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Right board, right time

How fintechs can derive greater value and insights from their board members

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Turn your board from a pain to a gain

At the right time, boards offer an opportunity to deliver great things for the fintech startups that adopt them – but in many companies this potential goes unfulfilled.

To better understand how the composition of fintech startup boards can affect a company, we once again partnered with Copenhagen FinTech to interview fintech founders and CEOs, board members and VCs. We also surveyed Copenhagen Fintech Lab’s startup residents.

Our research identifies the elements required if board members are to boost a company’s income and chances of success. We also considered the specific capabilities and competencies board members need at different periods of a fintech’s development.

Our practical steps set out a path to help fintechs derive greater value and insights from their boards, with relevance to companies beyond the financial services sector.

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If there’s a need for a board to deliver operationally then the management team doesn’t have the right composition of profiles.

VC REPRESENTATIVE IN FINTECH BOARD

Key findings

70%

of fintech startups believe a board is a critical factor to success

55%

believe collaboration with their boards works well

47%

of fintechs believe their boards have delivered in line with expectation

42%

of fintechs believe their board has the right mix of competencies – such as sector and domain expertise

Overall recommendations

       

Making a board work in a fintech environment is complex but we’ve identified three perfectly achievable steps to deliver the right board at the right time:

  1. Fintechs should be able to answer three fundamental questions before establishing a board: they need to be clear on why they need a board, what they expect its members to contribute and which alternatives they should consider before establishing one
  2. If a fintech decides on a board, it should focus on how to identify and recruit the right members to meet the company’s needs, and have the courage to regularly refresh the board composition.
  3. Board members in a fintech startup should expect to be more flexible and to answer more basic practical questions than they might anticipate in a more traditional and established business.

It can be difficult to make changes in a board as you go.

FINTECH CEO

It’s been quite difficult for us to figure out how to make use of our board.

CEO OF FINTECH STARTUP

Related insights

Contact us

Søren Ameland Bligaard

PA fintech and financial services expert

Camilla Buus Poulsen

PA operating model design expert

Martin Tillisch

Strategy, execution and financial sector expert
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