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Goldman Sachs Recruit Wants Women Leaders in the Boardroom

Published

2 months ago

August 22, 2024

Goldman Sachs Recruit Wants Women Leaders in the Boardroom

Women drive 70%-80% of consumer purchasing, and companies with at least one woman on their board have a higher return on equity than those that do not, the Women on Boards Project states on its website — yet women occupy just 20% of board seats globally and aren’t expected to reach gender parity for decades, according to a Deloitte report.

Cassie Burr, co-founder and executive director of the Women on Boards Project, is on a mission to change that. In February 2020, she and co-founders Sheryl O’Loughlin, Melissa Facchina and Kara Cissell-Roell launched the project to increase the number of women on the boards of private consumer companies.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of the Women on Boards Project. Cassie Burr, co-founder and executive director.}

A series of “interconnected” experiences helped set Burr on the path to co-founder and cultivate her commitment to uplifting women leaders.

A math major in college, Burr was recruited by Goldman Sachs and moved from Arizona to Utah to join the firm. “I was pulled into STEM-focused recruiting, women-focused recruiting,” she recalls. “I eventually helped build a training initiative globally [and joined] the leadership team of their women’s network. That helped me realize that capital markets are interesting, but what drove my passion was these human elements of an organization.”

From there, Burr joined an executive search firm in San Francisco, then became vice president of talent at consumer-focused private equity firm VMG Partners. The “concept of a talent partner was still quite novel” at VMG, and Burr had the chance to define what it meant in the context of the firm’s commitment to building organizations as diverse as its consumer base.

“[But] we don’t have a supply problem. There’s no dearth.”

Burr’s early professional experiences came to the fore when O’Loughlin, co-founder of organic food company Plum Organics and former CEO of Clif Bar, brought together Burr and several other women, including Cissell-Roell, Burr’s former boss at VMG, and Facchina, co-founder and general partner at Siddhi Capital.

They were all frustrated by the lack of representation of women in the boardroom, Burr recalls — and by the misguided focus on a “supply problem” with women leaders.

“We saw a lot of groups focused on what we would describe as the supply side,” Burr says. “[But] we don’t have a supply problem. There’s no dearth. There’s an incredible ecosystem of talented founders, CEOs and operators who would be amazing board directors if given the opportunity.”

Part of the issue has roots in the problematic phrase “board-ready,” according to Burr.

“There’s not a mystical threshold you reach that makes you ready,” she explains. “Every boardroom is completely different. What makes you an amazing candidate is going to vary depending on the investor, the stage of the company and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

“With private companies, you actually have more room for creativity.”

The Women on Boards Project launched with a consortium of investors dedicated to increasing the number of women in the boardroom: VMG Partners, City Capital, L Catterton, Swander Pace and more. During its first year, 20 companies committed to adding a woman or additional women to their boards.

Those initial days taught a couple of important lessons, Burr says: It’s challenging to conduct numerous board searches simultaneously, and broadening the definition of “board member” can help.

“It’s really hard to do 20 board searches at once,” Burr says. “It’s [also] hard to pick a moment in time and say, ‘We’re going to do it at that point.’ It’s driven by demand; it’s driven by open board seats, folks retiring or moving on. So the way we’ve evolved is more of an on-demand approach.”

When the demand for a new board member isn’t there — Burr admits a lot of conversations stalled when there wasn’t an open board seat and creating one would be difficult — reenvisioning what it means to sit on a private company’s board is paramount.

“With private companies, you have more room for creativity,” Burr says. “If we define that board member as someone who’s in the room, has a voice and is paid, then the piece of that equation that’s missing is voting rights, and that’s actually what matters least in private boardrooms. Very infrequently does anything ever come to a vote.”

“You want a board that represents the consumers that you’re serving.”

To date, the Women on Boards Project has helped connect 60 women with board roles, with 10 matches this year alone. The organization continues to recruit consumer investors as its sponsors. Strong word-of-mouth referrals across those investors’ portfolio companies and external entities help the project grow and hone its offering.

Needless to say, Burr knows what it takes to create a well-balanced board — and she suggests organizations keep two things in mind to do it effectively.

First, be critical of “onlyness” in the boardroom. You don’t necessarily want any one member to feel singled out, Burr says.

“In this context, I certainly mean the only woman, especially if your consumer is largely women — that’s problematic,” she explains. “You want a board that represents the consumers that you’re serving. You can also think about onlyness in other contexts, the only person of color. Again, especially if that’s a big target consumer, it’s hard to represent [those consumers] if you’re the only voice expected to speak on their behalf.”

And, once again, don’t let the reductive idea of “board-readiness” deter you from choosing a candidate who’s well-prepared in their own way.

“Don’t underestimate the grit, passion, energy and relevance of first-time board members,” Burr says. “These folks are often part of a leadership team of some of the fastest growing or newly acquired, most successful companies that will bring that incredibly relevant expertise to your boardroom.”

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Expand Your Global Reach With Babbel, on Sale for More Than 60% Off

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16 hours ago

October 12, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Expand Your Global Reach With Babbel, on Sale for More Than 60% Off

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Want to break language barriers and expand your business network? Babbel’s lifetime subscription has you covered with access to 14 languages, perfect for anyone looking to boost their business communication.

With no recurring fees, you’ll pay $179.97 (sale ending October 20) for a resource that sticks with you for life, helping you build relationships and navigate new markets with confidence.

Babbel offers bite-size lessons that fit right into your schedule. Each session takes about 10 to 15 minutes, making it easy to squeeze in language-learning between meetings or on your commute. And with its speech-recognition technology, Babbel gives instant feedback on your pronunciation, so you’re prepared to speak like a pro when connecting with international clients.

From Spanish and French to less commonly studied languages like Turkish, Babbel’s got you covered. The short, interactive lessons focus on practical conversation, so you’re learning words and phrases that you can actually use in real business situations. Plus, Babbel’s course content is updated regularly, meaning you’ll always have access to fresh lessons and content as your skills grow.

With Babbel, you’re not just picking up phrases; you’re gaining tools to communicate effectively across cultures. Not to mention, it’s a one-time investment that pays off for years to come.

Get ready to take your business skills global with a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning for $179.97 until October 20 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

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The Cities and States Where Side Hustles Could Earn the Most

Published

2 days ago

October 11, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

The Cities and States Where Side Hustles Could Earn the Most

More than half (54%) of Americans say they’ve started a side hustle to supplement their primary source of income in the last 12 months, according to a survey from MarketWatch Guides.

Although there’s no shortage of potential opportunities — side hustles can span teaching online to cleaning barbecues, creating digital products and so much more — one doesn’t necessarily have the same earning power as the next.

Choosing a side hustle is one crucial piece of the puzzle — but where you decide to start it is another that might make or break your success.

So where in the U.S. do side hustlers have the greatest earning potential?

The team at SideHustles.com conducted a study to find out, analyzing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Community Survey to determine which states and cities have the highest percentage of residents earning self-employment income and their average earnings.

Households in North Dakota, New Jersey and Connecticut earn the most from self-employment income, at $60,221, $55,748 and $55,192, per the data from SideHustle.com.

Lake Charles, Louisiana, has the highest average self-employment earnings at $179,080 per household, followed by San Tan Valley, Arizona ($141,459) and Upland, California ($130,291), the analysis found.

Read on to see the top five cities and states where people earn the most, on average, from self-employment income, according to the study:

Top five cities where self-employed earn the most

Lake Charles, Louisiana: $179,080
San Tan Valley, Arizona: $141,459
Upland, California: $130,291
Newton, Massachusetts: $118,527
Bethesda, Maryland: $110,573

Top five states where self-employed earn the most

North Dakota: $60,221
New Jersey: $55,748
Connecticut: $55,192
Massachusetts: $54,712
California: $53,639

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I Lead a Company Built Through Decades of Acquisitions. Here’s a Key to Making Them Successful

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

I Lead a Company Built Through Decades of Acquisitions. Here's a Key to Making Them Successful

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Despite the fanfare that often accompanies acquisitions, the reality is that about 80% fail to achieve their desired objectives.

After all, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Inadequate due diligence. Overvaluation. Poor integration planning and execution. A failure to retain employees from the new company.

And yet, businesses spend more than $2 trillion on acquisitions annually. Why? It’s often unrealistic for a company to build all that’s needed to reach its strategic goals fast enough to remain competitive. An acquisition, however, presents an opportunity to quickly expand a business’s ecosystem, tapping into new relationships, distribution channels, products and innovations.

I lead an entertainment technology company — composed of iconic brands like TiVo and DTS — that has grown our ecosystem through 15 acquisitions in the last decade alone. What has the experience taught me?

The success of an acquisition is about more than the nuts and bolts of the deal itself; you’re not just buying a technology, product or service to tack onto your company offerings. You’re also gaining institutional knowledge and bringing thought leaders on board who could help steer your business.

I believe one of the most critical aspects of an acquisition’s success is too often overlooked: the people. Here’s what I’ve learned about how they can be the difference-makers in the lead-up to and aftermath of a deal.

The “why” has to include the “who”

Sure, pre-deal due diligence involves evaluating the potential profits and risks of an acquisition. But it also requires searching for leaders, along with the systems and cultures they’ve developed, that are likely to contribute to your company’s growth.

In dynamic industries like tech, companies often need to pivot to remain competitive. That means it’s essential to ask this question when evaluating incoming leaders: Whose strategic thinking, leadership skills and decision-making style do you want on your side, even if you end up shifting them to new areas in the future?

We learned the importance of this consideration from an early acquisition. The technology we’d bought eventually became outdated, but that CEO has remained an instrumental member of our leadership suite for more than a decade, and an acquired team under his leadership has transitioned to form the foundation of one the most exciting arms of our business: our connected car platform.

Once you’ve found a company with the resources and people that will likely benefit your business and conditions enable sensible valuations, developing an integration plan before the deal closes is imperative.

We accomplish this by identifying change champions — committed leaders who are strong communicators, open to feedback, adaptable, resilient and collaborative — from both companies to rally our people. Then, we create detailed checklists for the first year or more, often including thousands of line items from assigning desks to implementing training events, all to move us swiftly toward our goals of a fully integrated team and business asset.

Use it as an opportunity to reimagine culture

Many people see an acquisition as an opportunity to innovate — adding and evolving products and developing strategies for new markets. One thing they often overlook, though, is the chance to innovate company culture. Specifically, to pick and choose the best of both of what the companies are doing to establish a new normal.

Often, the default assumption is that the acquiring company’s culture will remain dominant. But that can sometimes be a mistake.

Many times, bringing two companies together and fusing their resources and operations creates an entirely new company — one that may benefit from a cultural change.

For example, following a merger, we realized our previous corporate values no longer accurately reflected the new company. So we reset them. It wasn’t always easy: It took a long-term project involving employee input throughout. It also required objectivity at the leadership level to stay open to new ways of working and communicating. However, the initiative resulted in a set of values that more meaningfully illustrated our evolved mission and culture and set us on a path toward greater success.

Move as quickly and transparently as possible

A deal closing can feel like crossing the finish line for those overseeing it. But when you look over your shoulder, you see that most employees are just lining up at the start. The real marathon begins after the closing: It takes steady work to get the rest of the company across the finish line to reap the anticipated gains of the deal.

We’ve found that approaching this integration process with a focus on urgency, sensitivity and transparency is key to retaining as many employees as possible, along with the crucial institutional knowledge and skills they hold.

This means we work fast to communicate our plan openly and honestly. For instance, within 45 days of a recent acquisition, we got leaders physically in front of 80% of the team. This approach aims to mitigate uncertainty by laying out plans and providing clarity on roles and opportunities. Research shows that transparency can engender trust, so when the answer to a question is, “We don’t know yet,” leaders should prioritize being upfront about that.

We also expressed empathy. Acknowledging that it’s natural to feel anxious about uncertainty and change is important to build morale during a time of transition.

About a third of employees from an acquired company tend to leave within the first year due to uncertainty or culture clashes. But time and time again, we’ve seen that a deliberate process has helped to improve on this trend. While it’s not always possible for all employees to stay on, voluntary turnover within a year of our last two acquisitions was just 15%.

Defining success

There are many ways to define a successful acquisition: meeting financial goals, expanding relationships or staking a hold in new markets. We’ve seen this firsthand. For example, strategic acquisitions have allowed our business to significantly amplify our global footprint of streaming devices and open up new monetization opportunities.

While these elements are critically important, we view success even more broadly. It also means our team feels they’re continuously working toward a worthy goal. And viewing people as vital to the success of an acquisition has helped us to assemble a team prepared and motivated to do just that: deliver innovative, extraordinary experiences to our customers.

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