![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www-staging.carta.com\/sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/06\/Frame-25-1.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
At Carta, we first built a cap table management product to streamline equity management and to make archaic paper stock certificates obsolete. We are now solving a similar problem with board consents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Historically, board approvals (aka actions by unanimous written consent) have relied upon a clunky workflow that is prone to human error, and the alternative is to wait until a meeting to approve verbally, only to record the decisions made after the fact, often days or weeks later. With Carta board consents, we allow these important decisions to be made in real-time and digitally\u2014and hold them in one secure system for all necessary parties to access at any time. Additionally, since all option issuances require board approval, we\u2019ve combined the board consent and option issuance workflow to create <\/span>one streamlined flow<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In this post, I will outline how Carta has been doing board consents over the past couple of years, how that\u2019s made my life easier, and why you should try it too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I will break down how we execute board consents at Carta into three steps, in this case specifically for the approval of option grants. In a nutshell, first we prepare the list of grants, then we set up the board consent in Carta, and finally, we review and publish the board consent to the board members.<\/span><\/p>\n At Carta, our People team keeps a running list of the option grants that have been committed but not yet granted (typically these consist of our recent new hires) which includes all of the necessary details (such as number of shares, strike price, vesting schedule, etc.). When we\u2019re ready to go to the board for approval, we take the list of committed grants and input the information into a Carta import spreadsheet. (<\/span>Here\u2019s how to issue new option grants in bulk.\u00a0<\/span><\/a>)<\/p>\n Pro tips:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Once we have the details of the new option grants finalized, we import them to Carta in bulk using our option import tool or draft directly into Carta. Once imported, the next step is to create the board consent, which will automatically pull in the drafted option grants for approval.<\/span><\/p>\n Pro tips:<\/b><\/p>\n After we set up the board consent in Carta, I\u2019m able to review it before publishing to board members for approval. Carta even allows you to insert a short summary of the consent in the email notification which helps me communicate to board members the actions being taken in the board consent. Most of our board members approve consents on the same day.<\/span><\/p>\n Pro tips:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I believe all board consents of the future should be digitized in one streamlined workflow and deep-linked to the option grant, allowing for faster due diligence and even help with <\/span>liquidity<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www-staging.carta.com\/sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/06\/Group-683.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nPrepare list<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
Set up in Carta<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
Review & publish<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n