Brent Constantz: Be Your Only Board Member

So my third company, I just put. Actually, it isn't even. Wasn't even a C corporation. It was what we call an llc. Everybody were members, funded ourselves, got checks from the famous orthopedic surgeons, and we're selling product and we're profitable with no outside investment, no professional investors, very soon. And it was an enjoyable experience. The main thing about it was there was only one person on the board, and that was me. And we always got along. There was never any controversy. You know, and it's kind of a sad thing, but board of directors debilitate companies, and it's not intended. But the reality of the situation is if you have a board meeting every month, your management team's going to spend a day or two just preparing for the board meeting, and then they're going to spend a day or two just recovering from the board meeting. And typically, most venture capitalists are on more than one board. And even though you send out the board package days ahead of time, FedEx and all that, they show up at the board meeting, opening the board package, make a lot of shoot from the hip decisions, and then at the next board meeting, they ask you, well, why'd you make that decision? And so it literally takes about 20% of the management team's time. And what I learned in that one company is by not having a board and by actually being able to be facile and operate quickly, you've just gained 20% of your time and you've lowered everyone's stress level a lot and you're allowed to pursue your original vision. And that's what we were able to do there. It was successful. I made more money off that company than the other two combined. And still amazing. It's all over the world. It's in operating rooms, it's a better product than the first product, and they're competing.