Episode Details

0:00 -- Intro.

2:00 -- Start of interview.

2:28 -- Karen's "origin story".

3:24 -- Her management career at Procter & Gamble, Bain & Co (focusing on property and casualty insurance), Berol, GM, ICG and Ford (where she led the Corporate Venture Capital Group).

11:12 -- Her transition to SF/Bay Area and tech  as CEO of Publicis & Hal Riney and AcademixDirect.

13:23 -- Distinctions between operating in startups and public companies.

14:20 -- On her board journey:

• Past board positions: portfolio companies from Ford's Corporate Venture Capital Group, Hanover Insurance (NYSE), AutoNation (NYSE), Circle Graphics, Telenav (ex Nasdaq), Dynamic Signal, and Renivent TechPartners Y (SPAC on Nasdaq).
• Current Board positions: Nauto, Metawave, Wind River, TPG Global (*Sr Advisor), CelLink (Chair), Vontier (Chair)(NYSE) and Polestar (Nasdaq).

16:57 -- On distinctions between PE-backed and VC-backed company boards (and the role of independent directors in each).

21:00 -- On serving as a director of a SPAC company (and distinctions between SPAC companies and the resulting public company from de-SPAC transactions. She's served on both capacities: with Reid Hoffman's Renivent TechPartners Y and Polestar (joining after it went public via a de-SPAC transaction).

24:34 -- On serving in international company boards.

30:50 -- The challenges and opportunities of the automotive industry's transition to EV. The impact of Tesla and Government incentives.

36:02 -- On the role of Chair and/or lead independent directors. "Fundamentally, the Chair or Lead Independent Director is the CEO's Person."

39:19 -- On the separation of the Chair and CEO roles. 

41:47 -- Her advice on board evaluations.

45:50-- Her take on ESG and the anti-ESG backlash. "The #1 target audience for this work is the employee base." "In today's world, talent is one of the most important and scarce assets that a company has, and any shareholder should care if the company is retaining talent."

51:49 -- The books that have greatly influenced her life: 

1. The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, by Paul Kennedy (1987)
2. Her Economics and French books in college.

52:57 -- Her mentors, and what she learned from them.