Crypto Startup Governance

Boardroom Governance Newsletter #26 | March 28, 2022.

In my last newsletter, I mentioned a discussion on startup governance and the role of directors in venture-backed companies, prompted by Tiger Global and D1 Capital’s decision to pullback from investing in large, late-stage private companies, focusing instead on investing in Series A and B rounds.

One of the distinctive features of Tiger Global’s startup investment strategy is to be an unobtrusive capital partner. This laissez-faire attitude includes not taking board seats and rarely getting involved in a company’s operations. This has also allowed them to speed up their investment process, striking deals in a matter of days rather than weeks or months. In 2021, Tiger Global invested in 335 companies, almost a deal per day, an unprecedented number for a venture investor. But the NY-based firm did not invent this hands-off or “passive investment” approach. In 2009, Yuri Milner from DST invested $200 million in Facebook at a $10 billion valuation (plus an option to purchase extra common…