An engaging take on an under-appreciated topic.
Essential reading for business founders with ambitions to grow.
Genuine practical insight alongside valuable historical context. Excellent work!
Especially in complex times… a necessary read.
Great for entrepreneurs, business creators.
Great reference work with insights from many real world situations.
So much more than a boardroom guide.
Valuable insights into the workings of private company boards.
Good insight into what it takes to grow a company.
Essential reading.
“The SmallCo Board is not a ‘small’ BigCo Board.”
Essential reading.
This book contains much wisdom and “lessons learned” (often the hard way, I daresay).
I have spent my whole career working with growing companies (mostly unquoted) and I can heartily endorse this comprehensive guide.
By any single metric this book should be dull. However, I loved it.
What, beyond simple legal necessity, is the real purpose of a Board in NewCos through to pre-IPO Companies? How do you do it well? How and why is it done badly? In what way do successful serial entrepreneurs approach the Board dramatically differently from inexperienced first-time Founders?
These questions and many more are answered in The Realpolitik of the Unlisted Company Board based on conversations with 80 experienced UK SmallCo Board members – Founders, CEOs, Chairmen, SmallCo and BigCo NEDs, Angels and VCs – whose Board experience ranged from relatively little to, in some cases, over half a century. Interviewees’ combined experience of Boards amounted to thousands of man-years.
View the Contents, read extracts or Look Inside on Amazon (17/17 5* reviews)
An engaging take on an under-appreciated topic
I learned quite a lot by reading Mike’s book. It takes a fairly dry topic and I think makes it very engaging. He’s got a really I think, a very readable style, it uses lots of colorful examples and I found the book was just a gold mine of information. Putting together a board right now, if you’re an entrepreneur and you’re running a Fintech company, you really need to read this book, I think, to make sure that you are getting the most out of your board.
Essential reading for business founders with ambitions to grow
This is a great “how to” guide to setting and managing a board – from the startup to exit. The right board will turbocharge your growth, and the wrong one will be a serious drag on performance. Mike distils the wisdom of 80 experts, bringing in the perspectives of NEDs, VCs and founders, to tell you how to get this key aspect of business right. There’s more to it than many people might think at first, and it’s not just about compliance, or some cosy mentoring. If you are a startup founder, an investor or somebody with ambitions to work as a NED, then this book should be essential reading to make sure you avoid the most common pitfalls, have productive meetings and stay out of jail!
Genuine practical insight alongside valuable historical context. Excellent work!
Mr Baliman does all Board members, at any type of organisation, a great service in setting the role of the Board and the Board Non-Executive Director (NED) in historical context before then providing a valuable checklist of do’s and don’ts for them. The writing style is always clear, concise and entertaining (an achievement in itself for what is, admittedly, a rather dry subject!). This book deserves a wide readership, particularly amongst policy makers and regulatory authorities, in any country and any industry. Highly recommended.
Especially in complex times… a necessary read
Mike Baliman has become a student of the Board of the governors and helps put perspective on the role of the board by looking at the evolution of the board. Especially in today’s complex times, every company big or small needs their board to help steer strategy and drive growth. The Realpolitik of the Unlisted Company Board breaks down the different roles and the last chapter is very useful on how to fix broken boards.
Great for entrepreneurs, business creators
Wish I had this years ago when I was CEO of a manufacturing company. Balanced solid advice on how to structure a board that will help and guide in the stages of building a small business. Highly recommended.
Great reference work with insights from many real world situations
This is not a book you read cover to cover – it is a great piece of reference material that allows you to dip in on specific areas or situations that you are interested in as you work in or with an unlisted company board. Once you dip in you often find your self reading further than intended and gaining real world insights from founders, board members, CEOs and chairman who have been through the journey you are on. Useful and entertaining reading.
So much more than a boardroom guide
Written with energy and bubbling intelligence, this is more than just a business self-help manual. The historical analysis, wide range of reference points, and political/philosophical observations are intriguing and make one question whether some of the established “truisms” of our social/business framework are really the best way to organise ourselves for the public good. Not just the “Smallco” businessman, but politicians, regulators and academics will find this stimulating reading.
Fascinating analysis of the history of private companies and the issues facing private company boards today. Valuable insights for anyone involved with private companies and the challenges faced by directors, particularly non-executive directors. Lots of examples and suggestions, and a great complement to more formal “textbooks” on company boards. Written in an engaging and humorous style making it a very interesting read.
Insightful read. Decades of experienced distilled into direct and actionable advice.
This book contains much wisdom and “lessons learned” (often the hard way, I daresay), and I have since recommended it to at least two of my clients across the Pond who are, right now, building boards too. My own copy is now falling to bits, and covered in ink where I underlined key sections that were especially relevant to my current challenges and furiously scribbled down my own thoughts. Fantastic read.
A comprehensive guide to the issues private company directors should know
This is a very useful book. It is well researched and well written. It makes many insightful points and should be very helpful to all who are taking non-executive director roles on private company boards and want to learn more about the whole subject.
I have spent my whole career working with growing companies (mostly unquoted) and I can heartily endorse this comprehensive guide.