Whilst the author does not recommend building 20-person boards, adding a few directors with experience in other boardrooms, who are looking out for all shareholders, and who have diverse backgrounds and perspectives will strengthen companies in good times, and especially in bad.
But one group in Silicon Valley could force private companies to approach governance more seriously: employees themselves. In voting power, they are relatively weak; they hold common stock with less power than institutional investors. But with recruiting so tight, they also are in incredible demand and have sway over management. If former Uber engineer Susan Fowler set in motion events that unseated former CEO Travis Kalanick with one blog post, hundreds or thousands of employees pressuring their companies to appoint more independent directors and improve their disclosure practices could make a difference.