Manage episode 493121723 series 2910083
(0:00) Intro
(1:30) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(2:16) Start of interview
(3:09) Jack's origin story
(4:11) The Accounting Foundation. His time at PriceWaterhouse (1987-1992)
(5:45) His Startup/Executive Journey. Electronics for Imaging => Apptitude => NetRatings => Atheros => Qualcomm
(12:15) Transitioning to Board Service. His start with Silicon Labs (2013)
(12:26) His time as CFO at GoPro (2014-2016)
(13:55) His focus on boards since 2016 (~10 public boards, ~15 overall since)
(14:41) Differences between public and private company board service.
(18:55) The Current IPO Landscape plus staying private for longer vs going public.
(24:45) Founder Dynamics in Governance and the Dual-Class Share Debate. "In general, I don't like dual-class shares (...) I blame the banks for this." His experience at Casper and ThredUp. "I don't believe in sunset provisions above 7 years. Frankly, I think 3 years is long enough"
(32:10) Navigating Shareholder Activism. His experience with Mellanox (sold to NVIDIA for $6.9B) and Box (won proxy fight).
(37:27) His support for Classified Boards
(40:27) AI and Semiconductor Future. His board position at NatCast, a non-profit entity designated to operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) by the Department of Commerce. Reference to his TEDx talk: "Why Technology is Not Silicon Valley's Real Innovation" (2016)
(48:40) Geopolitical Challenges in Tech
(53:04) The Importance of Risk Planning by the board (downside plans, "defcon processes", etc)
(54:54) Books that have greatly influenced his life:
- The Goal, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt (1984)
- Good to Great, by Jim Collins (2001)
(55:49) His mentors:
- Chuck Robel, from Price Waterhouse
- Irwin Federman, the Chairman of Mellanox
- Bill Elmore, Founder Foundation Capital
- Andy Rappaport, August Capital
(57:39) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by.
(59:12) An unusual habit or an absurd thing that he loves.
(01:00:41) The living person he most admires.
Jack Lazar has more than 30 years of Silicon Valley experience with a focus on finance and operations. He currently serves on the boards of Astera Labs (ALAB), Box (BOX), GlobalFoundries (GFS), and Resideo (REZI). He also consults with a variety of private companies, including Tonal, where he is chair of the board.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
X: @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
180 episodes