On my talk radio show the other day, I was speaking with the redoubtable Regis McKenna. To readers who do not immediately recognize this name, Rege is first and foremost, considered the number-one marketing and entrepreneurship consultant in Silicon Valley.

Rege’s fingerprints are all over such companies as Apple (his company actually designed the world-famous logo); Intel; Genentech (the people who gave us designer genes); and Microsoft.

Rege can pick up the phone and have a meeting with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Andy Grove, and/or Craig Venter that same day. He’s that highly regarded.

Regis grew up in Pittsburgh. Brookline, to be exact. His parents in fact still live here. But just about the time Alan Shepard took the U.S.’s first sub-orbital rocket ride, Rege, along with fellow Pittsburgher Bill Campbell (they apparently played high school football against each other) left western Pennsylvania to see what was going on in semi-conductors in the region that was to become Silicon Valley.

Regis has more than once regaled my listeners with stories of bucolic orange groves and wineries growing in places where today stand glass and steel buildings that house hundreds of thousands of Silicon Valley-based knowledge workers.

Regis has never forgotten his roots, however. He frequently “comes home,” and he once gave me a rather impressive check for the Entrepreneurial Studies Program at Duquesne University (in addition to Saint Vincent College, one of his two local alma maters).

He and I have done maybe a dozen shows together during the past couple years. According to our listener surveys, these are among the most interesting shows we do. And why not? Regis not only relates a great story, but his mind is absolutely incredible when it comes to all things entrepreneurial and technological.

On this particular show, we were talking about the things that are most important to an entrepreneur who is just getting started. I was thinking that he was about to bring up the topic of research. And while he conceded that research is perhaps the second-most important thing to a start-up, the single most important thing that any entrepreneur just getting started must do is --- choose a board.

My first reaction to what he was saying was one of incredulity. I said to Rege, “How many start-ups in Silicon Valley actually have a board before they begin: (fill in the blanks here) raising money, conducting research, fleshing out the product concept?”

His reply also blew me away, “I’d say maybe fifty to seventy-five percent of them.”

“Rege,” I said while lowering my head and voice simultaneously, “I’m almost embarrassed to tell you that here in southwest Pennsylvania, this number is probably closer to three percent.”

(And maybe that is even optimistic.)

I thought about the fact that Pittsburgh Business Radio, in existence since September 2008, has no board! (Now, and in my own defense, I do have a trusted advisory group and it does include my attorney and some other rather successful business people. But truth be told, PBR has never elected a formal board of directors. This will be done by the weekend.)

“Care to know why?” Regis snapped me right back to reality with the interjected words, “Care to hear my reasoning?”

“Yes,” I practically blurted, “Why? Why is forming a board so critical?”

And then, and without him even asking, I volunteered a couple of my own reasons. First, I said, “Well, by having the right board members, you probably can get your nose into prospective customer sites - sites that might otherwise take you years to penetrate. I can also guess that by having a distinguished board, your odds of borrowing money or even raising venture money are vastly increased.”

(Again, and in my own defense, I have never borrowed even one thin dime in starting any of my companies. I just haven’t. Nor have I ever taken on angel investors.)

“Exactly!” said McKenna, “You just gave me two of the most important reasons why a board is so essential. Having great board members helps you find your way into businesses that would otherwise more or less deny you the time of day.

“And I’ll give you another reason --- access. You’ll have access to the ‘right’ people and companies.”

“Finally,” McKenna said, “having a highly credible board also gives you years of start-up experience. Think about your own first company --- think about all those mistakes you didn’t have to make.”

I had to admit it, but the good doctor (he has so many honorary degrees that he can’t even count them, so why not?) hit that one out of the park.

Loving the topic, I pressed on. “Rege, I completely grant you that this is the single most important thing for any start-up to get done.” I see this now. I feel terrible that I didn’t think of it. I’m embarrassed as hell that after forty years of running start-ups, I’m only now learning how to start one. But so what? At least I’ve learned something new today.

“Now, I want to ask you a very important follow-on question. One that our listeners would, I’m sure, be asking. Specifically, how do you lure these guys into a non-descript company founded and run by a bunch of no-names? How do you find even lesser lights for the job of board stewardship?”

“It’s tough Ron,” he began, “very tough. But it can be done. Obviously, the best thing you can do is throw lots and lots of what I’ve heard you in the past refer to as ‘lottery tickets’ a.k.a. stock options, at any prospective board member. If that doesn’t lure him or her, then you might start looking for high-caliber people who not only like the lottery tickets, but who also can benefit directly by virtue of the fact that your respective product-sets either make for a great strategic partnership, or in some other way enable the board member to get an advance look at what’s coming.”

I conceded to McKenna that, and given enough shoe leather, a striving entrepreneur (are there any other kinds?) will indeed find and capture his desired board member. And from there, the entrepreneur is truly on his way.

But the entrepreneur must be very careful to employ these contacts judiciously and with utmost respect for their time and reputation. In other words, the entrepreneur cannot simply pick up the phone on a Monday morning and tell the board member to “stand by for a three-way phone call with Joe Prospect.” Talk about lottery tickets --- that entrepreneur just earned himself a one-way ticket to never again speak to that board member.

Instead, the entrepreneur must use his or her high-powered board members no more than, say, a half-dozen times a year and even then only with adherence to some very important rules.

Some of those rules might include:

• a background dossier on the organization they are going to meet or speak with;
• a five-minute telephone briefing as to why the call or meeting is even happening and what it can mean to “our” start-up;
• some idea as to how and why spending this time will benefit him or her (the board member) in the long-run (if possible); and, finally,
• a one-page “Fact Sheet,” listing the proper spelling and pronunciation of the third-party, along with a one paragraph summation of his or her business that includes bulleted points about recent sales numbers, a summary of the company’s product line, other people he may or may not know at that company, and/or any suggested strategic alliances between the board member and the third-party company.

Keep in mind that your board member will likely not read any of this until five minutes before he or she takes the call. So keep it brief and keep it exciting.

So there it is. A guy spends 40 years building a dozen companies and finds out at the end that he missed the beginning. Almost makes you want to laugh.

But it’s great advice. Besides which, if you’re a corporation, you must have a board. By not having one you are giving attorneys for anyone trying to take you out an easy way to pierce your corporate shield. For in fact, by operating without a board while incorporated, you have more than likely lost your shield already. (BTW, you’d better also be writing board minutes; filing board resolutions; and, publicly reporting all shareholders - their names and contact information - at least annually. These are all also reasons why you can lose the protection you gain by incorporating.)

These are some of the reasons cited by those who advise companies on how to pierce the corporate shield of someone they’re looking to get to. With “get to” meaning “get to” the personal assets of the shareholders.

Anyone who takes a board seat without making sure that: a.) the corporation is being properly run vis-à-vis the above, and, b.) there is adequate D&O (directors and officers) insurance in place is a fool.

I’ve got to run now --- I’ve got a couple of lectures for my Intro students that desperately need to be updated!