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On Boards Podcast

On Boards Podcast

Auteur(s): Joe Ayoub & Raza Shaikh
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A company’s Board of Directors or Advisors often has a pivotal role in the success or failure of a business, whether a company or organization lives or dies - - and whether the people who have invested time, money and emotional capital will succeed. On Boards Podcast: A Deep Dive at Driving Business Success, is about everything related to Boards of Directors and Boards of Advisors. Twice a month, in 30 minutes, hear and learn about all aspects of boards and business governance. 
In each episode co-hosts Raza Shaikh and Joe Ayoub interview a guest who has experience with boards - as a board member, a CEO, an investor or an advisor, among other roles, for a conversation on a wide range of topics including: What makes great boards great? What makes a board unsuccessful? How to be a good board member? How to make your board one of the most valuable assets of your company. They discuss public, private, non-profit and start-ups (which they believe is its own category) boards - the work they do, the impact they have and their potential to be profoundly impactful on the organization they serve. On Boards Podcast is for anyone who is a board member, would like serve on a board, is an owner of a business, a member of a non-profit organization, an investor in a business or is interested in Board of Directors or Boards of Advisors or business governance. Développement commercial et entrepreneuriat Entrepreneurship Gestion et leadership Économie
Épisodes
  • 83. Matching Board Members with Public Company Boards with Suzanne Brown
    May 20 2025

    In this episode of On Boards, hosts Joe Ayoub and Raza Shaik welcome Suzanne Brown, Director of New York Stock Exchange Board Services. She shares her unique career journey from law and the nonprofit world to board placement leadership at the New York Stock Exchange.

    Suzanne unpacks how NYSE Board Services was created to bridge the gap between talented board-ready individuals and the NYSE companies that need them. Suzanne also explains their unique “CEO-vetted” approach, the powerful influence of the NYSE brand, and the structural components that make their board placement program effective and trusted.

    Suzanne leads an extensive network of over 1,000 CEO-vetted candidates. The service averages 2 board searches a week for NYSE listed companies and since 2019 has helped place 50+ professionals on corporate boards.

    Key takeaways

    1. NYSE Board Services background

    • NYSE Board Services was created in response to an obvious but under-addressed problem: many qualified candidates were being overlooked for board roles due to lack of network access, not lack of ability. The service is free for NYSE listed companies.

    • Every candidate that enters the NYSE Board Services network has been vetted by the CEO of a listed company, who personally nominated them. The Board Exchange connects C-suite professionals with board opportunities, focusing on readiness, visibility, and long-term support.

    • The program is made of 3 C’s: Council, Candidates and Companies. The council is made up of a group of 24 prominent NYSE CEOs, the program has over 1,100 candidates and there are 2,400 companies with which the NYSE has built longstanding relationships.

    2. Education is core to board readiness

    • Suzanne explains that many of the candidates are first time board members. The NYSE Board Services team personally onboards each candidate and helps them prepare their profile and present their background, skill set and industry focus.

    • Candidates are also offered education through webinars and panels on topics such as global trends, governance, board culture, etc. All services are free of charge.

    3. Board tenure is rising, CEO tenure is shrinking

    • The average tenure for a board member has increased from 8 to 10 years and continues to increase while the turnover rate for CEOs has gone down to 4.8 years as of last year, the lowest ever.

    • The board holds the continuity, but Suzanne encourages startup and pre-IPO companies to proactively set board term limits and retirement ages. This removes the need for awkward conversations years later and helps institutionalize clear expectations for rotation and rejuvenation.

    4. Future of NYSE Board Services

    • Suzanne’s vision for the program is that every nom/gov of an NYSE-listed company will reach out to NYSE Board Services to refresh their board because the service is high-quality, high touch and successful.

    Quotes

    “Our defining feature, our secret sauce, is that any candidate in our network has to be CEO vetted, and that means that a CEO of a listed company just has to personally vouch and stand for that person.”

    “We're a trusted resource. It's a natural extension for listed companies to look to us.”

    “Part of what we do is make sure that our candidates… are aware of trends and understand what it's like to be in the boardroom, which is a unique culture.”

    Links

    nyse.com/board-services

    Guest Bio

    Suzanne Brown is the Director of NYSE Board Services, an exclusive resource dedicated to connecting highly qualified board candidates with NYSE-listed companies. She partners closely with CEOs and Board Directors to enhance governance practices and strengthen board leadership.

    Suzanne leads an extensive network of over 1,000 CEO-vetted candidates, facilitating strategic matches between talented individuals and companies in need of fresh board perspectives. Since 2019, NYSE Board Services has successfully placed 50+ professionals on corporate boards.

    A Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Suzanne, earned a B.A. in History from the University of Vermont and a J.D. from Cornell Law School

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    29 min
  • 82. Reimagining AI Board Intelligence with Raffaela Rein
    May 7 2025
    In this episode of On Boards, hosts Joe Ayoub and Raza Shaikh welcome Raffaela Rein,  a seasoned entrepreneur and board member with expertise in frontier technology and innovation-driven leadership. Raffaela began her career as an analyst at BlackRock, and launched three companies for the world's largest incubator, Rocket Internet, across China, Australia, and Taiwan before becoming an entrepreneur. She serves on multiple corporate and private equity-backed boards, including Porsche, Mutares and International University IU. As the founder of WildWildVentures and CareerFoundry, she has scaled startups to 120-plus employees and advised many venture-backed businesses. Raffaela serves as a board member for the German startup Verband, where she helps improve legislation for startups. Raffaela was named one of Forbes top women in tech, and she is among Europe's most influential women in startups and venture capital. She has built a career at the forefront of business reinvention. Raffaela discusses her entrepreneurial journey as founder of BoardLens a new AI tool she is developing and how it will transform the future of board meetings and excellence in board members. Key Takeaways 1. Board effectiveness Only 30% CEOs rate their boards as effective. With an expectation that board members come to meetings well prepared, Rein recognizes that board members are tasked with consuming hundreds, and often thousands, of pages of information in preparation for meetings. It is an almost impossible task to complete a thorough review especially if you are if you have a full time job. In Germany, it’s common for board members to hire consultants or a ‘chief of staff’ that will help them with their board responsibilities. Raffaela is creating a tool that will serve a similar role for board members worldwide. 2. How BoardLens can transform board meetings Raffaela anticipates launching BoardLens in mid-2025. It is an AI driven tool that is built to aid board members with meeting preparation, research, executive summaries, questions and risk analysis. It is meant to support board members while enabling members to fulfill their fiduciary duties and make a meaningful contribution in board meetings. Raffaela likens BoardLens to hiring a personal Goldman Sachs analyst. It is trained with proprietary data and that will enable it to act, think and analyze like a board director. 3. Human edge is still crucial While AI can process vast data and respond quickly, human directors can provide intuition, pattern recognition, and emotional intelligence—skills developed through lived experience that are essential in nuanced decision-making.As technology advances, AI is bound to replace some human roles but to maintain the balance between AI and humans, Rein suggests thinking about how people are able to provide a unique and individual perspective to issues on a board’s agenda. 4. Privacy and confidentiality concerns Uploading board packets into non-enterprise AI tools can be a confidentiality risk. BoardLens, however, will be trained to only read one organization’s board materials and will not cross share data. Rein explains that the company's IT department will be able to access the software’s security suite. Quotes ”Here in Germany we have this system that you can get a consultant or chief of staff who actually helps you, not just with your preparation, but also with thinking things through deeply, doing deep market research, basically doing weeks and weeks of work to help you prepare for a board meeting.” “I don't like the word 'Copilot' for BoardLens because it feels too passive. I like the word “analyst” because if you think of a Goldman analyst, they will do their best to really make you shine and to prepare you, so you should think of it as an analyst that fights for you.”  ”The breadth of expertise and the breadth of knowhow you need to have and need to gain very rapidly as a director these days is significant and has accelerated dramatically in the last five years.” Links raffaelarein.com https://boardlens.ai/ https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/governance-insights-center/library/board- effectiveness-and-performance-improvement.html Raffaela Rein Bio Raffaela Rein is a seasoned entrepreneur and board member with expertise in frontier technologies and innovation-driven leadership. She serves on multiple corporate and private equity-backed boards, including Porsche, Mutares, and the International University IU. As the founder of WildWildVentures and CareerFoundry, she has scaled startups to 120+ employees and advised venture-backed businesses. Named one of Forbes’ Top Women in Tech, Capital’s 40 Under 40, and among Europe’s most influential women in startups and VC, Raffaela has built a career at the forefront of business reinvention and innovation driven leadership. She began her career at BlackRock and launched three companies for Rocket Internet across China, Australia,...
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    32 min
  • 81. Building a High-Performing Board with Lynn Clarke
    Apr 28 2025
    In this episode of On Boards, hosts Joe Ayoub and Raza Shaikh welcome Lynn Clarke, an experienced leader in family board governance who has served on more than a dozen family and private equity-backed boards including as an independent chair and lead director. Lynn is also a strategic advisor and mentor and has served on boards spanning from beverage and food services to e-commerce and manufacturing.  Lynn has mentored next generation board members and leaders throughout her career and  was named the Private Company Director of the Year by National Association of Corporate Directors in 2022. She also serves as one of three judges for Deloitte’s best managed private company awards program. Key Takeaways 1. Interviewing for a board role With years of experience serving on boards, Lynn advises aspiring board members to carry a passion for the business, its products and what the company does. It’s important to understand why you want to serve on a board, what value you add and what new perspectives you believe you will bring. She advises to make these points clear when you are interviewing for a board seat. 2. New boards vs. existing boards Newly formed boards offer a unique opportunity to build the culture, rhythm, and structure of governance from the ground up, but its success is dependent on the principal shareholder(s), who will define the culture of the board and company. Shareholders set the tone. 3. Knowing when it’s time to leave a board or offboard a member Having the self-awareness is key to knowing when it’s time to leave. Lynn suggests asking yourself, “am I still a good fit?” and “do I like what I'm doing on this board?”, “Am I enjoying the discussions at the board meeting?”, “Do I feel as though I am contributing to the growth of the company?” If the answers are no, maybe you need to consider stepping out. Offboarding a member is one of the challenging aspects of board governance, especially in close-knit or long-tenured groups. It requires direct but respectful conversations from the lead director, board chair, or governance chair. Whether a board member is being asked to leave due to performance issues or company changes, Lynn recommends treating it like a celebration and acknowledgement of the person’s service on the board, almost like a retirement. 4. Board evaluations make it easier to provide ongoing feedback Even private and early-stage boards benefit from formal assessments. Annual board effectiveness and peer evaluations help surface underlying issues in board dynamics and performance. Peer evaluations can be sensitive for company boards, so Lynn suggests introducing different types of evaluations in parts. Quotes “ABARTA Coca-Cola was one of the first family-owned businesses I know to really think about independent governance. There were a majority of independent directors on a board, had a high quality strategic plan that is really a living, breathing document and a good family council or an ownership council. Those are the three things that take a business from Gen 1 or 2 into 3, 4, 5, 6, and beyond.”  ”I take my commitments to the companies and the families that I work with 100% seriously the same way that I did in running a company or working for a Fortune 50. When you join a board, you are committed to that organization. You're a fiduciary. Why would you do this unless you really wanted to help make an impact, and the only way you can make an impact is to take what you do seriously.”  ”The first thing you need to think about when you've been approached about joining a board: can I really make a contribution? I also think passion for the business is really important, passion for the product, the service and what the company does is really important.” “ It's important when you're on a newly formed board to think about what you know from boards that have been around for a while, and how you apply those learnings to help support the formation and the development of the new board.” “Do I enjoy the conversations? Am I feeling like it’s a good fit?” And no matter how many years you’ve been on the board “do you like what you’re doing?" Links Four Key Questions to Ask Yourself How to Be an Exceptional Director Board Refreshment — When Is It Time? getonaboard.com Guest Bio Lynn has extensive experience in family board governance, having served on more than a dozen family and PE boards as Independent Chair/Lead/Director. She also is a Strategic Advisor & Mentor to Family Board Chairs for Vitamix and for a Coca-Cola Bottler. And Lynn has mentored next generation board members & leaders. Her industry experience spans CPG, beverage, food, food service, e-commerce, digital, retail, manufacturing,and supply. She currently serves as an Independent Director on several boards, including Vollrath Manufacturing, Just Born (the PEEPS company), Basic American Foods and Kalsec Global Flavors. As an ...
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    33 min

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