The Abstract

What if you never really wanted or expected to become a lawyer? How do you navigate imposter syndrome? And where do you find meaning in your work?

Join Ryan Nier, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Head of People at Nova Credit, as he shares his career path from being a self-taught computer programmer who founded his own start-up to a decade as a litigation associate at a global law firm, eventually landing as a general counsel at companies with a positive impact on the world.

Listen as Ryan discusses his struggles with imposter syndrome, feeling like the only person in the room with a unique background, hiring great people for roles you’ve never done before, and his side project of creating a documentary podcast about the time he and his brother dug up some (literal) buried gold.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-85

Topics
Introduction 0:00
Starting as a software engineer: 2:17
Enrolling in law school: 5:34
Managing imposter syndrome: 9:58
Hiring diverse talent: 16:44
Why representation matters: 23:42
Transitioning to in-house legal: 27:08
Making the leap to general counsel: 32:22
Expanding beyond legal into the people function: 39:52
Creating and hosting a podcast about your family: 45:18
Rapid-fire questions: 53:30

Connect with us:
Ryan Nier - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryannier/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

Is it possible to carve out a meaningful career in law by following your passions? What's harder: building a non-profit or a business? What do lawyers have to learn from animators?

Join Adam Stofsky, CEO of Briefly and founder of the New Media Advocacy Project, as he shares how he used high-production documentary video to advocate for human rights across the globe and started a company to help lawyers better communicate with their clients.

Listen as Adam discusses the challenges of non-litigation career paths, founding nonprofit and for-profit companies, the trauma of human rights work, working with creative professionals like animators and voice actors, the importance of bearing witness to human rights abuses, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-84

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Why Adam wanted to become a lawyer: 2:29
Starting your career at Debevoise & Plimpton: 5:48
Transitioning into human rights work: 7:20
Founding the non-profit New Media Advocacy Project: 10:48
Dealing with the challenges of human rights advocacy: 17:52
Adam’s biggest accomplishments at NMAP: 23:18
Living on a farm in Upstate New York: 26:20
Founding Briefly: 33:38
Helping lawyers communicate better: 43:46
Lessons from creative professionals: 47:26
Expanding Briefly’s customer base: 50:27
Rapid-fire questions: 56:33
Book recommendations: 59:20

Connect with us:
Adam Stofsky - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamstofsky/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

What does 2025 hold for legal tech and the legal ops profession? Will legal ops ever become a standard part of every in-house legal team?

Join us in this very special episode as Tyler invites Kevin Cohn, Chief Customer Officer at Brightflag, and Matt Wheatley, VP of Client Strategy at Priori, for a very special, no-holds-barred discussion about  legal operations in an ever-changing industry.

Listen as Matt and Kevin share their thoughts on legal ops conferences, gender and wage disparities, whether legal ops is more of a legal role or an operational role, 2025’s uncomfortably tight labor market, AI disrupting the legal ops field, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-83

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Working with customer advisory boards: 3:11
Are there too many legal ops conferences?: 12:34
Connecting GCs and legal ops professionals: 20:10
Analyzing survey data: 34:52
Do you need a JD?: 40:28
Thoughts on hiring: 46:57
AI in the legal landscape: 53:04
Market consolidation: 57:19
Rapid-fire questions 1:04:44

Connect with us:
Kevin Cohn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinacohn/
Matt Wheatley - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-wheatley-288146a2/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn

SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you build a fintech juggernaut and redefine how employees think about ownership in businesses, navigate regulatory roadblocks along the way, and build a global team to make it happen?

Join April Lindauer, General Counsel at Carta, as she discusses her start-up’s tremendous journey from 200 employees to more than 2000, as the software platform that allows users to manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow as they expand into an ever-growing list of international markets.

Listen as April offers tips for working with regulators, navigating several financing rounds, building out legal operations, working with great outside partners, and hiring the perfect team, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-82

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Joining Carta and overseeing tremendous growth: 1:58
Cultivating a career in financial services: 4:10
Carta’s growth from 200 employees to 2000: 6:26
Transitioning from deputy general counsel to general counsel: 8:23
Hiring for a global legal team: 12:30
Navigating the GC role during the COVID-19 pandemic: 14:34
Working with the executive team to make tough decisions: 16:57
Working with financial regulators: 18:22
Leading legal through multiple financing rounds: 22:21
Leveraging Carta’s wealth of data: 24:21
Rapid-fire questions: 27:48
Book recommendations: 29:00
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 30:36

Connect with us:
April Lindauer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-lindauer-2174104/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you advise founders and learn to speak their language? Build a thriving legal community in Europe? And navigate the ups and downs of starting your own business?

Join Sarah Irwin, CEO and Founder of Irish Tech GC, as she discusses her career as a consultant for tech founders, adviser for GCs looking to build better relationships with their fellow executives, angel investor, and global legal influencer.

Listen as Sarah shares how she founded the Irish Tech GC community, why she decided it was time to leave her GC role behind and go all-in on her own company, how she leveraged LinkedIn to create enormous reach, and offers tips to GCs on how they can position themselves as business leaders.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-81

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
What inspired Sarah to be a lawyer: 2:19
Assessing Dublin’s start-up landscape: 7:47
Working with founders at Tines: 9:44
Founding the Irish Tech GC community: 12:17
Seeing yourself as a founder: 15:12
Deciding to go all-in on your own company: 18:31
Operating a start-up and legal consulting practice: 20:01
Common mistakes that GCs make when working with founders: 21:51
Documenting the ups and downs of your founder journey on LinkedIn: 26:39
The best and most challenging parts of being a founder: 29:07
The future of Irish Tech GC: 33:01
Getting in touch with Sarah: 34:31
Rapid-fire questions: 35:15

Connect with us:
Sarah Irwin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-irwin-aa273064/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you become a leader in the privacy space? Use video and content to make privacy and the profession more accessible? And define a whole new type of privacy role?

Join Ron De Jesus, Field Chief Privacy Officer at Transcend, as he shares what it’s like to be the first in the compliance industry to take on his innovative new role leading dialogues and creating spaces for discussion about the future of privacy. Pulling from his experience leading privacy at dating app companies like Grindr and Tinder and fashion houses like Tapestry and Coach, Ron leads with his extensive domain knowledge and first-hand understanding of privacy-related issues.

Listen as Ron discusses how he conducts interviews with privacy regulators, politicians, and activists in his video series “Field Notes,” the future of the CPO role in the age of AI, managing corporate reputations after privacy complaints, how to break into privacy without a law degree, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-80

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
What is a Field Chief Privacy Officer?: 1:50
Producing a creative video webseries at Transcend: 6:54
Experimenting with video content as a freelance privacy consultant: 12:05
Coming into a role at a company dealing with privacy complaints: 15:50
Managing privacy-related communications issues: 19:01
Navigating a career break after alleging wrongful termination: 21:53
Thinking about new consent frameworks in the privacy industry: 24:40
How did you get your start in privacy?: 27:57
What is the future of the CPO role?: 33:56
Advice to young people who want to work in privacy: 36:19
How to find Ron: 39:34
Rapid-fire questions: 40:01
Book Recommendations: 41:28
What you wish you’d known as a young privacy professional: 42:42

Connect with us:
Ron De Jesus - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rondejesus/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How is the rise of AI going to affect the intellectual property field and patents? What are some common mistakes that GCs make when setting up a patent strategy? Or tips that our guest has learned from years as a patent examiner?

Join Matt Veale, European Patent Attorney and UPC at PatSnap, as he leads us into this podcast’s first-ever deep dive into all things patents and IP, sharing expert advice on the best way to work with examiners to bring your innovations to the world.

Listen as Matt discusses why he thinks IP is the most important thing in the world, the importance of data analytics, bridging the gap between lawyers and R&D, building a strong patent strategy, the future of IP law, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-79

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
What inspired Matt to be a lawyer: 1:48
What does intellectual property law mean?: 3:40
Starting your legal career at the UK Intellectual Property Office: 5:11
Tips for people filing their first patent: 6:42
Interesting patent applications Matt has seen: 8:47
Tips for GCs who inherit corporate patents: 9:39
Looking for outside patent counsel: 11:55
Patent analytics at PatSnap: 13:44
The future of IP law: 16:38
AI as a tool for patent lawyers: 20:55
Contacting Matt: 25:23
Rapid-fire questions: 25:37
Book recommendations: 26:46
What Matt wishes he knew as a young lawyer: 27:17

Connect with us:
Matt Veale - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-veale-ip/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How can general counsels and legal operations leaders work better together? How do you cultivate a high-performance culture across your legal team? And what makes for a thriving community of legal ops professionals?

Join Steph Corey, CEO and Co-founder of UpLevel Ops and Link, the Legal Innovators Network, as she unpacks her career leading legal operations, starting at HP in the 90s, leading operations at Flex and VMware, co-founding the game-changing CLOC and Link conferences, and launching her own consultancy.

Listen as Steph discusses how she built community in an isolating legal role, whether or not you need a law degree to work in legal ops, how to hire the best talent for your team, and merging with The L Suite to bring general counsels into the legal operations conversation.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-78

Topics:

Introduction: 0:00
Switching to legal ops from finance: 2:50
Building trust with HP’s general counsel: 5:33
Co-founding CLOC, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium: 11:21
Do you need a JD to break into legal operations?: 15:47
Tips for finding the right talent: 18:55
How can legal operations professionals and general counsels work better together?: 23:03
Co-founding Link: 28:44
Merging Link with The L Suite: 31:54
The future of her consultancy: 38:23
Connecting with Steph and LINK: 40:27
Rapid-fire questions: 41:11
Book Recommendations: 45:46
What you wish you’d known as a young legal ops professional: 49:30

Connect with us:
Steph Corey - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephcorey-ulo/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How do you help one of Silicon Valley's most iconic companies, Yahoo!, navigate years of change, stay engaged over almost two decades there, and make the move to health tech when you're ready for something new?

Join Ron Bell, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at Collective Health, as he shares his journey from Chicago litigator and software programming hobbyist to in-house lawyer at some of the hottest tech companies in the world during the dotcom renaissance.

Listen as Ron offers his insights on how to navigate the constant and radical changes he’s seen in the tech industry over three decades, the importance of creating spaces of trust and transparency, establishing legal operations in legacy businesses, and why people are so afraid of lawyers.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-77

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Charting a career course after law school: 2:04
Leaving Illinois for the Bay Area: 3:44
Working in legal at Apple as a former programmer: 6:45
Leaving Apple for Yahoo!: 10:17
Growing and changing at the same company for 18 years: 13:22
Setting up legal operations at Yahoo!: 17:25
Becoming the second Chief Legal Officer at Collective Health: 21:30
Building a strong relationship with Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer: 23:04
Navigating constant change: 29:45
Coaching your staff to be more accessible: 35:00
Paying attention to stock fluctuations: 39:13
Reflections on the maturing tech industry: 42:59
Deciding to move into healthcare: 46:50
Being open and candid with your colleagues: 48:45
Rapid-fire questions: 54:57

Connect with us:
Ron Bell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronsbell/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.
Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.

How are marketplaces for legal work transforming the way that we work and the way that we live, creating opportunities for a better match between what you need from work and the work that you do?

Join Lawtrades co-founders Raad Ahmed and Ashish Walia, as they discuss their path from dissatisfied law school graduates to running a powerhouse legal services startup that links white collar freelancers to legal departments, with $9.7 million in venture backing and $12 million in annual recurring revenue.

Listen as Raad and Ashish talk about taking the leap to start a company, making difficult business pivots, working with leading startup accelerators, bringing the management suite into the gig economy, democratizing opportunities for entrepreneurial lawyers, building strong relationships with clients and investors, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-76

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Why two start-up founders went to law school: 2:04
Deciding to go all in on your start-up: 5:46
Participating in the 500 Startup accelerator: 10:49
Pivoting your business model to match talent with legal departments: 17:58
Is gig work good for workers?: 20:33
Cultivating a diverse and gender equitable talent pool: 25:18
Removing administrative burden for independent legal professionals: 28:17
Changing course and enduring layoffs: 30:09
Getting buy-in from team members and investors: 35:30
Managing stressful times in business and coming out the other side: 39:56
What’s next for Lawtrades?: 43:34
Rapid-fire questions: 46:36
Book recommendations: 50:13
What you wish you’d known as a young founder: 53:19

Connect with us:
Raad Ahmed - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raadahmed/
Ashish Walia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishwalia1/
Tyler Finn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft - https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

SpotDraft is a leading contract lifecycle management platform that solves your end-to-end contract management issues.

Visit https://www.spotdraft.com to learn more.