Taking Businesses & Legal Teams Global: Sarah Binder, General Counsel, Lime
In this episode
Transcript
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.