Spent today looking into this. I think, ultimately, the problem is how the founder set things up. The board consists of the founder, the head VC, and two people who are employed by the head VC.

To me, this is three wolves and a sheep deciding on what's for dinner. My feeling is that the appointment of the president (my initial concern) is simply the natural outcome of the overall power structure - and likely just the tip of the iceberg.

I appreciate your feedback (in particular, thank you Dennis for the excellent link). I'll let YC know how this all pans out...