Afleveringen
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:23) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:10) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Peter (E83 from Jan 2023).
(3:00) NACD Surveys on Board Practices and Oversight: Private Company Results and Public Company Results.
(3:44) 1/ On Technology Oversight: "We are seeing boards go after technology, not necessarily expertise, but experience."
(11:16) 2/ On CEO Succession Planning. "Succession is always a challenge at companies, especially with founder CEOs."
(14:37) 3/ On Board Leadership Succession Planning. "Governance is more art than science, it depends on the board."
(20:26) 4/ On Board Reporting. Reference to paper on Netflix Governance by Larcker and Tayan (2018).
(23:43) NACD's BRC Report on Culture as the Foundation. *Reference to episode with Sonita Lontoh (June 2024).
(25:23) NACD's BRC Report on Technology Oversight. *Reference to episode with Nora Denzel (Oct 2022).
(32:12) On Cybersecurity concerns for boards and directors.
(33:56) On AI concerns for boards and directors.
(35:27) On trend of alternative corporate structures used by new AI companies including public benefit corporations.
(41:41) On the upcoming NACD Directors Summit Oct 6-9, 2024, in Washington, DC. *My reference to keynoting the 25th IBGC Summit in Brazil.
(46:35) On geopolitics and the increasing politicization of the boardroom.
Peter Gleason has been the CEO of NACD since 2017.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
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You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:03) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:50) Start of interview.
(2:24) Cedric's origin story.
(4:30) U.S. talent management insights (cultural differences with other countries): current merit.
(6:00) On his management career with HP, Visa, and Syncada from Visa (a joint venture between Visa and U.S. Bank).
(8:13) His transition to Taulia, a venture-backed company, in 2013.
(11:04) On managing board dynamics as CEO and Chair of Taulia as a venture-backed company. *Reference to VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA) on Oct 29, 2024 at Nasdaq in NYC.
(15:20) The role of the Chair, and challenges of managing a large board, even when the business is thriving. "[It is] important to have a couple of directors that can anchor the entire group in addition to the chairman or the CEO."
(17:32) The exit strategy behind the acquisition of Taulia by SAP in 2022 and the business of Taulia and Supply Chain Management. "[I]t's all about free cash flows and moving liquidity across the economy." "Cultural fit is one of the number one success indicators of an M&A transaction." "I think someone will write a book at some point about this M&A transaction because it has been successful on all fronts." "Taulia is managed independently and autonomously, which is not maybe a standard setup."
(23:28) On transitioning from a VC-backed board to a board of a fully-owned subsidiary of SAP. Going from private to public: "[T]he first advantage is that we don't have to do capital raise anymore if we wanted to invest in some areas. If we need some capital, we have access to a line of credit that SAP can provide." "If I was spending 20% of my time on investors, capital raise, and so forth in the the past. Now I spend 20% with SAP executives, regional presidents, to make sure that we can sell Taulia to as many clients as possible."
(28:56) Decision-making on exit strategies for Taulia (and in general): i.e. IPOs, SPACs, M&A, and PE.
(33:50) The impact of AI in business.
(37:14) On managing geopolitical risks. "Two angles: 1) customers, and 2) compliance, law, and governance."
(40:53) On the current economic landscape. "The number of M&A transactions is actually picking up, especially with companies that have a good bottom line." "I think that the best companies have built agility in their financial architecture to really adjust their business profile based on what the market can cope with."
(44:48) On director education for board members, particularly venture-backed companies. "I would encourage VCs to recommend [not mandate] their [portfolio] CEOs to go through a training about governance, how to manage a board, how to make the board evolve, how to recruit board members, how to interview board members."
(45:39) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
Tribal Leadership, by Dave Logan, John King, Halee Fischer-Wright (2008)Good to Great, by Jim Collins (2001)Sports magazines and newspapers(46:13) His mentors.
(47:37) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives her life by.
(50:15) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves: cold plunges.
(53:13) The person he most admires.
Cedric Bru is CEO of Taulia, a fintech provider of working capital management solutions. In March of 2022, Taulia became part of SAP. Before Taulia, Cedric served as Global Head of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development at Syncada from Visa. Cedric has over two decades of experience in financial services and software industries, including positions at Visa and Hewlett-Packard.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
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You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:03) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:50) Start of interview. *Reference to E137 with Coco Brown (CEO of Athena Alliance).
(2:47) Yvonne's origin story.
(5:49) Her executive career starting with Accenture, and later with VMware, New Relic, and CEO of Airware and Puppet.
(9:03) On her board journey. Distinctions between private and public company service. Plus non-profits.
(17:43) Explaining board composition and dynamics in VC-backed companies.
(23:23) Explaining board composition and dynamics in PE-backed companies. "It's much more straightforward, structured, and contained."
(27:39) On the 'Stay Private vs Go Public' debate and other considerations on private markets.
(34:29) On the AI boom and how to think about it from a board's perspective: "how do you experiment and lean in without committing?"
(39:06) On the increasing relevance of cybersecurity in the age of digitization. "Cyber attacks are like earthquakes in California. They're going to happen."
(42:33) On geopolitics and the boardroom. "How you think about it really depends on what type of company you're in, how big it is, and what you're trying to achieve."
(45:40) How to think about the ESG landscape.
(49:56) Podcasts that she regularly listens to:
Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein :)The Economist PodcastsGrit Podcast with Joubin MirzadeganAcquired Podcast(52:03) Her mentors and sponsors.
Carl Eschenbach John Chambers(54:44) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "Be the change you want to see in the world" by Mahatma Gandhi,
(55:15) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves: misting plants.
(56:35) The living person she most admires: MacKenzie Scott.
Yvonne Wassenaar is a seasoned Silicon Valley C-level executive and board member with experience across public, private equity-backed, and venture-backed companies. She currently serves on the boards of Forrester, Rubrik, Arista Networks, JFrog, Alation, Braze, and InfoBlox. She also serves on the boards of Harvey Mudd College and UCLA Anderson's Easton Technology Management Center.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:15) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:02) Start of interview.
(2:49) Javier's origin story.
(4:31) The blurring lines between VC and PE. Cross-over investors, growth equity investors, and other "alternative" financing.
(9:01) On the capital formation cycle. Impact of interest-rates in capital allocation. The VC power law. New VC vehicles.
(16:00) On the rise of cross-over investors ("starting somewhere between 2013 and 2016: rise of strategic capital")
(19:34) On the rise of AI (boom and bubble): 1) algorithmic capability, 2) computing power, and 3) availability of data.
(23:06) The cases of Nvidia and Google. The analogy to the 1990s (investing in infrastructure) and increasing antitrust scrutiny.
(28:43) Explaining role and function of the Small Business Administration (SBA). SBIC, and SBIR & STTR. Industrial Policy and impact of geopolitics (ie. China).
(40:47) On his board journey and role of corporate directors.
(43:36) On "shareholder push and pull": role of institutional investors and "passive" investors. *Reference to E118 with Professor John Coates on The Problem of Twelve.
(50:18) His take on boardroom diversity. *Reference to the Latino Corporate Director Association (LCDA).
(55:06) On his podcast Top of the Game.
(56:30) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck (1978)Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (1997)The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith (1776)The Founding Fathers, by K.M. Kostyal (2012)(56:49) His mentors.
(57:42) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives her life by: "Deal with it"
(57:53) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(58:11) The living person he most admires.
Javier Saade is Managing Partner of Impact Master Holdings, Venture Partner at Fenway Summer, Operating Partner at Presidio Investors, Chairman of the Board at GP Funding, Inc., Board Member of VCheck and Global Tech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: GTAC), CNBC Contributor, Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, and host of the podcast Top of the Game.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:10) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:57) Start of interview.
(2:30) Carol's origin story.
(4:34) Evolution of corporate governance in Canada since the late 1980s.
(5:51) The origin and focus of her firm Hansell McLaughlin Advisory Group, based in Canada.
(10:13) On her personal board career and the benefits of lawyers serving on boards.
(14:20) Best practices for board evaluations and distinctions between board education in Canada and the U.S.
(18:57) The rise and influence of large institutional investors in corporate governance.
(22:00) Shareholder activism in Canada.
(24:25) On the state of ESG in Canada.
(30:03) On addressing board diversity.
(37:01) Impact of geopolitics and national security in the boardroom.
(39:45) Impact of AI in the boardroom. "It's top of mind for everybody."
(41:29) Impact of cybersecurity and talent management in the boardroom. Oil and gas directors in boards of banks?
(44:01) Books that have greatly influenced her life: biographies (people that have stood up to authority).
(44:48) Her mentors.
(45:50) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's the heaven for?"
(46:29) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(47:00) The living person she most admires.
(48:20) The challenge in advising corporate governance: "everyone thinks they're an expert now." Plus, recognition of conflicts of interest.
Carol Hansell is a Senior Partner at Hansell LLP and a member of the Hansell McLaughlin Advisory Group in Canada.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:20) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:07) Start of interview.
(2:58) Oliver's origin story.
(7:00) His experience in private equity with PE-backed boards.
(9:57) About the mission and focus of Nurole, the UK-based board search firm where he serves as CEO.
(12:27) On Nurole's network of 65,000+ board leaders (two parts: free and paid offerings).
(20:16) Demystifying the board search process, four key stages:
Briefing stageSourcing processAssessment phaseOnboarding (ongoing support)(25:19) From a board candidate perspective.
(28:14) On board evaluations.
(32:44) Common characteristics of directors in board placements (they place ~1,000 directors per year).
(33:50) On board culture and values of directors.
(37:00) On specialized directors.
(43:16) Differences between UK and US boards.
Role of the ChairBoard searchBoard compensationLitigation Risk(48:35) Other board issues to consider: 1) are boards generating value, and 2) revisiting board education.
(52:48) About his podcast Enter the Boardroom.
(55:15) His favorite episodes: Roger Martin, Baroness Helena Morrissey and Sir Richard Dearlove.
(59:20) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
The Aeneid, by Virgil (19 BC)Mindset, by Carol Dweck (2006)How Will You Measure Your Life, by Clay Christensen (2012)(01:00:30) His mentors.
(01:02:13) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by.
(01:03:16) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves: the Eglu chicken coop.
(01:04:45) The living person he most admires.
Oliver Cummings is the CEO of Nurole, a UK-based board search firm with 65,000+ members globally and about 1,000 board placements per year. He's also the host of the Enter the Boardroom Podcast.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:05) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:52) Start of interview.
(2:28) Thompson's origin story.
(3:42) His startup work at Quizlet (joined a 5 person team) and Stripe (from 2k to 8k employees). Joined Anthropic in early 2023.
(6:25) On China-US relations, and the course he teaches at Vanderbilt Law School: Emerging Technologies, Law, and U.S.-China Competition.
(11:04) On startup incorporations, Delaware, and other thoughts for entrepreneurs. Reference to Stripe Atlas.
(14:18) Unveiling the AI investment landscape. Increase in capital and talent in AI technologies. "Companies at the frontier of building LLMs: Anthropic, OpenAI, Alphabet and Meta."
(19:15) On the international AI landscape. China wanting to overcome its "century of humiliation."
(21:55) Origin story and mission of Anthropic. The eight founders left OpenAI in 2021. Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
(26:14) Anthropic's Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) and Long Term Benefit Trust (LTBT) model.
(29:24) How to think about AI and its paradigm shift for corporate directors.
(31:05) Claude products for consumers and enterprise.
(33:36) On the future of work with impact of AI.
(35:17) San Francisco's evolving role as a global tech hub.
(37:37) Is AI overhyped or underhyped? "The impact of AI will be somewhere between the internet platform shift to the next industrial revolution (...) and if the next internet is kind of the lower bound of the impact AI will have on society and the economy and technology more broadly, then that's a pretty significant impact."
(40:05) On the "stay private vs go public" debate.
(42:48) More thoughts for directors on AI. Prof Ethan Mollick: "The AI you're using today is the worst AI you will ever use."
(43:48) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
The Children, by David Halberstam (1998)Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler (2006)All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (1929)(46:42) His mentors. Chris Klein and Dan Crittenbrink (State Department). Chip Blacker (Stanford).
(47:53) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by.
(48:40) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves: Antique maps and running everyday.
(50:28) The living person he most admires.
Thompson Paine is the head of business operations at Anthropic, one of the leading AI companies in San Francisco.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro
(1:20) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:06) Start of interview.
(2:37) Natasha's "origin story."
(6:25) On the risks and opportunities for AI.
(8:39) On the regulatory landscape of AI in the US. Reference to President Biden's Executive Order.
(11:40) On California's regulation of AI (SB 1047).
(15:24) On the international AI regulatory landscape, including the EU AI legislation.
(20:35) On the state of startups and venture capital in Silicon Valley.
(25:34) On the 'stay private or go public' debate.
(28:50) On the increased antitrust scrutiny by the FTC and DOJ, particularly in tech industry.
(30:08) On the increased national security scrutiny via CFIUS reviews. The new geopolitics of dealmaking.
(35:46) On the increased politicization of the boardroom, including ESG and DEI.
(38:32) On boardroom diversity and challenges to SB-826 and AB-979 (California), and Nasdaq's Diversity Rule.
(42:20) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (1960)The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Altwood (1985)Animal Farm, by George Orwell (1945)(42:57) Her mentors.
(43:49) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "Don't Self-Select."
(51:17) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(44:17) The living person that she most admires. One of them is Michelle Obama.
Natasha Allen is a partner at Foley & Lardner in Silicon Valley, serving as Co-Chair for Artificial Intelligence, Co-Chair of the Venture Capital Committee, and a member of the Venture Capital, M&A, and Transactions Practices.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro
(1:06) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:53) Start of interview.
(2:37) Tyler's "origin story."
(4:50) His beginnings at Theranos.
(7:07) On the culture of the Theranos, "the company was extremely secretive and paranoid."
(9:41) On the lack of equity compensation for Theranos employees.
(10:32) On Theranos' board of directors.
(16:50) Some of the prominent investors in Theranos, and lack of due diligence.
(19:24) On Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani fraud convictions, FOMO, and value of credibility from early backers (e.g. Channing Robertson, Don Lucas, George Shultz, etc).
(23:57) How Tyler became a whisteblower at Theranos. His contact with John Carreyrou, at the time a WSJ reporter.
(26:57) On his legal challenges (and high fees) as a whistleblower. George Shultz (his grandfather) would tell him: "I'm 90 years old. I ended the Cold War. I fought in a world war. I've seen a lot of things in my life. I've seldom been wrong. And I know what I'm looking at. And I know I'm right about this."
(30:24) On the SEC's whisteblower program and his personal experience with this process. *Reference to E130 with Mary Inman (his Whistleblower attorney).
(34:58) On the NDA and confidentiality agreements, "fraud is not a trade secret."
(37:56) Why Elizabeth Holmes wanted Theranos to remain private and never go public.
(39:04) Stanford's problematic connection to frauds. See: "What's the Matter with Stanford?"
(42:14) The role of executive and board compensation in startups.
(46:20) Book that he recommends reading: Salt in My Soul by Mallory Smith (2019).
(48:00) His mentors: George Shultz (his grandfather) and J. Leighton Read.
(50:01) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by: "You Get What You Screen For"
(51:17) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(52:53) The living person that he most admires: Dr Anthony Fauci.
"I often think back to a famous quote about character, which is, character is what you do when nobody's watching. And I actually think that the opposite is true. I think character is what you do when everyone's watching. And I experienced that."
(53:57) His current endeavors.
Tyler Shultz is a former Theranos employee who became a key whistleblower, exposing the company's fraudulent practices. As the grandson of former Secretary of State George Shultz, who was on Theranos' board, Tyler's decision to speak out carried significant personal and professional risks.
You can find out more about Tyler at his website: https://www.tyler-shultz.com/
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:39) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:25) Start of interview. Reference to E21 with Ilya Strebulaev from October 2020.
(4:01) On why he wrote his book The Venture Mindset: for decision makers in large organizations.
(5:37) About the first principle: Home Runs Matter, Strikeouts Don’t. Make small bets vs fear of failure.
(7:23) Two types of innovation: incremental (step by step) vs. disruptive innovation.
(13:32) The unique role that independent directors can play in innovation.
(18:20) On corporate unicorns and intrapreneurs.
(20:11) On errors of omission and building anti-portfolios.
(24:01) Promoting the venture mindset for large companies to be more innovative and become more like Silicon Valley.
(28:29) Red flags in decision-making ("why should I not invest?"), and the example of Theranos. Examples from Shark Tank.
(34:00) On Yuri Milner's investment in Facebook (2009) and investing without taking a board seat (informal controls and indirect influence).
(38:30) Formal vs informal control rights in corporate governance.
(44:13) Stay private vs go public debate. On "quasi-public" companies.
(49:11) On the pressures to go public for VCs and employees, and the evolution of secondary markets.
(52:20) On the principle (#5) to Bet on the Jockey (put people above process).
(53:22) On the principle (#7) to Double Down or Quit (allow flexibility, and phenomenon of escalation of commitment).
Ilya Strebulaev is a Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is an expert in corporate finance, venture capital and private equity, corporate innovation, innovation ecosystems, and financial decision-making. His recent work has examined the valuation of VC-backed companies, decision making by venture capital and private equity investors, corporate venture capital, and impact of venture capital.
You can follow Ilya on social media at:
Twitter: @IlyaStrebulaev
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyavcandpe/
Venture Mindset Website: https://thevcmindset.com/
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:19) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:05) Start of interview.
(2:58) Greg's "origin story."
(5:31) His teaching focus.
(8:04) Discussion on startups and venture capital and the era of AI. Behavioral finance and bubbles.
(11:17) Bubbles in private (VC and PE) and public markets.
(15:12) Staying private vs going public fundamentals.
(20:05) The role of governance and advice from directors to CEOs.
(22:43) On growth of private equity.
(28:00) On the rise and importance of AI. Analogy to electricity. *Reference to Paul David's research.
(29:31) On Elon Musk's compensation litigation and the recent Tesla stockholder comp ratification.
(36:13) On the role of directors. "It's really hard to be a good board member." "[Directors] better darn well get comfortable with asking not only tough questions, but dumb questions."
(40:32) On Texas and Delaware's corporate law competition.
(42:04) On the politicization of the boardroom (i.e. ESG) and geopolitics involving China.
(48:11) Books that he recommends reading: The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I by Pollock and Maitland (1895).
(48:57) His mentors in the area of law.
(50:47) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by.
(51:57) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(54:16) About his podcast Unsiloed.
Greg LaBlanc is a Lecturer and Distinguished Teaching Fellow at Berkeley, Stanford, HEC Paris and other prestigious institutions. Greg teaches a wide range of subjects, including finance, strategy, law, innovation, data science, and digital transformation. He is also the host of the podcast Unsiloed.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:21) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:08) Start of interview.
(2:41) Jennifer's "origin story."
(3:41) Founding a non-profit at the start of her career: Breakthrough Pittsburgh.
(4:15) The start of her tech career with Yahoo!
(7:12) Her roles post Yahoo!: founding and selling The Dealmap to Google.
(9:20) Her transition and tenure as president & COO of Change.org (scaling from 18 million to 200 million users). About her Motivational Pie Chart.
(11:07) About Change.org (a social impact campaigning platform) and non-profit and PBC corporate structures.
(14:18) Her time at Facebook (now Meta), leading the Facebook Groups product.
(16:00) About Rising Team, the company she founded and where she currently serves as CEO.
(22:10) On her board journey, and distinctions among different types of companies: non-profits, startups (Little Passports), public companies (Move, TEGNA & WeightWatchers) and VC/PE backed companies. "The truth is to join a public board, somebody needs to take a bet on you if you've never been on a public board."
(32:19) On serving in a VC/PE backed company as a lead independent director and comp committee Chair (Arcadia). On board observer roles. Setting board norms.
(36:55) On the benefit of boardroom diversity.
(39:17) On dealing with the politicization of the boardroom, including DEI and ESG matters.
(42:06) On the benefits of teaching (at Stanford GSB) for her CEO and board roles .
(39:17) On dealing with the politicization of the boardroom, including DEI and ESG matters.
(44:15) Three things top of mind on boardroom matters: 1) Setting up boards for success (norms, board evaluations, etc), 2) Keeping up with new technologies, and 3) Crisis scenario planning.
(49:00) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
Gung Ho, by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles (1997)The Overstory, by Richard Powers (2018)(51:14) Her mentors.*Reference to her LinkedIn Post: 5 Mentor Archetypes.
(51:57) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.
(53:15) About her book: Purposeful: Are you a Manager or a Movement Starter? (2018) The 3 Cs: 1) courage, 2) community, and 3) commitment.
(54:40) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(56:00) The living person she most admires: Simone Biles.
Jennifer Dulski is a Silicon Valley based executive and board member. She is currently CEO and founder of Rising Team, a company that provides tools, data, and community to turn managers into amazing coaches that build happier and more successful teams.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
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You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:24) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:12) Start of interview.
(4:04) Sonita's "origin story."
(5:45) Her professional career, starting with a startup in the gaming industry.
(8:15) Her guiding principles for her career at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and digital transformation.
(9:30) Her roles at HP, Siemens and PG&E.
(11:00) Her board "portfolio" life starting in 2022: SunRun and TrueBlue. Advisor to Sway Ventures.
(14:02) About the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Board Culture (where she served as a Commissioner).
(17:00) Surprises and takeaways from the report.
(22:30) Recommendations for handling the increasing politicization in the boardroom.
(26:42) On geopolitics in the boardroom. Supply-chain vs consumer market.
(31:30) On the solar and battery industry geopolitical landscape.
(38:23) How should directors think about AI in the boardroom. "Everyday AI" vs "Game-changing AI". Use cases: 1) Back-office capabilities, 2) core capabilities, 3) front office, 4) New products and services. AI code of conduct. Use of data. Cybersecurity.
(43:51) On the impact of AI in the workplace. *reference to study by Erik Brynjolfsson
(47:09) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
The Five Levels of Leadership, by John Maxwell (2011)Venture Mindset, by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang (2024)Last Lecture Series at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (July 2023), by Graham Weaver.(48:06) Her mentors.
(49:22) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.
(50:44) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(51:30) The living person she most admires.
Sonita Lontoh is a public company board director, strategic advisor, and former Fortune 100 senior executive who focuses on digital innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), and sustainability — contributing positive impact to businesses, consumers, and society.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
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You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:14) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:02) Start of interview.
(2:37) Coco's "origin story."
(4:32) Her professional background with HR, comp and IT.
(6:32) Her time at Taos, a professional services business in IT consulting (17yrs). Ultimately acquired by IBM in 2021.
(8:35) The origin story of her founding Athena Alliance (2016) as a non-profit.
(11:00) Three core issues with board placements: 1) access to opportunities, 2) positioning for the role, and 3) how to compete to win. *They have placed ~500 women to boards.
(13:52) On the business model of Athena Alliance.
(16:50) On transitioning from a non-profit to a for-profit model.
(20:56) Distinguishing board service between companies with different capital structures (ie. public, PE, VC, ESOPs, etc).
(22:18) The landscape for independent director board opportunities (~30,000 companies). On ESOP companies and closed corporations and/or family businesses.
(28:18) On Athena's Board Readiness Course.
(32:20) On in-person vs remote work, both on an executive and board level. "How do you scale intimacy?"
(36:14) On the impact of AI in the boardroom.
(39:48) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
The Popcorn Report, by Faith Popcorn (1991)The Science of Evil, by Simon Baron-Cohen (2011)(43:05) Her mentors. "Different people for different things" e.g. Ivonne Wassenar and Scott Maxwell.
(44:20) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.
(44:41) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(45:12) The living person she most admires. Toni Townes-Whitley (CEO of SAIC)
Coco Brown is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, a company helping to position top 10% of executive women for advancement and board opportunities.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:17) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:03) Start of interview.
(3:08) Greg's "origin story."
(6:53) From the University of Georgia to Apple in Cuppertino.
(10:50) The start of his entrepreneurial journey in 1992 with his first company.
(13:03) The boom and bust cyclical nature of Silicon Valley. "[M]y father used to say that the stock market has predicted nine of the last three recessions. And, you know, I think in Silicon Valley, the investor and entrepreneurial class has predicted nine of the last three technology waves."
(17:24) His first foray with startup boards. The role and influence of Don Lucas, and Bob Frick (former CFO of BoA), on his board.
(21:49) On the shifting power dynamics in founder-investor relationships (ascendance of "founder ethos").
(29:02) On the differences between private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC). "Control investors"
(31:29) His experience as a director of public companies: Responsys, acquired by Oracle (2013), and Upwork (IPO in 2018).
(34:57) On equity comp (stock options and RSUs) in tech companies. *Reference to BG2 podcast episode.
(47:35) IPOs, private markets and secondary markets. *You can check out my newsletter #52 on this topic.
(54:24) On his investment in Cornershop (acquired by Uber) and Latin America market.
(1:00:58) On AI as the next technology platform shift.
(1:03:50) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, by Ron Chernow (1998)Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011)Black Boy, by Richard Wright (1945)(1:05:36) His mentors.
(1:07:00) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives her life by: "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."
(1:07:47) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(1:08:28) The living person he most admires.
Greg Gretsch is a Founding Partner and Managing Director of Jackson Square Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm that invests in software businesses.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:23) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:10) Start of interview.
(2:40) Patrick's "origin story."
(3:41) His time at Skadden and Olshan Frome Wolosky (leading shareholder activism legal practice).
(4:38) Joining Vinson & Elkins to co-build shareholder activism practice.
(6:40) Distinguishing between large, mid, and small cap activism.
(10:14) Reference to Lazard's 2023 Annual Review of Activism and Patrick's 2024 trends to watch out in activism.
(13:39) On ESG activism, and the impact of Exxon Mobil case ("[I]t was more of a capital allocation campaign, rather than ESG"). Distinguishing the Starbucks ESG campaign (targeting Starbucks' labor relations).
(18:29) Separating E, S, and G activist campaigns. "The 'S' is inherently political"
(20:29) On the evolution of Universal Proxy Rules for director elections.
(27:06) On the "lifecycle of a campaign" (activists' letters, withdrawals, settlements, proxy fights, etc.)
(31:36) The impact of institutional investors and proxy advisors (ISS and Glass Lewis) in shareholder activism. *Reference to the Problem of Twelve episode with HLS Prof John Coates.
(37:50) The importance of shareholder engagement (with large institutional investors and proxy advisors).
(40:55) On company or board preparedness for activist campaigns.
(44:45) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O'Brien (1973)Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (2011)David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (2013)On Shareholder Activism:DisneyWar by James B. Steward (2005)Railroader by Hunter Harrison (2018)The Splendid and the Vile (Saga of Churchill) by Erik Larson (2020)(47:53) His mentors.
(49:00) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives her life by.
(49:55) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(50:35) The living person he most admires.
Patrick Gadson is the Co-Head of Vinson & Elkins’ Shareholder Activism practice, which advises public companies in competitive proxy solicitations, strategic investor relations, and corporate governance.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:10) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:57) Start of interview.
(2:40) Leah's "origin story."
(3:41) Her time at IBM.
(4:48) Her founding story of TaskRabbit (Boston, 2008).
(12:43) The evolution of her board at TaskRabbit, and how to think about (startup) board composition and scaling.
(20:31) First CEO succession (after $12m Series B in 2012).
(25:10) Her return as CEO, raising a Series C, and adding 3 strategic independent directors.
(26:13) On hiring Stacy Brown-Philpot as COO, and successor to CEO role.
(30:45) Distinguishing between startup directors (management, investor, and independent directors).
(36:01) Transitioning to investing as a general partner at Fuel Capital. Motto: "We're on your corner, not in your kitchen"
(40:55) On the role of CEO coaches (vs board directors or advisors).
(42:44) About YPO. "It has been a hugely influential organization for me."
(45:21) Her thoughts on boardroom diversity. Reference to the LCDA.
(48:42) Innovation in the boardroom, risks and opportunities of AI.
(51:29) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston (2007)Books by Adam Grant.(51:51) Her mentors.
(52:25) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.
(52:50) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(54:15) The living person she most admires.
Leah Solivan is a General Partner at Fuel Capital, a Silicon Valley-based seed stage venture capital firm. Prior to that, she was the founder, CEO and Executive Chair at TaskRabbit.
You can follow her on social media at:
Twitter: @labunleashed
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:10) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:58) Start of interview.
(2:43) His role at EY and appointments at Harvard's Safra Center for Ethics (ELSCE), MIT and Boston University.
(5:23) Defining AI. Reference to the 1956 Dartmouth AI conference.
(8:29) GAI, AI market and valuations.
(11:31) On AI Ethics for business and AI governance. Reference to Harvard's Danielle Allen.
(15:10) On the concept of Multistakeholderism and AI Ethics. Hippocratic Oath for AI: "Do No Harm to the World."
(19:10) Board Committee Structure for AI. "[Only] 67 of the S&P500 companies have some sort of board technology committee." NACD report on board technology committees. "You may get a financial boost from doing that" "I think that'll be 50% greater a year from now."
(22:39) On board oversight. A deep dive on evolution of Caremark duties.
(31:09) On AI regulation.
(34:41) Geopolitics between the U.S. and China on AI.
(37:44) On OpenAI's board fiasco. Unusual structures such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Inflection AI and xAI.
(44:02) Recommendations for directors using AI.
(47:40) The intersection between Web3 and AI.
(50:00) On his EY Podcast: Better Innovation.
(51:15) Other thoughts for directors: university partnerships and risks of employee use of GAI.
(54:22) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
Tennis related books.The Fish that Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen (2012)Disrupt Yourself by Whitney Johnson (2015) *(55:47) His mentors. At EY: Kate Barton (EY Global Co-Chair, Emeritus).
(56:18) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by: "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can do." (Arthur Ashe) and "No matter how far you travel in the wrong direction, you can always turn around." (Winston Churchill).
(56:53) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.
(58:04) The living person he most admires: Billy Jean King.
Jeff Saviano is the EY Emerging Technology Strategy & Governance Leader.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:12) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:00) Start of interview.
(3:10) Amy's "origin story."
(6:23) Her time leading Comcast Ventures, and how Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) has evolved.
(9:08) Why SF/Silicon Valley as a tech hub for Comcast Ventures.
(11:19) Her first public company board experience (with Adobe).
(13:15) Differences on serving on public and private (venture-backed) boards. "Much more hands-on in private companies."
(15:27) Differences between young and old public companies. Her experience on the board of On Running. "[M]y one advice to future board members or existing board members is to learn how to listen. And you're listening for different things, again, depending on the stage of the company."
(19:42) On "adversarial boards."
(24:10) On OpenAI's board fiasco. Trust in CEOs and boardrooms. Private companies and founder misbehavior. "You never fire fast enough." "You know when things are off."
(32:35) On the current AI investment cycle.
(36:16) On the state of San Francisco as a city and tech hub.
(39:35) On women sports, and her involvement with Bay FC, a pro women's soccer team based in SF/Bay Area.
(43:09) Her thoughts on the debate and politicization of ESG and DEI.
(46:41) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clay Christensen (1997)These Truths by Jill Lepore (2018)21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Harari (2018)(47:52) Her mentors: Ralph J. Roberts (founder of Comcast).
(49:02) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "Old men ought to be explorers" (T.S. Eliot) and "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (Abraham Lincoln)
(50:20) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(51:07) The living person she most admires: Liz Cheney and Taylor Swift.
Amy Banse is a Venture Partner at Mosaic General Partnership, a VC firm based in SF Bay Area. Amy has over 30 years of experience starting, investing in, and building businesses at Comcast and as a board member on numerous public and private companies, including Adobe, Clorox, On Running and Lennar Corporation.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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(0:00) Intro.
(1:04) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(1:51) Start of interview.
(2:54) Terry's "origin story."
(5:18) The start of her legal career with O'Melveny & Myers.
(8:35) Her time at Howard Rice and her current role at Arnold & Portner (the firms merged in 2012).
(11:34) Her book ESG, the Professional's Guide to the Law and Practice of ESG, published by the American Bar Association.
(14:55) On the evolution of the purpose of the corporation and emergence of ESG.
(17:28) Environmental risks and opportunities (the "E" in ESG)
(21:00) Her take on the new SEC Climate Disclosure Rules. "It's arguably, to me, the Sarbanes-Oxley of its generation in terms of a regulatory shift."
(24:21) On the legal challenges to the SEC Climate Disclosure Rules.
(28:11) Social risks and opportunities (the "S" in ESG).
(33:31) On the ESG backlash. Reference to FT article ($13.3bn pulled out of BlackRock). Larry Fink's 2024 Chairman's Letter to Investors.
(37:50) Challenges to CA's board diversity laws (SB-826 and AB-979)
(42:14) Challenges to Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule.
(44:14) The Theranos Governance Story with Tyler Schulz (event hosted by BASF).
(46:22) BASF's Truth and Power Distinguished Speaker Series.
(48:47) Future corporate governance trends: ESG is increasingly intersectional (i.e. sustainability and AI)
(52:29) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (2015)Lady Justice by Dahlia Lithwick (2022)(54:04) Her mentors: Larry Rabkin (former partner at Howard Rice) and her Dad.
(54:57) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that" (St Teresa of Avila) and "You have to see it to be it" (Billie Jean King)
(55:55) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.
(56:14) The living person she most admires: Gloria Steinem.
Terry Johnson is a partner at Arnold & Porter and the 2024 President of the Bar Association of San Francisco and its Justice and Diversity Center.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
Twitter: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
__
You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:
Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod
__
Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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