I've served on three boards. One was a prominent private university. One was an exceptionally fast growing company about to go public. One was a small private company that owned their niche. Every board meeting was about money. We barely talked product, customer (or student) experience, brand, or anything remotely close to the thing the company did. It was fundraising and financials, and, for me, frustration. It was mystifying. We don't have a board at 37signals, so I didn't have my own experience to fall back on, but wow, I just didn't get it. If you're going to have a board, make it an advantage, not an obligation. Find the best damn product people you can, and take advantage of a half-dozen incredible improvement-focused minds you could never hire to work for you, but are there for you. A product board. A service board. A board in service of the product, or a product for the service.

You have a limited supply of yes, and an unlimited supply of no. Yet people act as if the opposites are true. Yes is easier to say, but no is easier to do.