A general rule of thumb is that you have 3 board members at the seed (1 non-CEO founder, the CEO which is typically another founder, and the lead investor). So you have 1 seat available for investors, whereas you may take 5-20 checks. Not everyone is getting a seat.

At the A you usually expand to 5, adding the lead of the A round and an independent board member. Beyond that, it’s common for the earlier investors to get replaced on the board in future rounds and maintain observer rights.

What happens if your "lead" angels want to put money but not a board seat?

If you are taking truly no institutional capital, it's a party round -- and unless you have a repeat founder that knows exactly what they're doing (and often even then!), it's a huge red flag.

A board seat? Absolutely not, you’re a minor investor.

A pro rata opportunity? Maybe but why wrangle 50 angels when you can have 2 firms cover it?

You don't do 50 angels. They're in one SPV and you only work with the deal-lead (while getting investment from N investors)

Hopefully but not always

Too many investors, too few seats

Very few of the startups I’ve worked for have given board seats before Series B.