds.*
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Instructor
Karyn Barsa
Founder, K. Barsa Associates
Karyn Barsa has led vibrant premium-brand organizations as CEO, COO, and CFO. She has extensive experience as a member of governance boards and advisory boards for both public and private companies, and as a trustee for several non-profit organizations. Karyn’s roles on Audit, Risk, and Compensation committees have been integral to the success of numerous organizations. Several of these organizations have been start-ups and small companies, including Radiant Healthcare, Revant Optics, Beau Lake, and others.She has also founded two companies, K Barsa Associates (financial services) and HeadStart Custom Helmets (powersports).
Karyn’s career includes investment banking, turnaround corporate finance, and leadership of emerging and established brands. Karyn has spoken at various conferences and universities about business practices and board experience. She holds an MBA from University of Southern California and BA, Economics from Connecticut College.
Find Karyn on LinkedIn.
Sponsor
VertueLab is a nonprofit fighting climate change by providing funding and holistic entrepreneurial support to cleantech startups. Through a decade of work we have proven that our model can accelerate climate solutions that are key to reversing the climate crisis.
