Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein Evan Epstein

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. We discuss the origin story of Athena, its transition from non-profit to for-profit, and its focus on supporting women for boardroom placements and other executive roles.

We also examine how board service varies in companies with differing capital structures (i.e. public, PE, VC, ESOPs and more), Athena's board readiness course, and the impact of AI in the board and economy generally.

If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.

Greg Gretsch is Founding Partner and Managing Director of Jackson Square Ventures, an early-stage VC firm based in San Francisco that invests in software businesses.

In this episode, we discuss his entrepreneurial journey in Silicon Valley, both as a founder and an investor. We also explore power dynamics in founder-investor relationships, shifting governance norms (including distinctions between VC, PE, and public companies), and how equity compensation in tech companies has evolved in the last 25 years.

We also talk about the evolution of private markets including liquidity alternatives from secondary markets, plus the rise of AI as a new technology platform shift.

In addition, we talk about his investment in Cornershop, a leading online grocery provider focused originally on Latin America (acquired by Uber).

If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.

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.

We address the evolving dynamics of shareholder activism, the impact of universal proxy rules, and ESG activism (separating E vs S campaigns, as in Exxon and Starbucks). We also talk about differences in activist campaigns in large, mid, and small caps, and how boards should prepare for them. In addition, we address the role of institutional investors and proxy advisors in contested situations.

If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.

Leah Solivan is a General Partner at Fuel Capital, a venture capital firm. Prior to that, she was the founder, CEO and Executive Chair at TaskRabbit. Leah scaled the company to 44 cities and raised more than $50 million. In 2017, TaskRabbit was acquired by IKEA.

We discuss her journey at TaskRabbit, with a special emphasis on her board experience. We address board composition, scaling, and CEO succession. We also talk about her transition to startup investing, and her thoughts about board service in public companies, and boardroom diversity generally.

If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.

Jeff Saviano is the EY Emerging Technology Strategy & Governance Leader. He advises corporate boards, C-suite executives, and senior government officials on the risks, opportunities, and policy/governance implications emanating from innovative technology, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and Web3.

In this episode, we talk about what is probably the hottest topic in corporate governance circles: AI ethics and governance, including board oversight, board committee structure, and board expertise. We also cover AI regulatory oversight in the US and internationally, the OpenAI board fiasco, and some of the novel entity structures used by leading AI companies.

If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.

Amy Banse is a Venture Partner at Mosaic General Partnership, a VC firm based in SF Bay Area. She 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.

In this episode we talk about her time leading Comcast Ventures and the evolution of Corporate Venture Capital. We also cover her experience as a director of public and private companies, including distinctions between these types of companies. We also address challenging governance matters, AI as the new new thing, DEI, plus the current state of SF and women sports.

If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com

This podcast is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.