Simon Willison’s Weblog

What does a board of directors do? Extremely useful guide to what life as a board member looks like for both for-profit and non-profit boards by Anil Dash, who has served on both.

Boards can range from a loosely connected group that assembled on occasion to indifferently rubber-stamp what an executive tells them, or they can be deeply and intrusively involved in an organization in a way that undermines leadership. Generally, they’re somewhere in between, acting as a resource that amplifies the capabilities and execution of the core team, and that mostly only helps out or steps in when asked to.

The section about the daily/monthly/quarterly/yearly responsibilities of board membership really helps explain the responsibilities of such a position in detail.

Don't miss the follow-up Q&A post.