Implementing responsible governance practices – A guide for next generation unicorns and venture investors
Kumar Subramanian,|
Recent revelations of wilful misconduct and fraud within venture-capital funded unicorns in Asia serve as a sobering reminder of the importance of responsible governance practices in the private markets space. However, governance adoption is not merely about implementing codes, controls and compliance protocols. Such safeguards should be strengthened by:
- Co-opting independent directors who can bring to bear the right expertise, and oversee enterprise critical issues such as strategy, risk management, succession planning, rewards and corporate sustainability.
- Empowering the board to set the tone of organisation culture and values, and Institutionalising a board evaluation process that provides boards an evidence-based “health check” of their practices and the contributions of all directors.
Our guide provides a useful framework for management and venture investors to implement sound governance practices at unicorn start-ups. It also sheds light on how organisations should evolve these practices as they grow in scale and complexity. Finally, it also highlights some relevant best practices of governance adoption by unicorns and governance oversight by investors.