The Board Table
A private table for the founders and C-level leaders of technology-led businesses.
Once a month they sit down together in the City to talk through the decisions that come with building a company, from the money you raise to the day you sell. Nobody is there to pitch, and what is said in the room stays in the room.
The people at the top, in one room
The Board Table is a small, invitation-only group of founders and C-level leaders drawn from technology-led businesses. Some are early in the journey. Others run companies at real scale. What they share is the weight of the calls only the person at the top has to make, and that few of the people around them can help with.
Each event is researched and briefed by The Executive Summary. Membership is capped and by invitation. What the Table gives its members comes down to three things.
Honest counsel
Conversation with people who have sat where you sit. The kind of exchange that only happens when no one in the room needs to keep up appearances.
A problem solved
Whatever you are wrestling with, someone here has met it before. When you are stuck, that beats any amount of advice from the outside.
The next thing
Plenty of members are ready to build again. The Table connects them to the people, the capital and the ecosystem to get it off the ground.
The founder’s year, one dinner at a time
The Table runs on a university calendar, three terms a year, each closing with a flagship dinner. Every month there is an expert session and a dinner, held in the City under the Chatham House Rule and led by people who have done the thing they are talking about.
The autumn term follows a founder through the deal: what the company is worth, the money you raise, the private equity you take on, the earnout you sign, and the exit you build towards.
Professional
An expert session and a dinner each month, in the City, under the Chatham House Rule. Led by practitioners, for practitioners.
Cohort
Smaller, partner-led gatherings around what members enjoy, from rugby and cycling to music, food, non-executive roles and our AI School.
Valuations: What Your Company Is Worth
Where the number comes from, and where founders undersell. Building a valuation that holds up once a buyer’s advisers start pulling at it.
Finding the Right Investment
Money is not neutral. What an investor is really after, and how to pick backers you will still be glad to have on the cap table years from now.
Dealing with Private Equity
How a sponsor thinks, what they will push for, and where you can hold firm. What life looks like once the money is in.
Negotiating Your Earnout
The part of the deal that decides what you take home. How earnouts are built, where they trip founders up, and how to agree terms you can hit.
Growing from Flatline
Growth has stalled. Where the next leg comes from, what to stop doing, and how to get moving again without breaking what works.
Exits: Preparing for the Sale
The work that starts long before the offer. Getting the company ready, running a process that brings buyers to the table, and reading when to go.
The Board Table Annual Dinner
The close of the autumn term. Members, guests and partners together for the evening, to mark the year and look to the next. Black tie, guests welcome.
Putting the group’s weight to some use
The Board Table brings together technology, capital and influence. We think that comes with some responsibility. Alongside the events, members back four causes.
Social mobility
The technology economy makes fortunes a short walk from places that see almost none of it. We work with schools, apprenticeships and workforce charities to get people from outside the usual pipeline into technology and founder careers, through mentoring, work shadowing and guaranteed interviews.
Responsible AI
Members are putting AI at the heart of their companies. That puts them in a position to shape how it is built and used, on evidence from real production rather than a policy paper, before the rules get written for them.
Climate
Data centres and the compute behind AI are driving an energy problem most companies have barely faced. We push for honest reporting on energy and carbon across member businesses, and use the group’s weight with grid operators, policymakers and vendors.
Mental health
The isolation at the top is real and rarely talked about. Carrying a company, holding risk that few around you understand, it takes a toll. The Table is somewhere that conversation can happen, among people who get it.
Apply to join
Membership puts you in a private room of founders and C-level leaders, with the resources to stay sharp and well connected.
- Closed-door dinners and working sessions, under the Chatham House Rule
- A monthly expert session on what matters to technology-led businesses
- The Executive Summary newsletter and community
- The wider network across The Executive Summary’s programmes
The Board Table is for founders and C-level leaders of technology-led businesses. Membership is capped at 100. Members pay a small annual fee, given in full to charity. We welcome people from every background. We do not take vendors, advisers, agencies or consultants. To partner with the Table, email enquiries@boardtable.co.
Application received
Thank you for your interest in The Board Table. The committee will read your application and be in touch.