“ To build a board from scratch, a company’s founders and any early executive recruits will often seek out directors with deep pockets to help fund operations, Heller said. They will also look to executives who have led similar companies so they can offer an experienced-based perspective, she said. 

Silicon Valley startup boards typically are dominated by investors—the people with the most stake in the success of the business—OpenAI’s charter bars the majority of the board from having a financial stake in the for-profit arm.”

That would be the origin story.