Definition
A chair at the table where actual company decisions get made, typically negotiated by lead investors who want control over their millions. Where strategy is debated, CEOs are fired, and founders learn they don't actually run their company alone.
Example Usage
The Series A lead took two board seats and insisted on bringing in an independent director with enterprise sales experience.
Origin
Corporate governance structure dating to early corporations, formalized in VC term sheets in the 1970s
Fun Fact
Some celebrity VCs are famous for accumulating dozens of board seats—at one point, Marc Andreessen reportedly sat on 18 boards, leading to questions about how he had time for anything else.
Source: Corporate governance and NVCA documentation
Related Terms
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See “board seat” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.
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