Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

(0:00) Intro to this episode (1:34) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel . (2:21) Start of interview (3:19) Joele Frank 's origin story (5:02) Anne Chapman 's origin story (8:41) The history and focus of the firm Joelle Frank (now has ~250 people, with offices in NYC and SF). (12:46) Shareholder activism in today's market (15:52) The Exxon Mobil activism case [see...

(0:00) Intro (1:24) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:11) Start of interview. *Reference to E91 (April 2023) for Steven's personal/professional background.  (2:34) The current era of corporate law. (3:39) Transition to Substack Publishing (6:40) The DExit Phenomenon Explained (11:35) Understanding Delaware's SB21 and Its Implications. His article, Course Corr...

(0:00) Intro (1:36) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:23) Start of interview (3:11) Brad's origin story (4:54) Venture Capital Beginnings (5:39) The Rise of the Internet (8:10) His role in Softbank Technology Ventures and later Mobius Venture Capital. Reference to Heidi Roizen E6, E108 and E116 (12:26) Transition to Techstars and Foundry (13:36) Origin and fo...

(0:00) Intro (1:30) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:16) Start of interview. *Reference to E181 (July 2025) for Steven's personal/professional background. (3:14) IPOs and Market Trends. Including Klarna and Gemini. (5:29) The Stay Private vs. Go Public Dilemma. Valuations and market health (examples of Airbnb and Figma) (12:00) The Oracle post-earnings 36% p...

(0:00) Intro (1:26) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:13) Start of interview (2:53) Teresa's origin story (4:30) Her career path at Deloitte (37-year career) (7:40) Transition to Board Service (8:37) Joining the board of ServiceNow (10:57) Joining the board of Warby Parker and understanding Public Benefit Corporations (PBCs) (14:48) Joining the boards of Snow...

(0:00) Intro (1:27) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:13) Start of interview (2:51) Jonathan's origin story (4:23) His Journey into Governance, initially via accounting with PwC and later with Lazard . (6:17) Types of Governance Structures (7:51) About his firm Current Capital Partners (M&A advisory, corporate management services, and PE investing). (8:31) Th...

(0:00) Intro (1:31) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:18) Start of interview. *Reference to E36 (June 2021) for personal/professional background, and E90 (March 2023) (3:13) Celebrating 25 Years of the Weinberg Center (3:47) Uncovering John Weinberg's 1948 Thesis. Details for the Symposium at the Weinberg Center on Oct 9, 2025. (6:12) The role of boards and d...

(0:00) Intro (1:26) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:13) Start of interview *mention of my participation in the Board Summit in Chile (Nov 2025) (3:40) Tina's origin story (6:19) From Germany to Latin America with Beiersdorf (10:14) Her time with D&S and Walmart Chile  (11:38) Her start with board memberships (14:23) The Role of Independent Directors in Fami...

(0:00) Intro (1:28) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:15) Start of interview (3:17) Steven's origin story (7:09) The AI Market Explosion (10:07) Introducing Alpha : the company he leads.  (16:01) On Events and Board Forums: "There is going to be a premium on IRL really moving forward because the bar is going to be so high"  (17:50) The Necessity of Tech-Savvy...

(0:00) Intro (1:14) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:00) Start of interview (2:36) Erik's origin story (4:14) Discussing Foreign Private Issuers (FPIs): His article " SEC Revisits Foreign Private Issuer Eligibility " (June 2025) (16:45) The Rise of AI and Its Implications. Discussion on " AI Washing " (19:30) Distinguishing statutory mandates between the SEC...

(0:00) Intro (1:30) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:16) Start of interview (3:09) Jack's origin story (4:11) The Accounting Foundation. His time at PriceWaterhouse (1987-1992) (5:45) His Startup/Executive Journey . Electronics for Imaging => Apptitude => NetRatings => Atheros => Qualcomm (12:15) Transitioning to Board Service. His start with Silicon Labs (2...

(0:00) Intro to this episode (1:43) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel . (2:30) Start of interview (3:09) Walker Newell 's origin story (6:38) Lenin Lopez ' origin story (9:21) Intro to Woodruff Sawyer , and their focus on corporate law and securities litigation. (14:00) The Importance of Corporate Governance (14:38) On the Gallagher merger (WS was acquired for $...

This episode marks the fifth anniversary of the Boardroom Governance Podcast and Newsletter. In this solo edition, I reflect on: The origin of the podcast and newsletter, both launched during the pandemic Key lessons from over 175 episodes with leading voices in corporate governance The Boardroom Governance Summit My role leading the Center for Business Law at UC Law SF The Startup Litigation Dige...

(0:00) Intro  (1:49) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:36) Introduction by Professor Anat Admati, Stanford Graduate School of Business. Read the event coverage from Stanford's CASI . (4:14) Start of Interview (4:45) What inspired Karen to write this book and how she got started with journalism. (8:00) OpenAI's Nonprofit Origin Story (8:45) Sam Altman and Elon...

(0:00) Intro (1:09) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (1:56) Start of interview (2:39) Michal's origin story (5:05) Her start in journalism in Silicon Valley with Business 2.0. magazine and later at Fortune Magazine. (7:45) Her project Operation Firewall (audible original podcast involving cybersecurity) (11:40) The current state of tech, particularly AI, in Sil...

(0:00) Intro (1:37) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:24) Start of interview (3:10) Alex's origin story (5:56) His advisory boards and other board positions. On the importance of the academic practitioner nexus. (7:02) About his book May Contain Lies (2024) (10:07) About confirmation bias , relevant to corporate directors. (11:48) About black and white thinki...

(0:00) Intro (1:14) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:01) Start of interview (4:38) His professional background starting with Skadden in Delaware. (5:08) About his corporate governance practice at Dechert LLP (8:10) How Delaware Came to Dominate U.S. Incorporations (13:14) What prompted the pushback against Delaware (15:12) The Tornetta v Musk decision (Elon...

(0:00) Intro (1:30) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:17) Start of interview (3:01) Roy's origin story.  (6:35) About the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive ("CS3D"). His paper co-authored with Luca Enriques and Matteo Gatti: How the EU Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Could Reshape Corporate America (2025) (9:28) The Political Climate...

(0:00) Intro (1:26) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:13) Start of interview (2:45) Robin's origin story (3:55) About the AI Law and Innovation Institute . (5:02) On AI governance : "AI is critical for boards, both from a risk management perspective and from a regulatory management perspective." Boards should: 1) Get regular updates on safety and regulatory i...

(0:00) Intro (1:13) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:00) Start of interview (2:45) Amy's origin story (3:25) Her start in corporate governance (5:02) About the implosion of Arthur Andersen (she worked there from 1993 to 2002)  (7:00) Her time at BDO USA for the past 21 years and founding the BDO Center for Corporate Governance (11:50) AI governance and board...

(0:00) Intro (1:15) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:02) Start of interview (2:45) Emily's origin story (8:27) Her start in venture capital through DFJ with Tim Draper in 2000. (11:56) About the history and evolution of VC (13:42) Investing thesis (founding principle) at her firm Threshold Ventures . (19:21) The venture mechanics of Threshold Ventures . "One...

(0:00) Intro (1:26) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:13) Start of interview (2:45) Joe's origin story (4:07) His early career starting in London, with law firm Linklaters .  (6:43) His move to Friendster in Silicon Valley. (8:00) His time at Videoegg . (9:24) His time at the International Trade Administration in the Obama Administration. (11:30) His return t...

(0:00) Intro (1:15) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:02) Start of interview (2:48) Jorge's origin story (6:03) His executive career in Silicon Valley (including computer and semiconductor industries) (9:00) On his board experience (he has served in ~20 boards) (11:32) Distinctions between serving on different types of boards (public/private/non-profits/etc)....

(0:00) Intro (1:38) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:25) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Dave ( E25 from Dec 2020 ) (3:30) Equilar 's current focus. New: Equilar Research Intelligence Copilot ERIC (7:49) The current status of boardroom diversity . Latest (Q3 2024) Equilar Gender Diversity Index (10:05) On boardroom refreshment (11:25) On...

(0:00) Intro. (1:33) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel (2:20) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Rick ( E14 from Aug 2020 ) (3:32) Update on Public Benefit Corporations (PBCs) from prior episode (2020) (6:00) Surge of VC investments in PBCs driven by AI startups. *Reference to E159 with David Berger on Anthropic's structure (9:48) The OpenAI Co...