Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Heidi Roizen: "A Good Board Member Has to Be Willing to Speak Truth, Even When It Is Unpopular"
Episode 6
Published 5 years, 11 months ago
Description
- Start of Interview [1:32]
- Heidi's origin story and career pre-venture capital [2:00]
- Heidi's first board experience: Great Plains Software prior to its IPO in 1997 [6:01]
- Joining Softbank Venture Capital (Mobius Venture Capital) in 1999 [09:09]
- The HBS Heidi Roizen Case Study [12:50]
- Her experience with foreign boards (UK, Canada) and take on transnational directors [16:21]
- Re-entering the VC market with DFJ and Threshold Ventures [23:25]
- Private tech company board governance challenges [25:36]
- Startups staying private for longer, and getting bigger [25:48]
- Change of terms based on cyclical nature of the market ("dual class shares is a grey area") [26:31]
- Founder-friendly terms [29:55]
- To be a good investor or board member "you have to be willing to speak truth even when unpopular" [31:48]
- Dealing with "dual fiduciary duties": be clear about what hats you wear (investor vs company) [32:08]
- There will be a "flight to quality" in venture investing [37:06]
- Director Independence in Silicon Valley, social ties and networks [38:56]
- Distinctions between serving on public and private venture-backed boards [42:27]
- Her joke-caution to entrepreneurs: "be careful what VC you pick, because it's harder to divorce your VC than your spouse!" [45:34]
- Board self-evaluation. "Collegiality doesn't mean that you're only nice and friendly to each other, but it also means that you have to have a working relationship where you can be honest with each other." [46:16]
- On the CA corporate board gender diversity bill (SB-826) [48:35]
- Heidi's views on stakeholder capitalism or ESG: "I think that companies earn the right to satisfy a broader stakeholder base by also remaining viable." Big difference between private and public companies in this regard [51:47]
- Her favorite books: "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, "Atomic Habits" by James Clear, "Loving What Is" by Byron Katie with Stephen Mitchell, "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss [56:15]
- Heidi's mentors: her father, Bill Gates, Ann Winblad, Tina Seelig, Emily Melton and Josh Stein [57:25]
- Her favorite quote is The Shirley MacLaine 20/40/60 Rule: “At 20, you care what everyone is thinking about you. At 40, you don't give a damn what people are thinking about you. At 60, you realize no one is thinking about you." [58:38]
- Her "unusual habit":