Back
Episode 27

Taking Businesses & Legal Teams Global: Sarah Binder, General Counsel, Lime

Episode summary

Introduction: 0:00

  • Introducing Sarah Binder, General Counsel at Lime and former GC and Global Development Officer at Pizza Hut UK and Europe.
  • Relocating from the UK to San Francisco for her role at Lime.
  • Offering advice for lawyers taking jobs in new countries.
  • Giving yourself enough time to transition and unpack.

Discussing the scope of Sarah’s GC roles at Lime and Pizza Hut UK and Europe: 4:56

  • Shepherding consumer cell phone enterprises in the telecomm industry.
  • Understanding how GDPR affects innovation in the digital space.
  • Negotiating between the potential of tech and rapidly changing international legislation.
  • Uniting behind a strong digital agenda to carry an organization through the pandemic. 
  • Dealing with transportation regulations across global municipalities for Lime scooters.

Effectively scaling out your team for international expansion: 7:48

  • Allowing business to drive growth.
  • Recognizing when to build a team in a new country.
  • Being realistic about where you are, rather than where you want to get to.

Tips for working across time zones without feeling burnout: 12:47

  • Developing a flexible workday that allows you to overlap with all teams across markets.
  • Valuing a flat hierarchy, lowkey structure, and easy channels for communication.
  • Maintaining casual check-ins and holding regular off-sites. 
  • Ensuring that face-to-face interactions are as efficient as possible.

Defining the role of the GC: 18:57

  • Measuring efficiency, effectiveness, and speed when planning a new international entity.
  • Preparing for the best and planning for the worst.
  • Establishing check-in points and developing milestones for future growth.

What American execs get wrong when they expand into European markets: 24:57

  • Needing to recognize that not every European country is in the EU and beholden to GDPR and other EU regulations.
  • Understanding the difference between EU regulations and directives and that each country interprets them differently.
  • Working across 28 countries at Yum! Brands and 35 at Lime.
  • Book recommendation: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer.

Guiding your team through a diverse set of regulatory bodies: 30:01

  • Simultaneously navigating regulations in 300 different cities with unique regulatory bodies. 
  • Relying on a clear set of principles and being flexible when necessary.
  • Becoming familiar with individual regulators at local, national, and supranational levels.

Looking back on your experience with consumer product liability as a general counsel: 32:38

  • Forefronting transparency with regulators as you navigate a product recall. 
  • Controlling adherence, information flow, action, and status.

How GCs strike a balance between growth and regulatory compliance: 37:19

  • Bringing clarity and transparency to potential business situations.
  • Making yourself accessible to all teams and stakeholders. 
  • Proactively educating business teams about risk.
  • Clarifying that your role is to help the organization achieve its business goals.

Book Recommendation: 40:45

  • Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin.
View more
Host
Tyler Finn
Head of Community & Growth, SpotDraft
Guest
Sarah Binder
General Counsel, Lime

More episodes coming soon

Subscribe to hear from the biggest voices in legal.

Tell me when new episodes are out

AVAILABLE ON
Back
Episode 27

Taking Businesses & Legal Teams Global: Sarah Binder, General Counsel, Lime

View Transcript

In this episode

Host
Tyler Finn
Head of Community & Growth, SpotDraft
Guest
Sarah Binder
General Counsel, Lime

Summary

Introduction: 0:00

  • Introducing Sarah Binder, General Counsel at Lime and former GC and Global Development Officer at Pizza Hut UK and Europe.
  • Relocating from the UK to San Francisco for her role at Lime.
  • Offering advice for lawyers taking jobs in new countries.
  • Giving yourself enough time to transition and unpack.

Discussing the scope of Sarah’s GC roles at Lime and Pizza Hut UK and Europe: 4:56

  • Shepherding consumer cell phone enterprises in the telecomm industry.
  • Understanding how GDPR affects innovation in the digital space.
  • Negotiating between the potential of tech and rapidly changing international legislation.
  • Uniting behind a strong digital agenda to carry an organization through the pandemic. 
  • Dealing with transportation regulations across global municipalities for Lime scooters.

Effectively scaling out your team for international expansion: 7:48

  • Allowing business to drive growth.
  • Recognizing when to build a team in a new country.
  • Being realistic about where you are, rather than where you want to get to.

Tips for working across time zones without feeling burnout: 12:47

  • Developing a flexible workday that allows you to overlap with all teams across markets.
  • Valuing a flat hierarchy, lowkey structure, and easy channels for communication.
  • Maintaining casual check-ins and holding regular off-sites. 
  • Ensuring that face-to-face interactions are as efficient as possible.

Defining the role of the GC: 18:57

  • Measuring efficiency, effectiveness, and speed when planning a new international entity.
  • Preparing for the best and planning for the worst.
  • Establishing check-in points and developing milestones for future growth.

What American execs get wrong when they expand into European markets: 24:57

  • Needing to recognize that not every European country is in the EU and beholden to GDPR and other EU regulations.
  • Understanding the difference between EU regulations and directives and that each country interprets them differently.
  • Working across 28 countries at Yum! Brands and 35 at Lime.
  • Book recommendation: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer.

Guiding your team through a diverse set of regulatory bodies: 30:01

  • Simultaneously navigating regulations in 300 different cities with unique regulatory bodies. 
  • Relying on a clear set of principles and being flexible when necessary.
  • Becoming familiar with individual regulators at local, national, and supranational levels.

Looking back on your experience with consumer product liability as a general counsel: 32:38

  • Forefronting transparency with regulators as you navigate a product recall. 
  • Controlling adherence, information flow, action, and status.

How GCs strike a balance between growth and regulatory compliance: 37:19

  • Bringing clarity and transparency to potential business situations.
  • Making yourself accessible to all teams and stakeholders. 
  • Proactively educating business teams about risk.
  • Clarifying that your role is to help the organization achieve its business goals.

Book Recommendation: 40:45

  • Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Related podcasts