Welcome to the Boardroom Governance Podcast. I’m your host, Evan Epstein. In this episode, I talk with Adam Sterling, Assistant Dean for Executive Education and Revenue Generation at UC Berkeley’s School of Law and Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business. In this podcast, we talk about the Independent Director Initiative, a two-day program designed to train, and help place, individuals from backgrounds underrepresented in venture capital, to serve as independent directors on the boards of venture backed private companies. The inaugural program was hosted last week (Aug 16-17) in Berkeley, California, and we recorded this podcast a couple of days later on Aug 19th, 2022. Among other topics, we address what makes the composition of venture-backed company boards so different and the fiduciary duties of directors in these companies, where the role of the independent director can be critical particularly in a down cycle economy where down-rounds, recaps or fire sales may be more prevalent. If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing this podcast on social media. You can find all the show notes on the website boardroom-governance.com and please feel free to subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com
0:00 -- Intro.
1:23 -- Start of interview.
3:32 -- Adam's "origin story". He grew up in southern California where he attended UCSD and graduated from UCLA. In college he became an activist focusing on the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, and developed a "targeted divestment" model. After college he became a social entrepreneur based in Washington, DC.
4:06 -- His decision to pursue a JD/MBA from UC Berkeley. While in grad school "he fell in love with the startup tech scene" and during business school he tried to start his own startup but that's where he learned that "it doesn't matter how good your idea is when you don't have a good team and good execution." He then joined Gunderson Dettmer as a corporate associate supporting tech founders.
7:14 -- Adam's new role as Assistant Dean for Executive Education and Revenue Generation at UC Berkeley’s School of Law. How his initial work with 500 Startups with the BCLB sparked more executive education programs.
9:24 -- On the origin and mission of The Independent Director Initiative.
12:20 -- What makes corporate governance in private venture-backed companies different to public companies. Explaining VC University (a partnership between Berkeley Law, NVCA and Venture Forward).
15:42 -- The Academic Partners of the Independent Director Initiative:
The Organizational Partners of the Independent Director Initiative:
18:07 -- On the interest and number of applicants to the program (~500 applications, 80 got selected in first cohort).
19:21 -- On fiduciary duties of directors in venture-backed companies (including dual-fiduciary conflicts). Role of independent directors, and boardroom diversity in private venture-backed companies. The Trados case (2013).
38:43 -- The evolution of private markets and how its regulation may impact corporate governance.
40:06 -- Take-aways from the program: 1) more education is needed for directors of venture-backed companies generally (beyond just independent directors), and 2) it was refreshing to see such a diverse and qualified group of executives that could serve on corporate boards.
41:56 -- Where can people learn more and/or apply for the next cohort of the Independent Director Initiative: independent.venturecapitaluniversity.com
42:57 -- Benefits for participants beyond just the two days of the program. Placements.
45:27 - Some of the books that have greatly influenced his venture career:
45:51 - Who were your mentors, and what did you learn from them (regarding this program)
46:26 - Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Martin Luther King, Jr.
46:26 - An unusual habit or an absurd thing that he loves: walking 40min for his commute. "Owning your downtime."
48:55 - The living person he most admires: his wife.
Adam Sterling is the Assistant Dean for Executive Education and Revenue Generation at UC Berkeley’s School of Law and the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business.
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You can follow Adam on social media at:
Twitter: @adambsterling
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambsterling/
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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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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