A Podcast by SpotDraft

Join Heath Tarbert, Chief Legal Officer at Circle, as he draws on his monumental career in public service as former Chair of the CFTC, White House counsel and Supreme Court clerk to explain the intricacies and volatilities of the markets that regulate our lives, the strengths and drawbacks of working in government, and how cryptocurrencies fit into the future of finance.

Join Jenn McCann, Director of Legal Operations & Technology at Netflix and president of CLOC as she discusses the importance of the legal ops community in shaping the industry and individual legal careers, as well as how she sees the role developing in the future.

‍

Join Sarah Binder, General Counsel at Lime, as she provides expert tips about building the perfect legal team to take on international expansion. Drawing on her experience growing teams across 35 countries, Sarah discusses effectively scaling your legal department, working with a diverse set of regulatory bodies, and what American execs often misunderstand as they expand into Europe.

Join Raj Mahapatra, Senior Counsel at Wilson Sonsini, as he shares how he transformed his disability into a superpower through a passion for long-distance running, charity work, and devoting his life to building mission-driven tech start-ups as a business operator and legal leader.

Join us as we explore what it takes to become a true business partner as an in-house counsel, with insights from GCs and legal leaders at some of the biggest companies today.

Join Tally’s COO & GC Genessa Stout, as she sheds insights into how she grew into leading functions like finance and HR, her consumer-centric approach to lawyering, and more.

Join Gary Spiegel, ex-GC at Anaplan, as he gives us an insider's view into supporting businesses through successful IPOs and acquisitions, navigating challenging times in your own career, and more.

How do you build an elite legal team from scratch? In this bonus episode, we share some of our favorite pieces of advice from general counsels and executives about hiring, expanding, and retaining top legal talent.

Join Matt Campobasso, General Counsel at Enfusion, as he discusses his unique journey from Illinois prosecutor and litigator to publicly-traded tech company legal leader. He shares stories of the (literal) trials and tribulations that made him who he is and gave him the legal know-how to build and lead teams of strong-minded, driven in-house lawyers.

Join Roxanne Petraeus, CEO and Co-Founder of Ethena, as she shares expert tips on making personalized compliance training engaging, focused, and specific to scenarios at your company, what legal and HR teams often get wrong about compliance, and how her years serving as an office in the U.S. Army prepared her to be a founder.

Join Zoe McMahon, Chief of Staff, VP of Legal Strategy and Operations at HP, as she breaks down her thirty-year career at the company. From trailblazing environmental technology issues and spearheading the global human rights office, to leading privacy and legal strategy, find out how Zoe adapts to new roles, builds strong relationships, and drives change from within.

Join Sarah Feingold, playwright of Dirty Legal Secrets and former General Counsel at Etsy and Vroom, as she discusses why she wants to put stories on stage from lawyers that they aren’t able to share themselves, making the leap from lawyer to full-time artist, and keeping your creative spirit alive while working in law.

Tune in to this episode as Sunjay Mathews, angel investor, advisor, and dealmaker in the sports and media sector, discusses how he got his start negotiating on behalf of pro athletes, becoming a key player in the sports betting, streaming, and crypto sectors, and how he made the leap from in-house lawyer to board member, advisor, and investor.

Join Cecilia Ziniti, Founder and CEO of GC AI, as she shares her expert perspective on how AI is changing the game for in-house counsel, what it takes to make the leap from lawyer to founder, why you shouldn’t wait to start experimenting with generative AI, and why all lawyers should be using emojis.

Join Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, as he discusses he went from a New York legislator and consumer protection advocate to one of the first Chief Privacy Officers in the tech industry at DoubleClick and AOL, then founded one of the most influential think tanks connecting corporations with policymakers to build a sustainable future for privacy and data.

Join Andrew Woods, General Counsel at PubMatic, as he discusses his transition from professional poker player to lawyer, how a passion for the card game and its mechanics gave his career an unorthodox start, working in ad tech and privacy, and building a career in law that actually makes you happy.

Join Aaron Gregory, Co-founder and CEO of Upwardli, as he discusses his life-changing transition from General Counsel to start-up founder, bringing a legal mindset to business leadership roles, the value of merging a law degree with an MBA, why he chose to build his tech start-up thousands of miles away from Silicon Valley or Seattle, and much more.

Join Kristin Sverchek, President of Lyft, as she discusses her monumental journey from outside counsel to general counsel to head of business affairs to corporate leader—and helping take the company public—at the groundbreaking ride share app.

Join Matt Tanielian, co-founder of Franklin Square Group, as he shares key insights about lobbying for your tech company in Washington, D.C., maximizing the effectiveness of your work with politicians, affecting policy through coalitions and trade associations, legislating the future of AI, and much more.

Join Vanessa Wu, GC at Rippling, as she explains how her organization became a financing and dealmaking powerhouse, why you always need to move quickly to close a deal, and how she not only survived the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank but came out even stronger than before.

Join Rachel Olchowka, Former Chief People Officer and General Counsel at Fetch, as she discusses how to balance a legal leadership role with an metrics-driven executive position, contrasts the needs of a CPO against a CHRO, questions the idea of exclusively hiring “good culture fits,” and more.

Join Dan Haley, General Counsel at Guild, as he shares lessons and challenges from his career's working at famous companies like Sprinklr and Athenahealth, surviving cancer, not once but twice emerging victorious from two bouts with cancer while balancing stressful leadership roles, facilitating unexpected CEO transitions, and becoming known as legal’s most “zen” lawyer.

Join Joe Green, Chief Innovation Officer at Gunderson Dettmer, as he recounts his unorthodox journey through corporate legal, tech start-up advisory, legal publishing, and leading one of legal tech’s most cutting-edge product teams, and shares his thoughts on topics ranging from AI integration to the death of the billable hour.

Join Ben Klein, CEO and First Officer of Aero, as he shares how he was able to combine his legal career with a lifelong passion for aviation, transition from big firm lawyer to start-up GC, and take on the CEO role at an airline where he often flies the planes himself.

Join Chelsea Grayson, managing partner of corporate restructuring at Pivot > and former CEO and board member of brands like American Apparel, True Religion, and Spark Networks, as she calls upon her years of leadership experience to offer tips on how to build trust with investors during a crisis, transitioning from board member to CEO, leading companies through turnarounds and wind-downs, and much more.

We end every episode with a simple question: What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were starting your career. Here we share some of our favorite responses from leaders across the worlds of legal, tech, and business.

Join Joelle Khoury, consultant at Egon Zehnder, as she discusses her journey from in-house counsel at private equity firms to an executive recruiter who draws on nearly two decades of legal and strategy experience to place GCs in the roles that fit them best, and offers advice to executives looking to work with recruiters as they take their careers to the next level.

Join Cory Clines, Legal Operations Manager at Campari Group, as he discusses his leap from opera singer to legal operations professional, the delicate balance between process and technology, running effective RFPs, maintaining a strong relationship with your IT team, and more.

Join Flavia Naves, former general counsel at Circle, as she shares her journey as a foreign-trained lawyer who became a top authority on law and regulation of crypto, fintech, and digital payments. Listen for advice on how to tackle the legal job market as a foreign-trained lawyer, how to manage unexpected transitions, and why your biggest differences are your biggest strengths.

Join Susan Packal, Head of Global Legal Operations at Atlassian, as discusses her career founding and scaling legal ops teams at companies like Hilton, Uber, eBay, and Twilio, and shares ways to establish a strong culture in your legal team, elevate the GC role while focusing on business priorities, and recognize the importance of allowing tough feedback to help guide your career.

Join DeAnna Papedis, Head of Legal Contract & Product Program Management & Operations at Google, as she discusses building and leading one of tech’s biggest and most venerable legal ops teams, expanding the legal ops community, and predicting the future of legal ops.

‍

Join Matt Margolis, Partner at Margolis PLLC, as he talks about how he built up a major social media presence making funny, relatable content on platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, and X, launching his own law firm, and where he thinks AI is taking the future of legal work.

Join Sagi Eliyahu, CEO and co-founder of Tonkean, as he discusses process orchestration for legal teams, founding a people-focused tech startup as an immigrant to the US, and the best way to incorporate AI automation into your organization.

Join Vineet Shahani, General Counsel at Mill, as he shares valuable lessons from his time as product counsel at Apple and Nest (before and during its acquisition by Google), Leading legal at a mission-driven environmental startup, and advice to lawyers trying to find work that addresses climate issues.

Join Nithya Das, Chief Legal and Chief Administrative Officer at Diligent, as she shares her journey leading legal through groundbreaking IPOs and acquisitions at AppNexus and Olo, expanding beyond the traditional GC role to run departments beyond the scope of legal, and taking a seat on a board of directors at Outbrain.

‍

Join legal ops experts Tommie Tavares-Ferreira and Tom Stephenson as they discuss their journeys from paralegal and contract manager to leaders in the expanding field of legal ops and share advice for those who want to progress their career into legal ops and beyond.

Join Brittany Leonard, General Counsel at Civix and legal community influencer, as she discusses her experience launching a consulting side hustle and shares strategies for using LinkedIn to build your personal brand, extending your legal community, and growing your business. 

‍

Join S. Michael Lee, GC & COO at Engaging.ai, as he shares his experience making the switch from prosecutor to in-house counsel, leveraging your network to find new startup GC roles after a devastating layoff, and the importance of his Korean-American roots to his legal career.

Join Lisa Taylor Ash, General Counsel at Shape Therapeutics, as she shares her experience leading legal at the forefront of cutting-edge biotech, starting her own consulting firm for health care companies, offering advice to a new generation of lawyers at effectiveinhouse.com, and building an amazing career that merges her love of science and the law.

Join Nguyen Vu, Deputy General Counsel at OKX, as he recounts his journey from launching products at Apple and Facebook to leading legal teams and encountering big company bias after he joined the world of start-ups.

Join Siddharth Manchanda, Partner at IndusLaw and External GC at Unacademy, as he explains why he embraced tech as the solution for dealing with 1000 new contracts a month at India’s largest learning platform, shifting legal mindsets away from traditional lawyering, dividing his time between an in-house and client services role, and more.

Join Hardeep Singh, General Counsel at CRED, as he shares stories and advice about navigating India’s complex regulatory and financial structure, including structuring M&A deals, fostering massive growth, and being driven by the goal of making real, positive change.

Join Jenn McCann, Director of Legal Operations & Technology at Netflix and president of CLOC as she discusses the importance of the legal ops community in shaping the industry and individual legal careers, as well as how she sees the role developing in the future.

‍

Join Richard Hsu, Managing Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa and host of the Hsu Untied podcast, as he talks about transitioning to executive recruiting, handling the stress of being a law firm partner, acing your next job interview, and hosting a podcast with more than 300 episodes and celebrity guests like Mark Cuban and Tony Robbins.

‍

Join Sarah Binder, General Counsel at Lime, as she provides expert tips about building the perfect legal team to take on international expansion. Drawing on her experience growing teams across 35 countries, Sarah discusses effectively scaling your legal department, working with a diverse set of regulatory bodies, and what American execs often misunderstand as they expand into Europe.

Join Raj Mahapatra, Senior Counsel at Wilson Sonsini, as he shares how he transformed his disability into a superpower through a passion for long-distance running, charity work, and devoting his life to building mission-driven tech start-ups as a business operator and legal leader.

Join Andy Dale, GC & CPO of OpenAP and co-host of the long-running Data Protection Breakfast Club podcast, as he shares privacy and data wisdom around ad tech, streaming TV, AI, and much more.

How do you build and scale high-performing legal teams? Learn from top in-house legal leaders on mastering leadership, finding and retaining the right talent, allocating resources and advocating for budget, and more.

How do you break free of the GC persona to take on C-level roles beyond legal? Learn from leaders who’ve made the transition and owned the mantle of COO, CFO, CEO, and more on this episode of the Abstract.

Join Lisa Harrington, board director, consultant, and CLO, as she draws from her years of experience on public and private committees at organizations like A-Rod’s Slam Corp and Iron Horse Acquisitions to offer the best advice for GCs looking to join or direct a board.

Hear Alice Bisgrove, Procore VP & Associate General Counsel, discuss her unexpected career path from law enforcement and non-profits to leadership in legal teams at tech giants like Cisco.

Join Junna Ro, the UC Office of the President’s Head of Strategic Legal Initiatives, as she shares lessons in corporate compliance and ethics, the roots of her passion for diversity and inclusion in legal, and the importance of speaking up for what you believe in.

Join Cedar General Counsel Vanessa Gage as she shares her experience as a two-time interim executive, leading teams from across the C-suite, leaning in and stepping up.

Join Protégé Search Partner and Head of Consumer Mark Kahn as he discusses questions of ethics and acceptable use at WhatsApp, Twilio, and more.

Join Vaxxinity’s GC & SVP of Legal & Business Affairs René Paula as he shares lessons from his marathon career in financial transactions at HSBC, counsel at Amazon’s Audible, ventures at Anheuser Busch, taking start-ups public, and founding then selling his own tech company.

Join Telly's GC and Chief Privacy Officer Julia Shullman as she shares dispatches from nearly two decades at the intersection of ad tech and privacy, and where she sees the two sectors heading in a rapidly changing legal and business landscape.

Join Puffco’s GC Mark Marin as he shares candid stories about supporting companies through bankruptcies, navigating challenging times in his career, and more.

Join Kathy Zhu from Streamline AI, as she shares insights into dealing with change, transitioning from in-house law to entrepreneurship, learning important life lessons from scuba diving, and more.

Join Seth Weissman as he discusses leading the IPO at Marqueta and SolarCity, working with Elon Musk, building legal teams in high-growth environments, and more.

Join ServiceChannel’s GC Brian Chase as he shares an insider look at being the GC at a private-equity run company vs. a subsidiary of a conglomerate, adapting to changing ownership structures, and more.

Join Bambee’s Chief Strategy Officer & GC Evan Ferl as he talks about going from being a GC who does strategy to becoming a strategist who also does legal.

Join us as we explore what it takes to become a true business partner as an in-house counsel, with insights from GCs and legal leaders at some of the biggest companies today.

Join Tally’s COO & GC Genessa Stout, as she sheds insights into how she grew into leading functions like finance and HR, her consumer-centric approach to lawyering, and more.

Join Gary Spiegel, ex-GC at Anaplan, as he gives us an insider's view into supporting businesses through successful IPOs and acquisitions, navigating challenging times in your own career, and more.

Join Away’s GC Lydia Cheuk as she shares insights on being the first legal hire at early-stage companies across different industries, building a brand for Legal within the organization, supporting the business through a pandemic, and more.

Join us as we dive into the incredible journey of Celaena Powder, VP of Legal at Seismic, as she weighs in on topics like forming unbeatable GC-CISO duos, supporting an enterprise sales motion at a company, nurturing meaningful relationships with Sales AEs to drive business impact, and more.

Join David Lancelot, ex-VP Global Head of Legal at eBay Classifieds, as he talks about surviving the dot-com crash as a tech lawyer, being promoted to GC as a legal assistant, scaling Legal like a business team, and more.

Join Akshay Verma, Head of Legal Ops at Coinbase, for a deep dive into career growth for lawyers, aligning values with ambitions, building world-class legal ops teams, and more. We’ll also discuss Akshay’s experience teaching at law school, the top skills companies value in lawyers, and more.

Join Adam Glick, ex-Head of Legal at Intercom, as he shares insights from his journey to becoming a legal leader in the tech industry. We’ll discuss building legal teams from scratch, aligning legal with business values, the importance of cultivating connections, and more.

Join ex-DocuSign Deputy GC Doug Luftman as he discusses mentorship, management, and workplace fulfillment. Delve into Doug's journey to executive leadership, thriving in high-pressure, cross-functional settings, and managing career transitions in a tough job market.

Join Apollo.io's CLO Megan Niedermeyer and Sr. Legal Ops Manager Brenda Perez as they talk about exploring the expanding roles and limits of legal teams, fostering growth, mastering task delegation, and more.