The Abstract

Do general counsels need to care about geopolitics? Is now the right time to start a legal tech company? And should you consider growing your team in a place other than Silicon Valley, like Rwanda?

Join Sean West, Co-Founder at Hence Technologies and writer at Geolegal.substack.com, as he explains how he became a geopolitical forecaster for corporations and hedge funds at Eurasia Group, then chose to co-found a tech company that brings geopolitical insights to general counsels and executives at a time of rising international volatility.

Listen as Sean explains why CEOs are becoming chief geopolitical officers, why government affairs teams are increasingly falling under the purview of the general counsel, how he develops his predictions in a constantly changing world, and more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-65

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Tyler asks about the Eurasia Group: 3:51
Tyler asks how Sean learned to trust his gut: 8:18
Tyler asks why general counsels should care about geopolitics: 10:49
Tyler asks how general counsels can get better at handling political risks: 15:59
Tyler asks whether CEOs have to be politicians: 22:10
Tyler asks about building Hence Technologies in Rwanda: 31:46
Tyler asks about starting your own business: 35:03
Tyler asks about the future of Hence Technologies: 41:41
Tyler asks rapid-fire questions: 43:23
Book recommendations: 45:19
Tyler asks what Sean wishes he’d known as a young researcher: 47:25

Connect with us:
Sean West - https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanpwest1/
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.

As top legal leaders across a variety of industries, our podcast guests are no strangers to building teams from scratch and scaling them to adapt to the needs of a rapidly expanding business.  

Listen as we share some of our favorite words of advice from past episodes about hiring and growing elite legal teams from some of the most seasoned general counsels and executives working today.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-64   

Topics:
You’re starting a leadership role at a new company. What’s your first move?: 0:06
You’re about to go public. How do you build an expert international legal team from scratch?: 2:51
How do you prepare your legal team to be the next generation of GCs and legal leaders?: 8:06
How do you prepare your domestic legal team for an international expansion?: 10:41
How do you bring in the right talent to build out your legal team?: 15:41
How do you identify whether a candidate has the skills they need to succeed on your legal team?: 18:17
How do you keep your team motivated to stay on during moments of crisis, like the Covid-19 pandemic?: 23:24   

Connect with us:  
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 the general counsel become a true partner to the executive team? How about in the context of a public company? How can the general counsel ensure that that same can-do attitude that they bring to the table pervades the rest of their legal team?

Join Matt Campobasso, General Counsel at Enfusion, as he shares stories and lessons from his unique legal career: starting as a prosecutor outside of Chicago, litigating at a firm for more than a decade and becoming partner, then transitioning to in-house and leading legal at a publicly-traded fintech company.

Listen as Matt discusses how his time in the courtroom shaped his approach to in-house legal, how to build a department of independent, driven lawyers, cultivating a business mindset in your team, and more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-63

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Tyler asks about his career as an Illinois prosecutor: 1:36
Tyler asks what inspired Matt to be a prosecutor: 4:32
Tyler asks about transitioning in-house roles in tech: 16:33
Tyler asks about managing work relationships after you become general counsel: 24:15
Tyler asks about instilling a business mindset in a legal team: 29:56
Tyler on hiring lawyers with an owner’s mindset: 37:32
Tyler asks fun questions: 43:50
Book recommendations: 49:22
What Matt wish he knew as a young lawyer: 52:16

Connect with us:
Matt Campobasso - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrc1921/
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 corporate leaders make compliance training entertaining enough that their employees will pay attention? How do you know if compliance training is effective? What has a founder in this space learned about building for and selling to HR and legal?

Join Roxanne Petraeus, Co-Founder and CEO of Ethena, as she discusses how her company is changing compliance training by making it more personalised, effective, role-based, and specific to scenarios happening in her clients’ companies. Starting her career as an officer in the U.S. Army, she made the leap from consultant to founder and built a platform that saves time, engages distracted employees, and satisfies regulators.

Listen as Roxanne discusses why content is as important as technology, how to measure the success of compliance training, the value of balancing quantitative data with qualitative feedback, and how her company is leveraging AI to better serve their clients, and more.

Read detailed summary: https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-62

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Finding the inspiration to serve in the military: 1:30
Leaving McKinsey & Company to found Ethena: 6:25
Scaling up content quality alongside technology: 9:04
What companies are getting wrong about in-house training and how to make a change: 11:44
Measuring the success of a new compliance training: 13:34
Going beyond boring or cringy compliance trainings: 16:45
Observing new trends in compliance training: 20:40
Leveraging AI as the founder of a tech company: 23:16
Comparing compliance issues and needs between small companies and enterprise clients: 29:02
Mapping the future for Ethena: 31:50
Favorite part of your day and pet peeves: 34:12
Book recommendations: 35:50
What you wish you’d known as a young founder: 36:58

Connect with us:
Roxanne Petraeus - https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxanne-bras-petraeus-2292b8109/
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 skill set should the Chief of Staff to a Chief Legal Officer of a major international corporation need? How do you build trust with a Chief Operating Officer? How do you cultivate the right culture with a large legal and compliance team?

Join Zoe McMahon, Chief of Staff, VP of Legal Strategy and Operations at HP, as she shares stories and lessons from her thirty-year career at the world’s second largest computer manufacturer. Starting her career in environmental responsibility, Zoe has transferred her skills to a diverse roster of teams, including HP’s global human rights office, privacy, and legal operations.

Listen as Zoe discusses how she drives change from within, why she loves working on the forefront of developing legal and business fields, her fascination with long-term change, why she values strong relationships, and more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-61

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Tyler asks about starting a career in environmental issues: 2:02
How do you advocate for the environment from within a company?: 4:04
How do you resource responsibly?: 5:02
Why Zoe moved into privacy: 8:03
Can you build credibility without a JD?: 9:25
Should you change career trajectories? 12:55
What does the Chief of Staff to HP’s Chief Legal Officer do?: 19:36
How do you build strong relationships at work?: 23:57
What part of HP’s culture is Zoe proudest of?: 26:41
Fun questions: 30:30
Book recommendations: 34:02
What Zoe wish she know when she was getting started: 40:04

Connect with us:
Zoe McMahon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-mcmahon-44074814/
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.

Where's the intersection in a career as a creative and as a lawyer? What stories would you tell if you were writing a play about your career in startup law? How do you go and convince some accomplished actors to sign up and perform it off-broadway?  

Join Sarah Feingold, the legal expert and playwright behind Dirty Legal Secrets: Based on True Startups—running Off-Broadway this October in New York City—as she shares her experience collecting and staging anonymous stories from startup lawyers that they can’t tell themselves. She leveraged her own experience as the first general counsel at start-ups Etsy and Vroom.   

Listen as Sarah discusses how she leveraged her own experience as the first general counsel at start-ups Etsy and Vroom to tell other lawyers’ brave legal stories, how to balance your creative pursuits with legal work, how to expand beyond in-house to advise, teach, and join boards, and much more.  

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-60  

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Becoming Etsy’s first lawyer (and 17th hire): 2:48
Transitioning to General Counsel at Vroom: 6:57
Writing a play: 9:18
Getting started on your first draft: 13:59
Finding actors and producing your own play: 16:52
Learning to promote yourself after a career in legal: 19:54
Staging Dirty Legal Secrets: 21:37
Keeping your creative spirit alive while working full-time: 25:28
Leaning into a “portfolio” career: 28:20
Favorite part of your day and pet peeves: 30:13
Book recommendations: 31:24
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 33:21

Cellunova Productions presents Dirty Legal Secrets  
October 17-27, NYC
Buy tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dirty-legal-secrets-tickets-1001791825317  

Connect with us:
Sarah Feingold: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahfeingold/  
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 turn your passion for sports into a career? What does it take to advise pro athletes and celebrities on investments and deals? And how can you start to angel invest yourself?

Sunjay Mathews, investor, advisor, and dealmaker in the sports and media sector, was able to make the leap from in-house counsel at FanDuel and DAZN, the biggest names in sports betting and streaming, into a legal and business consulting powerhouse. With his deep understanding of the complex (and often outdated) regulations surrounding sports betting, he began leading at the intersection of crypto and athletics, advising on sports partnerships with FTX and investing in blockchain-reliant companies like BetDex, and joining the board of tixbase.

Listen as Sunjay shares lessons from his career at the cutting edge of burgeoning industries, dealmaking with pro athletes, getting started as an angel investor, and more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-59

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Transitioning from law associate to sports legal advisor at FanDuel: 3:40
Dealing with anachronistic regulations in the sports betting industry: 6:47
Moving into streaming at DAZN: 10:39
Getting a start as an independent advisor: 21:47
Dealmaking with pro athletes and celebrities: 26:08
Getting started as an angel investor: 34:12
Consulting on sports marketing with FTX and getting involved with crypto: 38:06
Investing and advising companies like BetDEX, tixbase, and Just Women’s Sports: 42:20
Uplifting Just Women’s Sports: 49:35
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 57:11

Connect with us:
Sunjay Mathews: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunjay-mathews-b227a723/
Tyler Finn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhfinn
SpotDraft: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spotdraft

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

How should General Counsel and legal teams be leveraging generative AI? How do you get started on your AI journey and what mistakes should you avoid? Where is the AI revolution heading?

Join Cecilia Ziniti, Founder and CEO of GC AI, as she discusses how and why she made the leap from working as a corporate lawyer to creating a generative AI product specifically designed for in-house counsel. Find out how her years leading legal for AI-powered tech companies like Replit, Anki, and Cruise (and serving as lead counsel on Amazon’s Alexa) prepared her to create a company offering a groundbreaking product that serves the various needs of lawyers with precision and care.

Listen as Cecilia discusses the similarities between lawyers and large language models, how to begin experimenting with generative AI with the goal of making both your professional and personal life smoother, why you can’t let others tell you you’re “just” a lawyer, and why legal professionals should always use emojis.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-58

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Leading legal at Replit: 2:52
Why lawyers should use emojis: 5:40
Starting a business after gaining extensive experience working with AI: 13:00
Considering how GCs should leverage AI: 22:18
Hiring legal teams in the age of AI: 39:03
Teaching a class on AI at Stanford University: 47:35
Book Recommendations: 51:52
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 55:11

Connect with us:
Cecilia Ziniti - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceciliaziniti/
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.

Join Jules Polonetsky, CEO and Founder of the Future of Privacy Forum, as he shares lessons he learned from the front lines of ad tech starting in the early 1990s. Starting his career in politics as a New York assemblyman and working his way into consumer protection-focused public roles, he became one of the first chief privacy officers in the tech industry at companies like DoubleClick and AOL at a crucial moment in the history of online privacy. Now his think tank connects policymakers with corporations, and helps both sides answer tough questions about privacy and data.

Join Jules Polonetsky, CEO and Founder of the Future of Privacy Forum, as he shares lessons he learned from the front lines of ad tech starting in the early 1990s. Starting his career in politics as a New York assemblyman and working his way into consumer protection-focused public roles, he became one of the first chief privacy officers in the tech industry at companies like DoubleClick and AOL at a crucial moment in the history of online privacy. Now his think tank connects policymakers with corporations and helps both sides answer tough questions about privacy and data.

Listen as Jules discusses his uniquely-positioned understanding of privacy issues, the future of AI governance and the chief privacy officer role, advice to lawyers who want to move into the privacy space, and much more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-57

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Getting a start in New York politics: 1:57
Running for elected office: 11:46
Taking one of the first Chief Privacy Officer roles in the industry at DoubleClick: 16:43
Considering the necessary training to be successful in privacy: 24:28
Founding the Future of Privacy Forum: 32:02
Questioning the death of the Chief Privacy Officer role: 44:42
Favorite part of your day-to-day work and professional pet peeves: 51:54
Book recommendations: 56:41
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 1:00:01

Connect with us:
Jules Polonetsky: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julespolonetsky/
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.

Can playing cards teach you to be a better lawyer? How do you make it in Silicon Valley without the traditional big law firm experience? And how do you make the jump to public company general counsel?

Join Andrew Woods, General Counsel at PubMatic, as he discusses the unique path he forged from professional poker player to legal star. From founding a think tank at Harvard focused on poker and law to breaking into tech and privacy as Director of Legal and Associate Counsel at Twitter, Andrew relies on his belief in the value of autonomy, mastery, and significance to guide him towards work that makes him happiest.

Listen as Andrew discusses his love for game theory, landing a fulfilling job leading legal at a tech company, hiring lawyers based on their ambitions instead of their experience, and more.

Read detailed summary:  https://www.spotdraft.com/podcast/episode-56

Topics:
Introduction: 0:00
Starting your career as a professional poker player: 1:33
Comparing poker skills with skills required to succeed as general counsel: 6:10
Taking an unorthodox path after law school: 13:02
Transitioning to in-house roles in tech: 17:12
Moving away from skill questions in the hiring process: 22:52
Developing mastery over fields like privacy and ad tech: 29:05
Breaking into privacy: 33:18
Considering the future of AI governance from a privacy perspective: 36:37
Making the jump to Twitter and PubMatic: 39:21
Book recommendations: 54:23
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 57:23
Connect with us:
Andrew Woods - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmichaelwoods/
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.