Columbia Business School professor Michael Ewens joins the podcast to unpack what data reveals about startup board dynamics, founder power, and investor influence. We also discuss the current exit landscape, IPOs, private equity, and the future role of boards in an AI-driven economy.
(0:00) Intro
(1:19) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(2:05) Start of interview
(2:48) Michael's origin story. Academic Journey and Early Influences. *reference to Correlation Ventures
(8:55) About his paper Board Dynamics over the Startup Life Cycle (2020) with Nadia Malenko.
(11:30) Role of independent directors in VC-backed companies.
(16:05) Control Dynamics in Startup Boards
(17:21) The Evolution of Founder Control *Reference to E187 with Brad Feld (Oct 2025)
(28:11) The Future of Private Markets
(29:21) The Future of IPOs “What’s been missing from the IPO market since 1996 is the small- to mid-cap company. In my view, the solution for public markets is to restore their uniqueness by shutting down private secondary markets and making public-market liquidity distinctive again.”
(33:40) The Role of Private Equity in Governance
(39:47) Distinctions Between VC and PE Boards
(42:24) Insights from Private Equity for Public Companies “A PE firm is really an investment bank with a consulting arm, where the partners sit on both sides and have equity in the whole game.” "What PE solves is expertise alignment, and a clear investment horizon for an exit."
(47:36) The Impact of AI on Board Governance
(50:20) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
(53:14) His mentors
(54:24) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by: "All models are wrong, but some are useful" by George Box
(53:15) An unusual habit or an absurd thing that he loves. Watching the Big Lebowski.
(55:53) The living person he most admires: Derek Thomson.
(57:26) Moving from VC to PE Research in New York
Michael Ewens is the David L. and Elsie M. Dodd Professor of Finance and co-director of the Private Equity Program at Columbia Business School.