Step 25 of 30 · Build & grow
Board and governance
What it is
The structures that decide how the company is directed and held accountable: board or advisory board, shareholder rights, decision authority, reporting, controls, and conflict rules.
Why it matters
Good governance protects the founder, investors, staff, and customers. It is what lenders, investors, and acquirers inspect first, and it stops one bad decision from sinking the company.
What Flir develops
Governance charter, board or advisory composition, decision-rights matrix, reporting pack, meeting cadence, and key policies
Target objective
Put in place governance proportionate to the company's size that makes decisions clear, accountable, and credible to capital providers.
At 12 staff and its first outside investment, Bloom forms a three-seat board (founder, investor, and an independent retail-finance director) with a monthly one-page dashboard and a rule that spend over $10k needs board sign-off.
Governance by stage
- • Solo or early: an advisory board of 2–4 people and a written decision log.
- • First outside capital: a formal board, shareholder agreement, and investor reporting.
- • Scaling: board committees (audit, remuneration), internal controls, and a risk register.
- • Pre-exit: audited accounts, a clean cap table, and documented policies.
Who belongs on the board
- • Skills the founder lacks: finance, legal, industry operations.
- • At least one genuinely independent voice.
- • Investor representation matched to ownership, not generosity.
- • People who will challenge, not only cheer.
Core policies
- • Conflicts of interest and related-party transactions.
- • Delegated spending authority and dual sign-off.
- • Whistleblowing, ethics, and code of conduct.
- • Data protection, risk, and succession of key roles.
Deep-dive guide: Family business vs. traditional ownership Deep-dive guide: Building an ethics program
Monitoring brief
Signals Flir should keep checking as this part of the plan evolves.
- Company-law and filing obligations
- Board attendance, action follow-through, and reporting quality
- Shareholder, lender, and investor covenant requirements