Board meetings and board packs for startups.
A startup board needs one place for board packs, minutes, written consents and committee papers, with access limited to directors, observers and counsel. A data room does this job well for an early board and doubles as the minute book that investor counsel will read in every future round.
Board packs room
- 01 Board calendar
- 02 Board packs
- 03 Minutes
- 04 Written consents
- 05 Committees
- 06 Equity approvals
- 07 Financial reporting
How it works for a startup.
A typical venture-backed board has founders, one or more investor directors, sometimes an independent director, and observers from other funds. Many early boards meet quarterly, and some meet monthly in fast periods. Between meetings, decisions such as option grants or a new bank account are often approved by unanimous written consent.
The pack usually goes out a few days before the meeting: CEO letter, metrics, financials against budget, hiring, product and sales updates, cash runway and items needing approval. Afterwards come the minutes and the signed consents. Over time this archive becomes the company's governance record, and diligence counsel will check every approval in it.
Observers usually have narrower rights than directors and may be excluded from privileged discussions or conflicts. Folder permissions let you keep a privileged legal update or a conflicted topic away from the people who should not see it.
Top 10 data rooms for this job.
Our five measures, re-weighted for board packs. Places 11 to 17 are listed below the cards.
- Setup speed 22%
- Investor experience 21%
- Access control 24%
- Diligence tools 16%
- Startup pricing 18%
- 1 9.1/10First-rate
- $149 monthly
- 14-day free trial
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- NDA e-signing
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- SOC 2 (hosting)
- 2 8.2/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Free trial offered
- 9/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- 3 8.2/10Strong pick
- $250 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- NDA e-signing
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- SOC 2
- 4 8.1/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Free trial offered
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- 5 8.1/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Free trial offered
- 7/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- 6 8.0/10Strong pick
- $55 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 9/12 feature checks
- NDA e-signing
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- HIPAA
- 7 8.0/10Strong pick
- Quote only
- Demo, no trial
- 10/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- 8 7.7/10Good option
- $299 monthly
- Free trial offered
- 7/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- 9 7.7/10Good option
- Quote only
- Demo, no trial
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- 10 7.5/10Good option
- Quote only
- Demo, no trial
- 8/12 feature checks
- Investor Q&A
- Dynamic watermarks
- View-only and download control
- Viewer activity log
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
Show places 11 to 17
- SmartRoom 7.5
- DealRoom 7.5
- Onehub 7.3
- Digify 7.0
- ShareVault 7.0
- DocSend 6.7
- Venue by DFIN 6.5
Folder index.
A starting structure for this room. Rename folders to fit your company and keep the numbers.
Meeting dates, committee schedule, director and observer list with contact rules.
One folder per meeting with the pack, appendices and presentation.
Approved minutes in date order.
Signed unanimous written consents of the board and stockholders.
Audit and compensation committee papers and charters if in place.
Option grant approvals with the 409A report relied on.
Monthly financials, budget approved by the board, audit reports.
Board-approved policies such as expense, signing authority and conflicts.
Counsel updates for directors only, excluded from observers.
Need every file by stage? Use the startup data room checklist.
Must-have features.
| Provider | NDA e-signing | Viewer activity log | Mobile app | Dynamic watermarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | ||||
| iDeals | ||||
| SecureDocs | ||||
| Ansarada | ||||
| Firmex | ||||
| Citrix ShareFile | ||||
| Datasite | ||||
| CapLinked | ||||
| Drooms | ||||
| Intralinks |
- NDA e-signing
- Investors sign the NDA or click-through terms before the room opens.
- Viewer activity log
- Shows which investor opened which file, for how long and when, and exports the record.
- Mobile app
- An installable phone and tablet app on top of the mobile website.
- Dynamic watermarks
- Stamps the viewer email and the time across every page, so a forwarded screenshot points back to its source.
Set up the room in 6 steps.
- 1
Set up groups
Create separate groups for directors, observers, management and counsel, and decide which folders each one can open.
- 2
Template the pack
Keep the same sections in every pack so directors can compare meetings quickly and nothing is missed.
- 3
Publish a few days ahead
Upload the pack to that meeting folder in advance and notify directors. View tracking shows who has read it.
- 4
Sign consents in the room
Circulate written consents for e-signature and file the signed versions in the consents folder.
- 5
File minutes promptly
Approve minutes at the next meeting and store the final signed version next to the pack.
- 6
Keep privileged items separate
Put counsel advice in a directors-only folder so observer access never reaches it.
Common mistakes.
- Option grants approved in a meeting but never recorded in minutes or a consent.
- Observers with the same access as directors, including privileged material.
- Board packs scattered across email so no one can find the version that was approved.
- Consents signed by some directors and never chased for the rest.