In the fast-paced and innovation-driven world of fintech, building a strong and effective board isn’t just a strategic choice; it’s a business imperative. Reflecting on insights from the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2024, Anita Kimber, Lead Partner, EMEIA Transformation, Financial Services at EY, shared a roadmap for assembling a high-impact fintech board. As a serial entrepreneur moving across industries such as deep tech, education, and AI, I, Violetta Bonenkamp, see the creation of these boards as a fascinating intersection of vision, structure, and adaptability.
To build an effective fintech board, it requires more than just gathering experts in a room; it’s about creating a powerhouse of innovation, governance, and foresight. Let’s break down what it takes, weaving in practical insights and lessons learned from my own experience as a serial entrepreneur and advocate in the field.
Why an Effective Fintech Board is Essential
In a fintech world increasingly under scrutiny from regulators, investors, and customers, the role of a board is no longer superficial. It’s the foundation upon which the organization balances its disruptive ideas with the regulatory and operational requirements needed to scale sustainably. However, many startups fall into one of two categories: either they form their boards too late, or they create a board with too narrow a focus, missing the broad skill sets critical for growth.
Among fintechs, less than 40% report having diversity in board composition, which includes variations in skills, demographics, and professional backgrounds. Yet, research consistently shows that these factors enhance long-term innovation and financial performance.
For startups, prioritizing a board from early on creates resilience against inevitable challenges and accelerates the scaling process, both goals for which entrepreneurs often seek venture capital or grants such as those I’ve gained at the EU level for CADChain.
Building Blocks of an Effective Fintech Board
Drawing from insights at the Summit and my own multidisciplinary approach, here's what you need to prioritize:
1. Strategic Diversity
- Skillsets: Enlist experts in finance, technology, legal, and compliance. Beyond financial insights, fintech demands knowledge of blockchain, data protection, cybersecurity, and user behavior. (When I started a blockchain-focused startup, this mix was non-negotiable.)
- Diversity of Thought: Teams with different cultural, gender, and professional backgrounds have an edge. Diverse boards provide robust perspectives that foster creative problem-solving and innovation. Explore findings from EY’s report on fintech boards for more on this.
2. Evolving the Governance Framework
When you're in the initial stages of founding a fintech company, your product may be your main focus. However, even early-stage startups need governance structures tailored to manage risks and support their goals. A good board should transition as your company grows, moving from a focus on operational needs to deal-making and strategic growth.
How?
- Risk Management: A fintech board must anticipate regulatory compliance. For example, insights from Innovate Finance warn of failure risks for firms with boards that lack familiarity with global compliance standards.
- Advisor Evolution: Move from informal mentors to a structured advisory council. As I transitioned from accelerators to developing my own F/MS Startup Game, I realized the importance of redefining roles to stay future-relevant.
3. Driving Technology-Led Innovation
Boards in traditional sectors might focus on operations, but fintech requires leaders to prioritize emerging technologies. Knowledge of AI, blockchain, and data compliance is becoming indispensable. For instance, my own background in AI-driven data science gave me an edge in understanding how machine learning impacts the fintech space.
Keep in mind that technology doesn’t just sit on the product side, it impacts risk mitigation, scaling strategy, and internal systems. Ensure your board members remain ahead by exploring educational resources such as courses tailored to AI or machine learning. (Here’s a guide on EY's FinTech services to bridge knowledge gaps.)
4. Prioritize Open Debate
A fintech startup thrives on challenging conventional norms, so your board must emulate that culture. Promote an environment where board members can raise concerns, share contrarian views, and question leadership. As an advocate for incorporating neuroscience and pragmatics into decision-making frameworks, I encourage boards to challenge cognitive biases that can limit innovation.
Key Challenges Fintech Startups Face
Organizing a board might sound straightforward until you encounter some common hurdles:
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Delay in Board Formation: Many startups wait until they’re several funding rounds in before they prioritize the board. Early-stage formation minimizes misalignment and keeps you compliant.
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Overlooked Regulatory Expertise: Compliance is a keystone of fintech success. Many startups learn this the hard way during audits.
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Underestimating the Role of Culture: The chemistry between your board and management significantly impacts decision-making and, therefore, long-term outcomes.
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A Lack of Focus on Scalability: Boards that are inexperienced in scaling businesses can hold companies back, leading to missed expansion opportunities.
Actionable Guide: How To Approach Board Building
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Assess Your Startup’s Stage
- Initial setups may look for fewer, multi-disciplinary advisory board members.
- Growing startups should opt for long-term, sustainable governance.
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Define Your Needs and Future Goals
- Analyze not just what your startup needs today but what you’ll require in two or three years.
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Seek Genuine Diversity, Beyond Compliance
- Seek out different industry experts, gender balance, and diverse professional profiles.
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Hire Independent Directors
- Balance independence with relevance, selecting candidates who align with the company but challenge decisions constructively.
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Regularly Evaluate Board Performance
- As your startup and the fintech market evolve, so will your board’s relevance.
For practical implementation, see examples of highly-effective fintech boards shared by Innovate Finance.
Final Thoughts
Building a robust and effective fintech board is not just about putting names on paper, it's about careful curation. As Anita Kimber emphasized, fintech boards need to embrace the future even before it arrives. The ability to anticipate regulatory shifts, foster diversity, and adopt emerging technologies isn't a luxury; it's a lifeline.
From my own experience bridging disciplines like blockchain, game design, and finance, I know this: it’s not the most prominent or experienced board member who defines success, but their willingness to cultivate innovation, challenge norms, and guide startups through volatile landscapes. For founders out there: don’t wait. Assemble a forward-thinking team now to propel your venture into sustainable growth.
To dive deeper into forming your fintech board, visit Innovate Finance’s detailed report on future-fit fintech boards. Take charge, because the future of your business starts at the boardroom table.
FAQ
1. Why is building an effective fintech board essential?
An effective fintech board is crucial for balancing disruptive innovation with sustainable scaling, regulatory compliance, and strong governance standards. It helps startups navigate challenges such as scaling, compliance, and investor confidence. Explore why boards matter at Innovate Finance
2. What are the key attributes of a high-impact fintech board?
A high-impact fintech board requires diversity in skills, culture, and strategic visions. It must support regulatory compliance, anticipate growth, and adapt to evolving challenges while fostering innovation. Discover seven habits of highly effective fintech boards
3. What challenges do fintech startups face in forming boards?
Startups often delay establishing boards, overlook regulatory expertise, undervalue cultural alignment, and struggle to focus on scalable governance, which are critical for long-term growth and survival.
4. How does diversity improve board performance?
Diversity in skills, gender, culture, and professional backgrounds enables innovative problem-solving, enhances decision-making, and improves financial performance in the long term. Read EY's report on fintech boards
5. When should a startup establish a board?
Startups should form boards early, ideally before significant fundraising or scaling efforts, to establish governance structures and support the management team through critical growth phases.
6. What skillsets are vital for fintech boards?
Essential skills for fintech boards include expertise in technology, compliance, finance, cybersecurity, product development, and strategic scaling in addition to having a deep understanding of customer behavior.
7. How do regulatory frameworks impact fintech boards?
As fintech companies grow, regulatory demands increase, requiring boards to be proactively prepared for compliance with local and international regulatory standards. Learn more from this Wolters Kluwer guide
8. How can boards foster innovation in fintech?
Boards that prioritize emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and data compliance create environments conducive to technological innovation. Such boards encourage open debate and challenge conventional norms.
9. What can founders do to ensure effective board formation?
Founders should assess their startup's needs, define future goals, seek diverse board compositions, hire independent directors with domain expertise, and regularly evaluate board performance. Check Anita Kimber's insights on Finextra
10. Why is continuous board evaluation important?
As fintech evolves, so do its challenges. Regular performance evaluations ensure the board remains relevant, effective, and aligned with the company's growth and strategic trajectory. Learn more from Innovate Finance
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
