Building and Managing a Board

For venture-scale startups, building an effective board is essential. It can also be tricky, even if you’ve done it before. In this Member Brief, we’ll hear from two amazing Startup Haven Members with extraordinary experience in just about every aspect of building and managing startup boards: Lisa Nelson and Janis Machala.

Bob Crimmins is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25 years of experience as a startup founder, mentor, advisor, writer, speaker, and organizer. He is the founder and general partner of Startup Haven Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund and accelerator that has grown into the largest founder and investor community of its kind, with over 2,500 members across the U.S.

Bob’s entrepreneurial journey began early in life, working in his family’s business at age nine and launching various ventures throughout his youth, from selling Blow Pops in middle school to founding a consulting firm in college. Bob’s career in technology startups began as a software engineer, writing his first program on punch cards in high school, at a time when when it was neither cool nor lucrative to be a teenaged programmer.

Over the years, Bob has founded/co-founded four venture-backed startups and held leadership roles as CEO, CTO, CMO, and CRO. He has also been a highly-rated mentor for numerous accelerator programs, guiding over 300 startups and serving on the advisory boards of more than 20 companies. Bob’s diverse experiences and deep commitment to the startup ecosystem have made him a respected figure in the entrepreneurial community.