Serving on the board of a small-cap company presents a distinct set of opportunities and challenges. Directors are often expected to provide strategic guidance while navigating limited resources, evolving governance practices, capital market dynamics, founder influence, and accelerated growth.
Join this SVDX session to explore the unique realities of serving on a small-cap board, including:
The strategic role of the board through different stages of growth
Compensation considerations
Activist potential
Regulatory oversight
Risk management and decision-making with limited resources
Special considerations for being a small cap company board director
This session is the annual Christine Russell Memorial Program to honor and celebrate one of the founding members of SVDX who believed in advancing excellence in corporate governance.
SPEAKERS:
Adam Epstein
A globally recognized small-cap expert, Adam Epstein has advised, governed, and invested in hundreds of small-cap companies. His capital markets and corporate governance acumen are products of a singular perspective – a former corporate attorney, operating executive, institutional investor, and, now, board advisor. Mr. Epstein is an advisor to CEOs and boards of pre-IPO and small-cap companies through his firm, Third Creek Advisors, LLC. He speaks monthly at corporate governance and investor conferences, and has appeared internationally more than 150 times since 2012. Mr. Epstein is a member of Small-Cap Institute, Inc.’s editorial advisory board, he is a key contributor to Nasdaq’s Amplify small-cap content initiative, and he is a mentor at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. He is the author of The Perfect Corporate Board: A Handbook for Mastering the Unique Challenges of Small-Cap Companies (New York: McGraw Hill, 2012), and he is a contributing author to The Handbook of Board Governance: A Comprehensive Guide for Public, Private and Not for Profit Board Members (New Jersey: Wiley, 2016).
Beatriz Infante
Beatriz Infante is an award-winning public and private company Board Director and former 4X CEO with a track record of successfully leading multiple international technology businesses to extremely high levels of growth, profitability and shareholder return. Her multi-faceted career disrupting markets and value chains shows her passion for digital transformation using deep data analytics, AI/machine learning, and connected services. As an operational leader, Beatriz led both early stage and F100 organizations through $2B in revenues across a variety of technology sectors – enterprise software, SaaS/Cloud, big data & analytics, cybersecurity, digital transformation, communications, mobile, and hardware. Beatriz founded BusinessExcelleration to help companies at strategic inflection points reach their growth objectives. She serves on the boards of Ribbon Communications, Liquidity Services, and PriceSmart, and serves on the advisory board to the Princeton School of Engineering & Applied Science. Beatriz is an experienced Chair of Compensation and Governance Committees, and an experienced Audit Committee member.
Barbara Nelson
Barbara Nelson is a public board director and C-level technology leader, who currently serves on three corporate boards (Backblaze, Omniscient Neurotechnology, Oneview Healthcare). She has been CEO twice and led global P&Ls as large as US$3 billion in companies ranging from Fortune 500 leaders to VC-funded companies. Barbara has scaled from concept to over US$100M – US$200M, four times in three companies, while delivering profitability. She brings extensive board, P&L and general management experience in AI, SaaS/cloud services, IaaS, cybersecurity, biotech/healthcare, mobile, video, data management, storage, IT infrastructure, and semiconductors.
F. Daniel Siciliano, moderator
Dan Siciliano is a successful technology CEO-founder and entrepreneur, as well as board director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and a recognized expert in corporate strategy and governance, capital financial markets, executive compensation, and technological disruption (including fintech, AI and cybersecurity). He is currently a board member of SVDX, board member of the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation, chair-elect of the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, and a fellow at Stanford University.