My contribution to a board
I would help a board examine what a proposed growth move asks the enterprise to become. Customer interest may concern a connection rather than replacement. A seasonal receipt pattern may sit beside a continuing support obligation. A customer count may be accurate while understating the work needed to serve that population. These are questions about the basis of an investment and the responsibilities it creates. I would bring experience of withdrawing a proposal I supported and of retaining a narrower pilot without calling it a completed ambition. My executive background does not substitute for statutory service, and I have no current board appointment. A first contribution would require understanding the whole company and working with colleagues whose financial, legal, people and sector expertise complements mine. I would want the board to see the uncertainty that remains in a recommendation and the evidence that would justify changing it later.
Judgement in practice
01Changing the recommendation when interest separated into two different needs
The 27-venue review found 21 seeking integration with an incumbent ticketing system and six seeking replacement. I withdrew a ₹2.4 crore ticket-engine proposal I had supported before commitment, while retaining ₹38 lakh discovery expense. A separate ₹0.9 crore integration programme remains unfinished. At board level, I would ask whether the customer evidence corresponds to the business the company proposes to enter. Interest in a connected workflow does not settle ownership of the adjoining service. The decision preserved the six replacement requests as a separate question rather than pretending the alternative answered everyone. It also kept the cost of learning visible instead of rewriting a changed judgement as a cost-free strategic success.
02Keeping the operating year visible behind a concentrated receipt calendar
A reviewed 36-renewal cohort produced ₹29 crore in September from 24 renewals and ₹11 crore in April from 12. We retained year-round support and approved a ₹4.2 crore liquidity reserve through the appropriate financial process. I would ask directors to examine whether the calendar of receipts matches the calendar of the obligation. The cohort was not the whole company's revenue, and the reserve was neither an operating expense nor a realised saving. Finance owned the cash plan. My contribution was to connect the commercial pattern with the resource implication, so an appealing seasonal-growth account did not hide the work the enterprise had promised to continue.
03Deferring expansion when the model understated the unit of work
Discovery across 60 venues found 48 with two rooms and 12 with seven, or 180 planning rooms. We deferred a ₹3.6 crore geographic-expansion proposal and separately approved ₹1.1 crore for migration redesign. I would ask a board what the model's unit represents and which work is assumed to vary with it. A venue count can be correct without being sufficient for migration planning. The redesign remains unfinished, and the difference between the two proposal amounts is not reported as money saved. The case shows how evidence can change the sequence of commitments while leaving detailed design with product and implementation owners.
My first year on a board
I would begin by learning how the receiving enterprise earns its returns and carries its obligations, including the assumptions behind its major growth choices. Induction should cover finances, operating responsibilities, people and sector requirements rather than consist only of the strategy presentation. Through the chair's agreed process, I would seek to understand how management develops proposals, records disagreement and revisits an approval when evidence changes. I would follow a small number of material decisions through that process to learn how the company connects recommendation, authority and delivery. My questions should help collective oversight without making the board a second strategy department. I would ask the chair for feedback on where my contribution is useful and where I need a broader understanding. The first year should leave me better able to judge the enterprise as a whole, including parts that do not resemble specialist software or the production-planning market I know.
Conflicts and their management
I would disclose the employee-trust interest alongside relevant connections through founders, early investors, clients and partners before receiving confidential papers. Qualified advisers should assess the proposed appointment under applicable independence, company-law and listing requirements, including committee and directorship limits where relevant. A lack of direct shareholding does not remove indirect interests or commercial relationships. I would consider whether recusal leaves enough meaningful scope to serve and decline a role where conflicts make practical contribution too narrow. Employer consent and available time require the same care. Customer production records, private partnership terms and unpublished investment proposals would not be carried into another company's discussion. The examples on this site are invented and do not provide access to live client material. Relationships can change after appointment, so the assessment and declarations would need to remain current through the appropriate governance process rather than rely indefinitely on the initial position.
My independence statement
My trust-beneficiary interest and relationships through Tavzuni's founders, early investors, clients and partners require review for any proposed seat. No direct personal equity and no existing statutory role do not by themselves establish independence.
Committee contribution
Chair and member readiness| Capacity | Committees |
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| Ready to join | Strategy committee assessing adjacent-market commitments · Risk committee examining operating assumptions behind growth |
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Capacity and preferences
- Time available
- 23 days per year
- Current directorships
- 0
- Sectors
- Specialist business software and professional services · Enterprises sequencing expansion around delivery commitments · Businesses choosing between ownership, integration and partnership
- Company type
- An enterprise prepared to examine the operating consequences of an attractive growth story
- Company stage
- Considering a new market, product boundary or partnership model
The seat I am pursuing
I am interested in one first appointment where a board has a defined need for judgement about adjacent opportunities and operating commitments. Strategy or risk committee membership could be considered after the company assesses its needs and the applicable requirements. I do not claim readiness to chair a committee or a statutory track record from executive presentations. The fictional assessment pass in September 2026 records preparation, not a conclusion that I meet every condition for a particular seat. Twenty-three days is provisional and must include learning, papers, meetings, travel and exceptional demands alongside the CSO remit. I would seek an experienced chair and complementary expertise, with a clear understanding of the contribution expected. The role should allow me to ask useful questions and do the work needed to understand the answers. Where capacity or relationships remain unresolved, I would not turn an encouraging discussion into an accepted commitment.
Board and committee exposure
Presented to the Board or a committee
Tavzuni Production Software
Strategy and investment presentations through the CEO; no statutory appointment
January 2022 onward
Explains adjacent-market options, the commitments behind growth proposals and the conditions retained in pilots. Investment approval remains with the relevant executive or board authority; finance and product retain their responsibilities.
Governance learning and readiness
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Proficiency assessment passed
The fictional record states May 2026 IICA registration and a September 2026 proficiency-assessment pass without an exemption. Company-specific eligibility, independence and applicable committee or directorship requirements remain matters for qualified assessment before an appointment.
- Learn the receiving enterprise's financial, people and sector obligations beyond its strategy account
- Develop collective oversight practice alongside experienced directors
- Understand how changed assumptions return through the board's decision process