Unbalanced Boards

When high-tech start-ups go public, their boards tend to be dominated by company executives and venture capitalists. That creates dangers for public shareholders—and for the companies themselves.

by

and

Katharina Pick

by

and

Katharina Pick

From the Magazine (February 2001)

Although the ﬂood of Internet IPOs has abated over the past year, scores of freshly minted public companies continue to play a central role in shaping the new economy. The health of these companies hinges to a large degree on the strength of their leaders, including their boards of directors. Unfortunately, the makeup of many of their boards is deeply ﬂawed, compromising their ability to provide independent oversight and to act in the best long-term interests of the companies and their public shareholders.

A version of this article appeared in the February 2001 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Jay W. Lorsch is the Louis E. Kirstein Professor of Human Relations at Harvard Business School.
AZ

Andargachew S. Zelleke is a doctoral research fellow, and
KP

Katharina Pick (kpick@hbs.edu) is a postdoctoral fellow of business administration at Harvard Business School in Boston.

Unbalanced Boards

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