When appointing former Wayfair CFO Michael Fleisher as audit committee chair andnewest board memberat wholesale retail platform Faire, the company sought an expert whose expertise lands at the "right intersection"—someone who has seen complex situations, maintains strategic vision, and brings extensive industry experience, said Faire CFO Jason Lee.

Lee works closely with Max Rhodes, co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based company, to think through the board's composition and plans to help accelerate growth. When searching for potential candidates, Faire wanted "board members with sharp perspectives and rich life experiences to drive our thinking," Lee told CFO Dive.

Making room for debate

Faire has long been "thoughtful" in building its board. The company, which connects retailers with local brands, wants its board to provide guidance on governance and compliance, but "we view that as table stakes," Lee said.

Members come to board meetings with a "mindset ready to discuss and debate," "and that's exactly what we want. We want diversity of thought," he said.

"We want deep discussions on strategy and key business decisions, like where are we headed?" he said. "How do we prioritize?"

Fleisher fits perfectly into this board-building strategy. He described to CFO Dive how hedevelops a highly engaged board approach. The former Wayfair and Gartner executive brings "rich experience that complements our existing board, and that's part of how we think about board composition," Lee said of Fleisher's appointment, who led the selection and vetting process for Faire's newest board member.

Lee joined Faire in 2023 as head of finance, corporate development, and investor relations, and became CFO in July 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before Faire, he spent 11 years at payments company Square (now Block), serving as vice president, head of finance and strategy, and head of investor relations.

Creating space for full engagement on the board is equally important for the company: for example, asking directors to read a lengthy multi-page document on 24 hours' notice is "not good for anyone," Lee said. Too many voices can also create friction, because it means the board doesn't have enough time to dive into details or provide high-quality insights.

"You can have a lot of smart people, but if you're only scratching the surface an inch or two deep, not getting to the core issues, and not having robust back-and-forth debate, that's quite challenging," Lee said.

Gaining diverse perspectives

For Lee, as CFO, a "highly engaged" board should help push the management team and the business toward strategic goals.

"It doesn't mean agreeing on everything, but that you hear and get advice from different angles, so you can make the best, most informed decisions for the business," he said.

For example, Faire has "significant room to capture more spending share from retailers," Lee said, a metric known as "share of wallet." So a large part of the company's focus is: "How do we make it easier for more retailers to grow their business and transact more on Faire?"

As CFO, Lee's primary focus is portfolio allocation, he said. The company currently has only 13% penetration in the North American market, is growing with larger retailers, and international business accounts for 10% of its operations, he said.

For Lee, as a finance executive, the question is: "How do I prudently deploy capital to places that are strategically important, and where there's performance, execution, and good returns?" he said.

Although Fleisher has only formally been on Faire's board for a few months, Lee has already established a cadence of communication—effectively weekly—to discuss relevant topics with the new audit committee chair, as well as areas Fleisher needs to get up to speed on, he said.

These discussions cover everything from investor philosophy and capital structure to how to think about liquidity—areas where Lee believes Fleisher's background, including his experience as CEO and CFO of Gartner, provides a unique and broader perspective.

Fleisher is also getting to know other members of Lee's team, recently having a "deep dive" with Faire's chief accounting officer to understand the finance team's work in accounting, he said.