Helping publicly traded, private, or not-for-profit businesses find board members is the business of Quincy-based BoardProspects. Its chief executive officer, Mark Rogers of Weymouth, a corporate lawyer who practiced in the Boston area for 10 years before founding his venture, said his company is the world’s largest boardroom community, and is akin to LinkedIn, where board members, aspiring board members, and corporations come to find board-recruitment solutions and corporate governance news. We talked to Rogers for this story.
Q. What prompted you to start this?
A . As a practicing corporate lawyer, I saw firsthand the challenges of boardroom recruitment. Historically, the process has been dominated by what I’d say is insular practice, the who-do-you-know? conversations around the board table. Over the past several years, I saw the process had become insufficient, the result of an extremely competitive global economy, which emphasizes the value of human capital, not just at the executive level but in the board room.
Q. How did you know this would work?
A . It was a huge leap of faith, but I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I kept coming across this issue of something missing in board recruitment, so I got a lot of the right people together, investors, and an advisory board, and it’s been fantastic. Over the last few months, things have really heated up; we’re turning a profit and moving in the right direction.
Q. How’s growth been since you started?
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A . I formed the company in 2010 and left law in 2011, and in the beginning it was challenging getting the technology just right, but we did with the help of our board, including one of the founding team members of LinkedIn. As of now, we have 10,000 members in more than 75 countries, and it’s a pretty prestigious constituency. Our members include executives and board members of Fortune 100 companies, former members of Congress, and corporate directors from places like Dunkin’ Donuts, Coca-Cola, GM, and Morgan Stanley.
Q. How much does it cost to join?
A . It’s a subscription-based model, free for corporations and individuals, with available upgrades to premium service that provides additional resources. For individuals, that’s $199 annually, and for corporations it ranges depending on a number of things, from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.
Q. What about you, do you serve on any boards?
A . At the moment, yes, I’m on two private-company and two nonprofit boards.
Paul E. Kandarian can be reached at pkandarian@aol.com.