Five Years of Boardroom Governance: Reflections, Lessons, and What’s Next
Boardroom Governance Newsletter #66 | July 3 2025
Milestone Edition: Five Years of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter
This month marks a major milestone: five years and 66 editions of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter. What started as a modest effort to capture timely developments in corporate governance has evolved into a regular touchpoint for directors, executives, counsel, and governance professionals across industries and geographies.
I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to you, whether you’ve been reading from the very beginning or just joined recently. Your engagement, feedback, and support have been the driving force behind this project.
📊 By the Numbers
🗓️ Launched: June 15, 2020
📬 66 newsletters published
📝 92 total posts, including special editions and commentary
👥 2,000+ subscribers across 39 US states (top 3: CA, NY & TX) and 76 countries (top 3: US, UK and Brazil).
💼 Audience: Corporate directors, investors, academics, lawyers, regulators, policy professionals and students. Anyone with an interest in governance.
📈 Average open rate: 44% (industry average: ~22–28%)
🌐 Most-read editions:
Golden Age of Fraud — Newsletter #38, March 2023
On the Governance of Silicon Valley Bank, and What Next? — March 2023
Private Markets: A Post-Pandemic Reset — October 2024
🎓 Student/University Rate: This year, I added a student & educator discount (20% off forever). Only applies to academic email accounts (.edu)
🎧 And along the way, the Boardroom Governance Podcast, consistently ranked number one or among the top three corporate governance podcasts, has reached 178 episodes featuring global boardroom leaders and advisors.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ The podcast has a rating of 4.9 out of 5 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Listeners across all US states (top 3: CA, NY & TX) and 176 countries (top 3: US, UK and Japan).
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Per Listen Notes, the podcast is one of the top 3% most popular shows out of 3,589,775 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score (the estimated popularity score).
💬 What Listeners of the Podcast Are Saying
“A great listen for anyone interested in how boards work and why governance matters.”
“A must-listen for all corporate directors committed to continuous learning and being the best in their roles.”
“If you are a board member in a public company or large private one, or if you aspire to become one, you will appreciate the content in Evan’s series of interviews dealing with specific boardroom issues, and come out as a better director.”
Have a quote of your own? I’d love to hear it—just reply to this email or connect with me on LinkedIn.
💡 5 Lessons from 5 Years of Governance Writing
1. Directors Want Practical, Not Just Theoretical, Insights
Governance is no longer the exclusive domain of academics and regulators. Directors are seeking actionable guidance, especially in rapidly evolving areas such as technology and innovation, where Silicon Valley is advancing at a breathtaking pace.
2. The Scope of Governance Keeps Expanding
Issues like AI, cybersecurity, and geopolitical risk are now squarely in the board’s domain. The rise of OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and other leading AI companies incorporated as public benefit corporations with novel governance structures is reshaping the traditional governance landscape.
3. Delaware May Be the Center, but It’s Not the Whole Story
SB21, the rise of Nevada and Texas, and shareholder litigation trends show how dynamic U.S. corporate law has become. Jurisdictional competition is challenging long-held assumptions and reshaping boardroom decision-making.
4. Boardroom Culture Matters
Decision-making biases, boardroom dynamics, dissent, and trust are the soft factors that often determine whether governance structures work as intended.
5. We’re Just Getting Started
The past five years have seen ESG and DEI evolve from mainstream topics to lightning rods, at least in the U.S. AI governance has shifted from academic theory to a real boardroom agenda item. The next five years will be even more complex and more consequential.
📣 What’s Next?
Looking ahead, I’m planning to:
• Expand the Boardroom Governance brand through new board education initiatives and advisory work
• Launch the Boardroom Governance Summit in Spring 2026
• Host new podcast conversations on emerging themes including AI oversight, founder-led boards, generational transitions, private market governance, and more
• Explore new content formats such as shorter insights, annotated updates, and interviews with global governance leaders
I’d love to hear from you:
➡️ What topics would you like to see covered in the next 65 editions?
➡️ What’s the biggest governance challenge your board is facing right now?
You can reply directly to this email or connect with me on LinkedIn / Twitter (X).
🙌 Thank You
Governance isn’t static. It evolves with our laws, markets, institutions, and people. Thank you for being part of this growing community of thoughtful directors and professionals who care about getting it right.
🎤 Upcoming Speaking Engagements
I’ll be sharing governance insights at the following events:
• LCDEF BoardReady Institute (BRI)
📍 KPMG US, Boston, MA | 📅 July 17-18, 2025
🎙 Hosted by LCDA
• OECD – Latin America Roundtable on Corporate Governance
📍 La Bolsa 64, Santiago, Chile | 📅 October 6-7, 2025
🎙 Hosted by CMF, Ministerio de Hacienda, MinRel
• AI for Growth: Chile, Latin America, and Global Innovation
📍 The Historic Klamath Ferry, San Francisco, CA | 📅 October 9, 2025
🎙 Hosted by Chile California Council, ProChile
• CBL Roundtable on Financial Policy & Regulation
📍 UC Law SF, San Francisco, CA | 📅 October 22, 2025
🎙 Hosted by UC Law SF
• 4th VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA)
📍 New York City, NY | 📅 October 28, 2025
🎙 Hosted by UC Law SF, Cooley, and Nasdaq
• The Board Directors’ Summit Chile 2025
📍 The Metropolitan, Santiago, Chile | 📅 November 25, 2025
🎙 Hosted by Instituto de Directores de Chile (IdDC)
If you’ll be attending any of these events, I’d love to connect.
Boardroom Governance Podcast 🎙️
Check out my latest episodes:
E178 Walker Newell & Lenin Lopez (Woodruff & Sawyer): Navigating D&O Risk, Delaware Exit, and Boardroom Litigation. Walker and Lenin are SVPs at Woodruff Sawyer, a national insurance brokerage and consulting firm specializing in D&O. We dive into key governance trends—such as the “Delaware Exit” or “DExit” phenomenon and the growing interest in alternative incorporation states like Texas and Nevada. We also discuss Delaware’s SB21, the IPO and SPAC environment, and emerging developments in securities class action litigation.
E177 Celebrating 5 Years of the Boardroom Governance Podcast & Newsletter. In this special short and solo episode (I’ve also added it as an audio at the top of this newsletter), I reflect on five years of the Boardroom Governance Podcast and Newsletter. I revisit the very first edition launched during the pandemic, share lessons from more than 175 episodes, and mark another milestone from leading the Center for Business Law at UC Law SF and launching the VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA). I also look ahead to what is next.
You can listen to all the Boardroom Governance Podcast episodes in your favorite apps including Apple and Spotify.
If you like this show, please add your rating and review on Apple Podcast. It will help others find the podcast 🙏
If you and/or your organization is interested to sponsor the podcast, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
The podcast is sponsored by The American College of Governance Counsel.
Other Relevant Corporate Governance News and Content
Great board leadership starts before you take your seat. Earlier this year I joined a panel hosted by Nasdaq’s Center for Board Excellence & WhartonAlumni for Boards to discuss what it takes to lead in today’s boardrooms. Check out this summary with key takeaways & practical tips for directors.
Senate passes Trump's “big, beautiful bill” after 11th-hour panic. “The bill passed 51-50 after a grueling, multi-day process that kicked off Saturday evening and ended with a 24-hour vote-a-rama.” But as Elon Musk said: “In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that is both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”
Robinhood gives out private company stock tokens of OpenAI and SpaceX in Europe. Stock hits record. “The goal with tokenization (…) is to let anyone participate in this economy.” “While U.S. users can’t access tokenized equity yet, Robinhood has reintroduced crypto staking — previously blocked by the SEC — for ethereum and solana.”
Here’s What Mark Zuckerberg Is Offering Top AI Talent. According to Wired, Zuck is offering top research talent pay packages of up to $300 million over four years, with more than $100 million in total compensation for the first year. Meta has made at least 10 of these offers to OpenAI staffers. Related from WSJ: It’s Known as ‘The List’—and It’s a Secret File of AI Geniuses. Also, the tweet below is 🎯
The Private Market Trap That’s Endangering U.S. Innovation. This is a great read:
“About 70,000 U.S. private companies have received some form of private investment—from seed capital through a buyout, representing $6.7 trillion of cash from pension funds, endowments and the like.”
“The companies are currently valued at $13.3 trillion. But that value is increasingly trapped, with no way for investors and companies to tap it.”
“The market has become highly distorted, with funding going mostly to big private companies and big VC firms. Of the $77B of new U.S. VC funding raised in 2024, ~$30B went to the top 10 funds—with an average fund size of $2.9B. First-time funds accounted for only 7% of funds raised.”
“Pity the small company that’s not doing AI. In the first quarter of 2025, 70% of first financings that VCs made into startups were in AI companies, claiming 50% of the capital deployed.”
Great analysis from Coatue’s Philippe Lafont:
Some takeaways:
AI is the biggest growth driver for the next decade, transforming every sector.
Coatue’s “Fantastic 40” expands beyond the Magnificent 7 to include more innovation leaders.
Bitcoin could reach $5T in market cap, Laffont now sees it as a core asset.
He regrets missing crypto early, showing the need to stay flexible and adapt.
Private markets (especially AI) will be big in 2025, Coatue is leaning in.
The Global A.I. Divide. Only 32 nations, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, have A.I.-specialized data centers.
‘Golden Share’ in U.S. Steel Gives Trump Extraordinary Control. “The president [can] exert significant influence over U.S. Steel’s board. The president has the authority to directly appoint one of the board’s three independent directors, and approve or reject appointments for the other two.” “The U.S. government would retain a single share of preferred stock, called class G — as in gold. And U.S. Steel’s charter will list nearly a dozen activities the company cannot undertake without the approval of the American president or someone he designates in his stead.” Here is a deep dive on this topic by Stephen Bainbridge’s on his excellent new substack newsletter: Trump’s Golden Share in U.S. Steel.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on public vs. private markets: “My goal is to make IPOs great again.”
Onward and upward.
Happy 4th of July! 🗽
Sincerely,
Evan Epstein