Nailing the board meeting: A conversation with Ron Gill

The former NetSuite CFO and veteran board member shares his tips for nailing your next board meeting as a CEO or CFO

For leaders at today’s fast-growing tech companies, the board meeting can be one of the most illuminating—and most stressful—parts of each quarter.

While your board members have ample experience and useful perspectives to share on your company’s trajectory, it’s often easier to get lost in the weeds of last quarter’s results than have a meaningful discussion about your future strategy.

So what does your board really want to talk about this quarter? And how can you as a CEO or CFO maximize what you get out of your next board meeting?

To answer these questions and more, I sat down with Ron Gill, one of the most sought-after independent board members in the tech space today.

Gill has over three decades of experience in finance leadership at some of the biggest companies in tech, as former CFO at NetSuite, VP of Finance at Hyperion, and Chief Controller at SAP. Today, Gill sits on the boards of HubSpot, Amplitude, and Benchling, among others.

In this conversation, Gill shares his insights from time spent on both sides of the board meeting, including:

• How board meetings have changed in the past 30 years

• What your board does (and doesn’t) want to spend time on 

• Why you’re probably showing too many slides in the board meeting

Watch the full conversation to learn Gill’s best tips for nailing your next board meeting as a CEO or CFO. ⊞