From Strategy Officer to Board Director
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From Strategy Officer to Board Director
How to Access Venture Networks, Build Credibility, and Secure Startup Board Roles
For many Chief Strategy Officers, a board role is the next logical step.
Yet the path to the boardroom is rarely clear.
Public-company directorships are sourced through familiar channels: search firms, executive networks, structured nomination processes. Venture-backed companies recruit board and advisory talent very differently — and the routes in are largely invisible to operators who haven't spent time inside that world.
Our next event will look at where venture board and advisory roles actually come from, what makes a strategy leader credible to founders and investors, and how CSOs can position themselves for the kinds of opportunities that don't show up on a job board.
This interactive roundtable will feature David Teten, Partner at Orange Collective, an investment firm backing AI companies from Y Combinator — one of the most concentrated sources of high-growth startups globally. The firm leverages a network of 150+ YC alumni as venture partners and backs breakout founders at the intersection of AI and entrepreneurship.
David's career has been built inside the venture platform: scaling firms with billions under management, and founding the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of New York, now one of the largest angel networks on the East Coast.
Drawing on all that experience, he has developed a practical framework for how senior executives can break into venture ecosystems and translate their operating experience into advisory and board roles.
Things We Will Cover:
How venture-backed companies source and evaluate board and advisory candidates, and why these processes differ from public-company nominations
Why operational experience alone doesn't open doors in the venture world
Network effects inside venture, founder, and alumni circles, and how to enter them as a senior operator
The credibility signals that matter to founders and investors when they're sizing up a potential board member
Practical first steps for CSOs entering the venture and startup advisory market
How early advisory and board roles compound into broader opportunities over time
This conversation is designed for senior strategy and innovation leaders who are thinking about their long-term trajectory, seeking to expand their influence beyond the enterprise, and looking for a clearer, more intentional path toward the boardroom.