By an independent board do you mean that the H1B holder cannot themselves be on the company's board?
Re: 50% ownership, is 50-50 split OK, or does it have to be less than 50?
I really wish more design docs / project reports looked like this article - talking about the whys, goals / non-goals, options considered, prototypes built, challenges, and solutions, learnings and next steps. Kudos!