22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2014
INSURANC Getting your business to the next level By TOM TAULLI
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OR a startup, an advisory board can be extremely helpful with boosting your operating team. “Advisors often have more scar tissue and can help avoid land mines,” said Ranjith Kumaran, who is the founder of PunchTab. “But they can also broaden strategic thinking and certain advisors have access to market data that is otherwise hard to come by.” Yet many startups make the mistake of stacking their advisory board with big-name people. The thinking is that this will pumpup a company’s credibility. “You want advisors who can spend time with you,” said Vineet Jain, who is the CEO and cofounder of Egnyte. “It’s not about getting resumes to increase your credibility. This often backfires because VCs can see through this.”
Increasing credibility So how can you put together a solid advisory board? Well, let’s take a look: Size: In the early stages, keep it manageable – say three to five. You want to make sure you have enough time to spend with your advisors. Compensation: It should be in equity, in the form of a stock option. The rule-of-thumb is that vesting is over a two year period. In terms of the amount of equity granted, this depends on how active an advisor is, with the range going from 0.1per cent of the company’s outstanding stock to as much as 1 per cent
Criteria For Selection: “I like to find advisors that are living what you’re living,” said Ranjith. “And I think it’s important to keep them close to the company; they are the ones who will keep you sane and remind you that you are not alone.” It also helps to look for advisors that can help fill holes. For example, Jay Srinivasan – the CEO and co-founder of Appurify – looks at the following categories: Start-up/founder coaches, mentors – generalists who have gone through the journey before and weigh in Industry experts/connectors – folks that are senior in the industry that you’re selling into (either as executives, or well respected technical leaders) Technical advisors – technical experts in your field Sales/marketing advisors folks that will help you build out an enterprise sales process/team/ hiring, or the same with marketing for consumer focused companies Investor /fund raising advisors - folks that will help you fund raise Opportunistic advisers - folks that don’t fall into any of the above categories, but can help you with a large deal/partnership Interacting With Your Advisory Board: Many startups will have periodic meetings, say every quarter. But some do not. Instead, the advisory board is called on when needed. But whatever approach you take, it is important to keep your advisors updated on any new developments. Tom Taulli (@ttaulli) is an advisor of tech companies and author of books on venture capital, M&A and IPOs.
From left: Manager, Corporate Affairs, Goldlink Insurance Plc, Omobolanle KolaBalogun; Executive Director, Mrs. Moore Olufunke; Managing Director, Mr. Gbolahan Olutayo; Financial Secretary, National Association of Women Journalists, Mrs. Iyabo Ogunjuyigbe; and Publisher, Businesstoday Newsonline, Ms. Nkechi Naeche, during the award ceremony by Businesstoday to Goldlink as the insurance man of the year.
How govt and insurers can collaborate against terrorism By ROSEMARY ONUOHA
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OKO Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria has left more than 12,000 people dead since 2012. Some years back, nobody believed that terrorists’ attacks will become a regular occurrence in Nigeria. Insurgency was viewed as a menace peculiar to the Middle East and some other places but not Nigeria. It was therefore a huge surprise when suicide bombings as well as other terrorists’ attacks became a daily occurrence. Since then, the wanton killings and destruction of lives and property by the Boko Haram sect and other terrorists groups have continued unabated. So far, the federal and states government seemed overwhelmed by these attacks and most times, the victims are abandoned to their fate. Where these governments have offered assistance to the victims, such assistance doesn’t go very far to rehabilitate them. It is in this wise that experts have called
on government to consider creating an insurance intervention fund for victims of terrorism going forward. Terrorism insurance At present, the insurance industry doesn’t have the capacity to cover risks associated with terrorism. Because the risk is sure to occur, leaving the insurance industry to take up all the cover could wipe out the balance sheet of the sector. This is where government can come by subsidizing premium for terrorism through creation of an intervention fund. According to the Assistant Director (Inspectorate) of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, Mr. Sam Onyeka, premium subsidy can help make cover available and increase demand while maintaining fundamental principle of riskbased premium even as public risk mitigation can make risk insurable and cover available. According to Onyeka, a good example is the US National Flood Insurance Programme where the State offers
Premium pension has extended
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From left: Wolfgang Kollermann, Financial Director, Julius Berger; Tawanda Gumbo, Transitional Leader, Deloitte Nigeria; Iko Bulus, Principal Manager, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, and Jean-Pierre Labuschagne, Associate Director, Corporate Finance, Deloitte South Africa, at the infrastructure and capital projects strategic dialogue, organised by Deloitte, in Lagos.
HAIRMAN of Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Aliyu Dikko said that the company has expanded its horizon in terms of funds under management and number of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs). The Chairman made the statement in the company ’s annual report which is to be presented to shareholders today at the 9th Annual General Meeting at the company’s corporate headquarters in Abuja.
He said “Our company has continued to maintain its enviable position as one of the leading PFAs in Nigeria, despite the declining employment opportunities that negatively impacted our business generation drives. Managing Director of the company, Mr. Wilson Ideva said that the company and by extension the