Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

Keith Giarman, Managing Partner of the Private Equity Practice at DHR Global, and Tony Abate, experienced board chair, director, investor, and operating executive, join the Boardroom Governance Podcast to discuss private equity boards, turnaround governance, board effectiveness, board agendas, AI and board talent, underestimated governance risks, and the difference between founder-led and board-led companies.

In this milestone Episode 200, Betsy Atkins, one of the most experienced directors in the U.S., shares insights from decades of board service. She has served on more than 38 public company boards and through 17 IPOs, in addition to numerous PE and VC-backed company boards. She currently serves on the boards of Wynn Las Vegas, GoPuff, and the Google Cloud Advisory Board.

Jennifer Ceran is a seasoned finance executive and board member whose career spans treasury leadership, the CFO role, and public and private company board service. Jennifer currently serves on the boards of NerdWallet, Wyze, Riskified, Klaviyo, Flock Safety, and Mesh Payments.

In this annual year-end episode, Evan Epstein and Joe Grundfest reflect on the major governance and market developments of 2025, from IPOs and AI to Delaware law and executive compensation. They also offer clear-eyed predictions on the trends boards should be watching as they head into 2026.

Richard Blake is a partner at Wilson Sonsini and the leader of the firm’s public companies practice. He is one of the lead authors of the 2025 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report, an annual study tracking governance trends among leading technology and life sciences companies. We discuss the key findings from the 2025 report, including notable shifts in DEI disclosure, evolving approaches to ESG, and how companies are responding to an increasingly complex state and federal regulatory landscape.

Erik Lie is the Amelia Tippie Chair in Finance and Professor at the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. His new book, Catching Cheats: Everyday Forensics to Unmask Business Fraud, offers a compelling look at how forensic economics and data-driven analysis can help identify wrongdoing that remains hidden in plain sight. We talk about a broad range of governance and fraud-related issues, beginning with the challenges of private-market data, the evolving responsibilities of directors in fraud detection, and real-world lessons from the Bernie Madoff case and other historic white-collar scandals.

Karen Page is a General Partner and Board Partner at B Capital, a global multi-stage venture firm founded by Eduardo Saverin and Raj Ganguly that partners with Boston Consulting Group to help scale high-growth startups. Karen brings decades of experience as an operator, investor, and board member across the technology and venture ecosystem. We discuss her career journey and path into VC. Karen shares insights into her investment focus at B Capital and reflects on how governance has evolved across early- and growth-stage companies.

Stephen Bainbridge is the William D. Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. We discuss a range of timely and thought-provoking topics, beginning with his perspective on the evolving discourse around corporate law. We explore the “DExit” phenomenon and the implications of Delaware's SB21. We also discuss and compare the rise of Texas and Nevada as business-friendly incorporation alternatives. We then turn to broader questions about governance in a shifting regulatory and political environment, including the rise of government intervention, the role of PBCs in AI, and a reconsideration of ESG and stakeholder governance in the current climate.