Introduction: 0:00
- Introducing Kristin Svercheck, President of Lyft.
- Transitioning through roles as outside counsel, general counsel, president of business affairs before taking a company-wide leadership position.
- Leading a $2Bn+ IPO.
- Previously serving as partner at Silicon Valley Legal Strategy and associate at Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP.
- Studying molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley and realizing she preferred law to science.
Finding her way to Lyft: 3:51
- Representing investors for ZimRide, the predecessor of Lyft, as outside counsel.
- Showing leadership skills when fielding legality questions about the ride share app.
- Turning down job offers at Lyft before eventually accepting.
Taking on her first GC role at Lyft: 6:23
- Dealing with a steep learning curve between the responsibilities of outside counsel and being part of the company.
- Learning that GC is a fundamentally different job from outside counsel.
- Using humility and acknowledging mistakes to build trust with her legal team and other departments.
Building a legal team at a rapidly growing start-up: 8:23
- Looking for hires with backgrounds different from her own, like litigation, employment, and insurance expertise.
- Searching for diverse lawyers who are better than the hiring manager.
Helping lead the IPO process: 10:48
- Going public even though it didn't feel inevitable.
- Building out legal and financial teams to handle the workload of preparing for the IPO.
- Thinking of start-up time in dog years.
Comparing work at public and private companies: 14:39
- Organizing your time around the demands of a quarterly calendar.
- Layering major projects on top of each other in order to fit them into quarters.
- Lowering your risk tolerance and understanding that the best answer is the satisfactory answer.
Dealing with the challenges of executive roles: 17:20
- Dealing with crises like being underfunded relative to your largest competitor and losing business during Covid-19.
- Hiring lawyers who possess resilience during stressful periods.
- Using the triumph of overcoming difficulties as a staff motivator.
- Knowing you’re only well-rounded if you’ve seen good and bad times.
- Managing stress, leading through transparency, and showing your work to your employees.
Transitioning into the President of Business Affairs role: 21:45
- Having a board member to motivate you to take on more work.
- Overseeing legal policy, business development, and global supply chain and expanding your team 10 times overnight.
- Recognizing that the worst way someone can respond to a question is by saying no.
Working with an executive coach during major career transitions: 26:08
- Ensuring that you can handle a shift from managing 150 employees to more than 1000.
- Guaranteeing that leaders can speak for themselves about what role they need her to play.
- Dropping in to help individual teams when necessary and bringing them together for quarterly planning.
Advice to lawyers who want to take on GC “plus” roles: 27:56
- Making sure you can take your legal hat off sometimes to maintain credibility in other fields.
- Reminding yourself that being a lawyer is no longer your only job.
- Building trust in your CEO so they know you can lead non-legal tasks.
Defining and living her values at Lyft: 30:30
- Engaging in the political sphere and making new laws happen from day one.
- Taking political stands that directly affect your stakeholders, like the 2017 Muslim ban and Texas SB8.
- Being selective about your positions since you can’t take a stand on everything.
- Dealing with disagreements from employees and stakeholders.
- Understanding an issue from all angles before making an informed decision.
Taking on the role of President: 35:58
- Bridging the gap between a new CEO and the departments.
- Managing new and different products like Women+ Connect.
- Reflecting on whether you still consider yourself a lawyer as you work on a larger and more diverse projects.
Departing Lyft: 38:42
- Leaving after twelve years to take a break.
- Leading a long-term journey to make yourself redundant as you ensure the company can function without you.
- Leaving during a period of calm instead of a period of crisis.
- Reflecting on your proudest accomplishments at Lyft as you plan for the future.
- Professional pet peeves.
Book recommendation: 45:52
- Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 46:58
- Viewing imposter syndrome as a gift.
- Understanding your fears through positive framing.