In and around Boulder everyone's house seems to be in a "cell-phone vortex". Had the same problem with Verizon coverage. ATT's recently upgraded network appears to be helping, although a few dropped calls comes no where close to justifying a switch back to the smart phone dark ages.

Great post, Brett. The more parameters we place around our blogs the less free-flowing and spontaneous they become. The world has plenty of "experts". Just write. Each of our perspectives is unique.

Ditto, ditto, ditto....drop. Same experience for me and others. Beyond annoying to say the least. While at CU/CSU game in Folsom Field last week I was unable to place call inside stadium for the entire game. The stadium is right in the middle of the largest university in the state that has wireless access everywhere. No coverage and no laughing matter when my 12 yr old son got stuck outside during half-time with no ticket and couldn't call me. Pathetic.

Couldn't have said it any better, Brad. Thanks.

I'm sure one of the TechStars are already working on a "shutdown"app for this problem.

Brad, does "aren't being reasonable" mean they are paying themselves too much or too little? Do you look to any standard for reasonable founder's salaries?

I couldn't agree with John Boyd's comment more. Board members need to be engaged or they shouldn't be there. It becomes more of a concern as the company matures, becomes public and compensation of the board increases. Like the Compensation Committee evaluating the performance of the CEO, good corporate governance should provide for the annual review of the performance of each board member.

I commend you for ditching the iPhone!

Brad, great post. The right boards are usually composed of individuals with experience in different facets of the business. In my experience much too little time is spent on strategy discussions where your board can have the most impact. I also agree that night-before dinners are the best avenues to reconnect over breakfast or lunch the day of the meeting. Dinners are the place where the key questions on everyone's mind emerge. This can lead to great discussion and prime the pump for an effective meeting the next day. The one caveat is that if there is an ax to grind, hidden agenda, or potentially contentious issue working in the background, it will always come up at dinner. If so, a dinner can spiral in the wrong direction after a few drinks and bottles of wine.

Jason, you seem to suggest that the VCs who attend the Venture Shows/Trade Shows are as bad as the companies presenting. I've seen Venture Shows that list both quality investors and companies. Venture Capital in the Rockies comes to mind. Many times it is more cost effective for a company to talk to as many VCs as possible in one place, particularly for first time entrepreneurs without a network trying to get their feet wet.