Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File
Hampton Creek, the meatless food startup that has raised more than $220 million in VC funding, made news earlier this week by basically losing its entire board (save for founder and CEO Josh Tetrick). Six notes:
1. Top-line: This is what happens when a CEO has super-voting rights and no longer really listens to his board. In fact, it's unclear why companies with such structure even have boards of directors, rather than boards of advisors. The late Bill Campbell said that the only real job of a board is to hire and fire a CEO, so boards like Hampton Creek don't really have a core function. Nonetheless, Tetrick does plan to reconstitute it with new people.
2. It wasn't always this way: Tetrick didn't get super-voting rights until its most recent financing round, which valued the company at around $800 million post-money.
3. Notable: My initial reaction was that this was the board using its only actual means of protest, which is to quit (something that some argued earlier this year was what Uber's board should have done). But if this is a protest, it's pretty deeply undercut by a statement that the ex-directors "continue to fully support Hampton Creek and its CEO Josh in their exciting and important mission to change the food industry for the better of all people. We will advise Josh and the team on strategies across all areas of its business moving forward."
4. Disclaimer: Hampton Creek is best known for its egg-less mayo. I hate mayo (including that fancier-sounding aioli — you're not fooling anyone). So I'm not as reflexively supportive of the company's mission.
5. Timing: The departures didn't all come at once. Horizons Ventures rep Bart Swanson left months ago. Another board member was asked by Tetrick to resign in June after a reported corporate coupthat resulted in the firings of three executives.
6. Investor rep: Among the three others was Khosla Ventures partner Samir Kaul, who was the board's only remaining investor rep. Khosla Ventures still has its seat, although no word on if it plans to name a new representative.