Byju's needs a board recast, not an advisory council

livemint.com:

Edtech startup Byju's yesterday appointed former Infosys CFO and board member T.V. Mohandas Pai and former State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar to its board advisory council (BAC) -- a newly constituted body to advise its founders on governance, after half of the startup’s board quit enmasse last month.

Both Pai and Kumar are stalwarts of the Indian tech and startup ecosystem, and their willingness to serve as advisors to the beleaguered startup should provide solace to investors, employees and other stakeholders. Pai served as Infosys’ chief financial officer for over a decade and was one of Byju's earliest investors through his fund Aarin Capital.

Kumar’s success at SBI is widely known, but his role as the chairman of BharatPe's board, where he faced off against its founder Ashneer Grover, will likely be more relevant for Byju's. This begs the question -- why haven’t Pai and Kumar joined BYJU'S board, where surely they will be more effective in enforcing matters of governance? Isn't the reconstitution of the board the need of the hour? Byju’s advisory council will advise and mentor the founders on ‘systems of governance and financial reporting’, organisational structure and strategic decision making.

But isn't this the job of the board? Further, is it really advice that Byju's needs? The startup has over 70 investors, who are all experienced and operate across geographies and sectors. They have navigated similar downturns in the funding ecosystem before and have advised several companies on building organizational bench strength.