Sabrina Hannam
My Home Base: New York, N.Y.
Current Boards and Committees: Boardswell, Opal Group
First Appointment: Investor/strategic advisor to the board of Pacaso, an international fintech and real estate technology start-up with a $1.5 billion valuation and a presence in 32 markets worldwide.
Professional Background: I am an internationally respected, visionary CEO and board advisor with a career hallmarked by successfully piloting multibillion-dollar private organizations to go public. A corporate growth expert and thought leader renowned for impelling triple-digit revenue growth, I position companies for multibillion-dollar valuations and lead the charge into new markets for Fortune 100 powerhouses. I am a C-level influencer with keen vision to harness the power of emerging technology and sharpen an organization’s competitive edge — bringing companies to the cusp of innovation in the capital markets, technology and sports industries.
Professional Associations: Penn Women’s Association Mentoring Program
Best Board Advice: “I don’t want to be Batman; I want to be Commissioner Gordon.” If we think about publicly traded companies in the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange, or we talk about the Russell 3000, there are a finite amount of board seats to land. Board seats are not just for Batman or Batwoman at companies such as Disney or Salesforce, where you develop proactive tech strategies to head off activist shareholder issues. If we look at the private company landscape, there is a greater opportunity to effectively build out those boards for where they are in their development stage, see around the corners and unlock the next stage of growth through access to capital and access to customers. A director can help them hit key performance indicators so they can reach the milestone that will make them more venture-backable. Â
Most Difficult Thing About Board Service: Demystifying the enigmatic world of board culture and understanding the subtle and overt influences that drive it, such as power dynamics and personal relationships. Board culture is a warm and fuzzy feeling; it is the board fit and chemistry that is essential to board culture that needs to be ranked as important as qualifications or skill sets. The lead independent director acts as the primary culture carrier of the board. If there is a problematic board member, facilitate the discussion to talk to the person and assess the cultural red flags that are happening on the board (i.e., someone wants to manage instead of being a director). Have a middle ground between collegial and disruptive disagreements where you have constructive consensus to debate the issues. Directors and chairs need to be quite practiced to have difficult conversations. Chairs have a major impact on fostering great cultures.
Most Rewarding Thing About Board Service: I’m an independent director who mentors founding teams to scale rapidly and navigate funding or valuation events. I also identify opportunities in venture capital and private equity. Investing in a venture is about making money and exercising power. Unfortunately, most private company investors are men. Women investors often start with early-stage bets that bear the highest risks and longest timelines. It is a low aim, not a failure to send. I expand access to late-stage investing by identifying deal flow that is differentiated and find 10 times more companies, ones that others are overlooking because many are vetting deals in overfished ponds. As an investor that finds a segment of America that is 20 times underinvested, I happily take an observer seat and choose a woman that mirrors my values to join the board. I enjoy fueling the shot at the American dream, especially in the tech industry, where there is the greatest access to wealth as women join me in the power circle.
Personal Motto: I lead with my values: respect, integrity and conscious curiosity.