Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

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Leah Solivan: The Entrepreneur's Journey to the Boardroom.

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

04/22/24 • 56 min

(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

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

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

Jennifer Dulski: "To Join (Your First) Public Board, Someone Needs to Bet on You"

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

06/10/24 • 58 min

(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:

Ilya Strebulaev: Venture Mindset Takeaways for Board Members.

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

06/25/24 • 58 min

(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

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

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

Amy Banse: On Board Dynamics and Listening Through Company Stages.

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

04/08/24 • 55 min

(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

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

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

Sonita Lontoh: On Board Culture, Innovation, and Creative Tension

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

06/03/24 • 53 min

(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

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

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

Valeria Café: Leading Governance Innovation in Brazil as IBGC CEO

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

10/21/24 • 40 min

(0:00) Intro.

(1:20) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.

(2:06) Start of interview.

(3:20) Valeria's origin story.

(6:14) On joining IBGC, its mission and focus: governance training, research, and regulatory work with CVM, B3, Congress, etc.

(9:03) On the 25th IBGC Annual Summit.

(11:11) On the state of ESG in Brazil.

(15:15) On boardroom diversity in Brazil (20% female representation in public companies).

(17:40) Geopolitics, and where Brazil stands between the U.S. and China.

(20:56) Innovation and AI in Brazil.

(24:44) On compliance and anti-corruption measures by boards in Brazil (post Lava Jato).

(29:17) On the future of corporate governance in Brazil and her vision for IBGC.

(32:52) The importance of board education and constant learning. On the issue of overboarding (new rule from Novo Mercado).

(35:53) Books that have greatly influenced her life:

Feliz ano velho. By Marcelo Rubens Paiva (1982)
Theory U. By Otto Scharmer (2007)
The Moment of Lift. By Melinda Gates (2019)

(36:54) Her mentors.

(37:32) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.

(38:00) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.

(38:32) The person she most admires.

Valeria Cafe is CEO of IBGC, the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance.

You can follow Evan on social media at:

Twitter: @evanepstein

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

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

Mary Inman: On Theranos, Meta and Representing High Profile Whistleblowers.

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

03/18/24 • 58 min

(0:00) Intro.

(1:27) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.

(2:14) Start of interview.

(3:30) Mary's "origin story."

(5:32) Her start as a whistleblower lawyer at Philips & Cohen. The advent of US Whistleblower reward programs (CFTC, SEC, IRS, Transportation, Treasury, and DOJ soon).

(7:50) The Theranos case and her representation of Tyler Schulz.

(14:02) More about the SEC Whistleblower Program.

(24:52) The Facebook (Meta) case and her representation of Frances Haugen. On the rise of whistleblowers in Silicon Valley: The Tech Worker Handbook (created by Ifeoma Ozoma, a whistleblower at Pinterest). The Silence No More Act (CA SB 331). Reference to Mark MacGann, the Uber whistleblower.

(31:00) On the health hazards to whistleblowers. Reference to New England Journal of Medicine article on impact in whistle-blowers in cases of major health care fraud. Unfortunate death of Boeing Whistleblower. The Personal Toll of Whistle-Blowing (New Yorker Magazine).

(37:52) On FCPA cases, and role of whistleblowers in foreign corruption enforced by the SEC and DOJ. Reference to the Billion Dollar Whale book.

(47:19) Future trends on whistleblower cases and corporate governance practices (elevation of Chief Compliance Officers).

(50:50) Advice to board members: embrace whistleblowers and encourage speaking up. Reference to this study: Evidence on the Use and Efficacy of Internal Whistleblowing Systems.

(52:37) Books that have greatly influenced her life: children books by William Steig (inspired her parenting).

(53:17) Her mentor: Lisa Foster.

(54:53) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." (Martin Luther King, Jr)

(55:53) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.

(56:18) The living person she most admires: whistleblowers generally, "I call them Truth Tellers and Up Standers".

Mary Inman is a partner at Whistleblower Partners LLP, a new boutique law firm specializing exclusively in representing whistleblowers under the various U.S. whistleblower reward programs.

You can follow Evan on social media at:

Twitter: @evanepstein

LinkedIn:

Boardroom Diversity and the Black Corporate Board Readiness Program

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

10/07/24 • 57 min

(0:00) Intro.

(1:25) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.

(2:11) Start of interview.

(2:56) Zain Oke's origin story.

(5:08) Dianna Jones's origin story.

(8:25) Dennis Lanham's origin story.

(12:00) How executive education works (as opposed to degree conferring programs)

(14:22) On the origin and mission of the Black Corporate Board Readiness (BCBR) program at Santa Clara University.

(17:41) On the role of community and mentorship at BCBR.

(22:11) On lawyers serving on corporate boards.

(30:50) On the legal challenges to SB-826 and AB-979 in California (board diversity laws).

(40:00) On the politicization of the boardroom and the push back on ESG and DEI.

(51:23) Recommendations for executives seeking to join their first board, and for boards considering diverse candidates.

You can follow Evan on social media at:

Twitter: @evanepstein

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:

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

Teresa Johnson: On ESG, Boardroom Diversity, and Truth to Power.

Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

04/01/24 • 57 min

(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

You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at: