How To Build A Good Board

I've been sitting on early stage company boards for over 15 years now
and I've been on plenty of bad boards and good boards. As I've learned
the difference between the two, I've insisted on certain things when we
negotiate the composition of the board. That has significantly increased
the number of good boards I am on.

Here are the 10 key things I've learned (plus one because it's hard to
stop at 10). They are all appropriate for an early stage company board,
but maybe not all are appropriae as a company gets much larger.

1 - Have at least one founder on the board. Many VCs like to move the
founders out of the way. They think they will be difficult and meddle.
That's always a risk, but the benefit of having founders on the board
vastly outweighs any downside in my mind. Having too many founders on
the board is bad too. You want a diverse set of people on your board,
not any one concentrated group.

2 - Keep the number of VCs on the board to two or three. The number of
VCs on the board is in inverse proportion to the success of the deal.

3 - Local board members are better. They will come to the meetings.
Avoid too many board members who live elsewhere. They'll call into the
meetings. Trust me. And that sucks.

4 - Have at least one and ideally two industry insiders on the board who
are independent of the founders and the VCs. They should bring operating
experience. They should be mentors to the CEO. They should be local so
they come to the meetings.

5 - Do the meetings first thing in the morning when people are fresh. No
laptops and no blackberries other than the laptop that drives the
presentation if one is needed.

6 - Bring the senior management to the board meetings. They should know
the board and the board should know them.

6 - Try to do a dinner the night before at least four times a year with
all the directors attending. Don't bring senior management to these
dinners. They should be for board bonding which is key to a well
functioning board.

7 - Always send the agenda and board materials at least one day in
advance of the meeting and expect/demand that the members read it before
coming to the meeting.

8 - Do not spend the meeting going through the materials slide by slide.
People can read, expect that they will.

9 - Do spend the meeting reviewing where the business is, where it needs
to go, and what strategic decisions need to be made to get there.

10 - Remember that the board works for the Company as much as the
management works for the board. Expect board members to do what you need
from them and manage them to make sure they do.

11 - Keep your board to seven members or less. Five is ideal in my
experience but sometimes you need seven to get the right diversity. Two
insiders, one to three VCs, and one to two industry people is ideal once
the company gets to a certain scale.

Yahoo in image advertising test on mobile phones

*http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/07/AR2006110700089_pf.html*

By Eric Auchard
Reuters
Tuesday, November 7, 2006; 1:16 AM

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc.
<http://financial.washingtonpost.com/custom/wpost/html-qcn.asp?dispnav=business&mwpage=qcn&symb=YHOO&nav=el>
(YHOO.O) is to begin delivering graphical ads to mobile phones as part
of a test of how it can extend corporate brand marketing on the Web into
the wireless market, the company said on Monday.

The Internet media company said it will start an initial public
evaluation later this week in the United States of slimmed-down banner
ads and similar advertising to the small, but growing number of users of
Yahoo's Mobile Web service.

"The challenge is that because cellphone screens have limited real
estate, ads have to more relevant," said Julie Ask, an analyst with
JupiterResearch.

"There is an extra burden" compared to ads delivered to computer users
on the Web.

The brand advertising trial comes a month after Yahoo began a parallel
test to deliver relevant text advertisements tied to searches phone
users can perform on mobile Web browsers. That test is taking place in
the United States and Britain.

Banners ads are nothing new on cellphones. Start-ups like Third Screen
Media of Boston already work with ad agencies, buyers and mobile
carriers to deliver ads to wireless users.

But as more and more U.S. mobile phone users own phones with fast
Internet access, major Internet players are eyeing the market. On the
computer Web, Yahoo is the largest provider of image-based, brand
advertising and the No. 2 supplier of online search advertising behind
rival Google Inc.
<http://financial.washingtonpost.com/custom/wpost/html-qcn.asp?dispnav=business&mwpage=qcn&symb=GOOG&nav=el>
(GOOG.O).

It's a potentially lucrative market.

Because consumers carry mobile phones with them around town, advertisers
are willing to pay several times more for wireless ads as they for
standard computer ads over the Internet.

"The bottom line is there should be a premium for mobile advertising,"
Ask said.

Now consumers can click on interactive ads to learn more details about
an advertiser's offer or to call the advertiser. The ads, which measure
150 pixels by 21 elements, are images that take up a small portion at
the top of the screen.

Yahoo's Mobile Web service is available on most phones offered by major
wireless operators in the United States. It gives consumers access to a
basic set of Yahoo services, including search, e-mail, news, stock
quotes and sports.

JupiterResearch estimates that 10 percent of U.S. mobile users browse
the Internet on their phones. But only 2-3 percent check the Web on
their phones at least five times a week -- a key measure of active
Internet use and advertising readiness.

"Now is the time for Yahoo to experiment," Ask said.

As more U.S. users sign up for high-speed mobile Internet services and
buy newer phones, "Eventually consumers will treat the phone as a
mini-Web experience," Ask predicts.

Google radio ads!!

Check this out, google wants to do local ads over radio to support
"local search", radio is NOT the answer what if you are listening to a
CD or other device here is how local "radio" ads work with our device.
- radio ad locations are geocoded
- As you approach an ad location, a voice-ad, it is downloaded in MP3
to the Icecube
- A notice pops up on the device that shows the availability of the ad
- User can touch the screen to hear the ad.

Is a Google-Clear Channel deal at hand?

Steve Rosenbush

<mailto:steve_rosenbush@businessweek.com>

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/dealflow/archives/2006/11/is_a_google-cle.html

Google, known for its cutting-edge Internet software, may be setting its
sights on the low-tech radio market, according to one media and
entertainment analyst. David Bank, of RBC Capital Markets, issued a note
yesterday saying he thinks it would make a lot of sense for Google to
take a minority stake in radio, TV and outdoor advertising giant Clear
Channel Communications.

The idea might seem strange at first, but there are reasons why such a
deal could work, according to Bank. Clear Channel is exploring strategic
options. And Google may be gearing up to acquire a large chunk of
advertising inventory, as part of a plan to expand beyond its core
search business. link.
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2006/tc20061024_318265.htm?chan=search%20target=>
He says Google has been adding "high profile" radio sales people in New
York, Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Chicago. It has little radio
inventory to sell, though. Bank concludes that Google needs to add
inventory, and that Clear Channel is the best option.

Why would Google, of all companies, are about the radio market? Bank
says Google has its eyes on the local search market, where it sees an
opportunity to sell ads to people looking for nearby goods and services.
"The radio market is by definition a local market, deriving 80% of its
revenue from local advertising," Bank says. "So the radio market would
be a logical add-on for Google."

Google could play a role in a buyout without putting up much cash. Clear
Channel has an enterprise value of about $25 billion, suggesting that a
"club" of private equity firms and other investors might put in a total
of $5 billion to $6 billion in equity. Any one of them could get a small
but strategically important stake of, say, 5% or so, by investing $250
million in cash.

Google's stock closed today at $467.50. The stock, which dropped below
$350 last winter, has been on a tear because investors believe its
expansion into new markets holds promise.