Good advice from the CEO of Northstar Thinktank:

I had just raised $10 million from Venture Capitalists. My attorney and I were preparing for my first board meeting as Chairman and CEO. I had 4 demanding VC’s on the board, and we didn’t have much margin for error.

As we finished our preparation, she said to me, "I have one piece of advice for you as you manage this Board. No surprises, Jeff."

[...]

She said, "Jeff, if things aren’t going well, if you see problems on the horizon, then you must let your investors know about it as soon as possible. I promise that you’ll earn their support and gain credibility with them. And you’ll uncover solutions from them….before the problems are too large to fix."