Nadia Rawlinson and Michael Alter are co-owners of the WNBA team, the Chicago Sky.

Nadia was the Chief People Officer at Slack Technologies when the company was acquired by Salesforce in 2021 for $28 billion.  She is an advisor for Google Ventures, serves on the Stanford University Board of Trustees and is on the Board of Directors for J. Crew and Vail Resorts.

Michael is President of the Alter Group, which was founded by his father and has become one of the largest private commercial real estate developers in the country.  He is also the founder and a board member of the non-profit organization City Year Chicago.

In today’s conversation, we will learn:

(1:05) – What were Michael and Nadia’s formative years like?

(4:16) – How and why did Michael join the family business (Alter Group)?

(8:39) – How did Nadia define her career path after the Slack acquisition?

(12:23) – What makes for a good board member?

(15:12) – What do entrepreneurs get wrong when building a business?

(16:43) – Why did Michael decide to buy Chicago Sky?

(21:08) – What does being a good “steward” of the Chicago Sky mean to Nadia?

(24:35) – How does the organizational structure of a sports franchise work?

(29:01) – What life lessons have Nadia and Michael brought home from Chicago Sky?

(33:15) – What are Michael and Nadia’s “why’s”?

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