Startup boards explained: Why most founders get governance wrong — and how great board work actually scales companies.

In this episode, Sara Almgren, co-founder of Deb (Diverse Executive Boards), breaks down how corporate governance really works in Sweden — and why many startups build a board of directors too early. Founders often create unnecessary complexity, blurred roles, and decision-making friction without realizing it.

Drawing on her experience recruiting boards, training future board members, and building Deb into a leading board education platform, Sara shares a clear and practical guide to effective board work — from early-stage advisory boards to fully structured governance.

In this conversation, we cover:

• ◆ When a startup actually needs a board of directors — and when it doesn’t
• ◆ Advisory board vs statutory board: key differences founders must understand
• ◆ The “three hats” governance problem in founder-led companies
• ◆ Why strong boards focus 80% on strategy and 20% on control
• ◆ How to design your first board intentionally
• ◆ The role of an independent chair in scaling companies
• ◆ AI in the boardroom: how technology is reshaping oversight and strategy
• ◆ Diversity and representation in Swedish boardrooms
• ◆ Why CEO–chair transparency is critical for growth

If you're a founder, CEO, operator, investor, or aspiring board member, this episode offers practical insights into startup governance, board structure, and how high-performing boards actually create long-term company value.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro
07:14 How Deb was founded
13:15 When founders should think about a board
14:06 Starting with an advisory board
15:02 Advisory board vs board of directors explained
16:10 The 80/20 strategy principle for boards
17:06 Designing your first board
17:48 Why an independent chair matters
20:22 Common founder board mistakes
21:10 The “three hats” governance problem
24:56 Defining roles: board vs management
28:01 AI and the future of board work
32:00 How CEOs should prepare for board meetings
33:13 CEO–chair transparency in practice
34:47 Burnout as a governance risk
35:47 What founders should expect from their board
38:01 Using advisors in early-stage companies
42:52 How to become a board member in Sweden
46:40 Swedish vs US governance models
58:40 Why board work is actually rewarding

Links

Sara Almgren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-almgren-90068290/
Deb: https://diverseexecutiveboards.com/

What happens when your generosity runs into a broken system?

We talk a lot about donating...giving back and doing good. But most of us don't really know where our money goes, how it moves, or what actually changes because of it.

Behind every donation is a whole world of nonprofits, governments, technology, trust and human behavior.

And a lot of that world is complex, outdated and hard to see from the outside.

Old tools, fragmented systems and shaky funding quietly shape how help reaches people who need it most.

My guest today is someone I've known for several years. We worked together in Stockholm, and I've watched his path move deeper into a space many founders would probably avoid.

Philip Börjesson is the CEO and co-founder of Samfora, where he's building what he describes as an operating system for nonprofit organizations.

His work sits at the intersection of data, donor psychology and social impact. basically fixing the complicated plumbing behind charities and donations.

Philip didn’t take a straight route to get here.

He grew up in Stockholm, studied literature and philosophy, worked for the Red Cross in Copenhagen, spent time in the Alps and later trained as a mechanical engineer with a masters in innovation and product realization.

Along the way, he built things, failed, pivoted and learned firsthand how nonprofits actually work from the inside.

In this episode we talked about:

→ why nonprofits often struggle with outdated technology
→ how government funding cuts are changing the sector
→ why trust between donors and charities is so fragile
→ how behavior and social norms shape generosity
→ what it really means to build slowly

If you've ever wondered how real change happens inside nonprofits, this conversation will give you a clear window into that world.

Philip ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Organisations
* Samfora: ⁠samfora.org
* Red Cross: ⁠icrc.org⁠
* WaterAid: ⁠wateraid.org⁠
* World Food Programme: ⁠wfp.org⁠
* UNICEF: ⁠unicef.org⁠
* Founders Pledge: ⁠founderspledge.com⁠
* Giving What We Can: ⁠givingwhatwecan.org⁠

Tools
* Salesforce
* HubSpot
* Microsoft Dynamics

Books
* The Passion According to G.H. — Clarice Lispector
* The Melancholy of Resistance — László Krasznahorkai
* Gravity’s Rainbow — Thomas Pynchon
* Ulysses — James Joyce
* Of Mice and Men — John Steinbeck
* Bird by Bird — Anne Lamott
* The Brain That Changes Itself — Norman Doidge
* Scripts People Live — Claude Steiner

We often talk about cities like they're finished.
Buildings go up. People move in. Life is supposed to follow.
But get close to real estate and you see something else.
Small decisions keep repeating. Old systems stay locked in. Over time, the cracks appear.

My guest today, Roger Tofft, has spent years working inside that reality.

Roger operates at the intersection of real estate and technology in Sweden and the UK, mostly on the parts people rarely see: the systems behind housing, access, maintenance, and how buildings actually run day to day.

His entry into the industry wasn't the usual route. No planning school, no big legacy property firms.

He came from sales, from sports, and from learning firsthand what happens when you try to build something new without the right support in place.

Early on, he helped launch electric vehicle charging stations in Swedish shopping centres—long before that became standard. He also played a key role when Wilhelm was named Southern Sweden’s Smartest Property in 2016: his company installed access systems, digital screens, parcel boxes, and one of the first tenant services apps that connected residents directly to their buildings.

Buying his first flat changed how he saw everything. It laid bare how outdated many property systems still are, who they're built for, and who they leave behind.

In this conversation we get into what it's really like operating inside those systems and what starts to shift when fresh eyes enter an industry that moves slowly but affects millions of lives every day.

We talk about:

• Why housing remains one of Europe’s toughest problems to fix
• Where hundreds of millions of euros in European real estate investment are flowing right now
• How collaboration across Europe, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Asia is changing where the real opportunities lie
• Why community and timing matter as much as money
• What real estate looks like when it's actually designed around how people live

If you've ever felt cities are lagging behind the lives happening inside them, this one will hit close to home.

Subscribe for more conversations like this. Drop a comment: What's one thing about your city or building that feels completely outdated?

Get in touch with Roger
PropTech Sweden: https://proptechsweden.org
Roger Tofft: /rogertofft

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