Sue Siegel: Innovation, Life Sciences, and Governance in a Changing World

Nov 10, 2025

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(0:00) Intro

(1:55) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel

(2:42) Start of interview

(3:56) Sue's origin story

(5:42) The Rise of Biotech and her Career Journey (BioRad, Dupont, Amersham and Affymetrix)

(12:04) Transition to Venture Capital (Mohr Davidow Ventures, GE Ventures)

(14:55) Evolution of Corporate Venture Capital (since ~2010) "They [now] represent about 28% of all VC dollars going into startups."

(19:32) Her Board Membership Journey (since 2000, as a board member at Affymetrix where she was an executive)

(21:12) The Impact of AI on Governance

(21:53) Cultural Differences in Boardrooms between founders and investors: "if you do governance right, it should be an enabler, not a suffocator."

(29:24) Navigating Geopolitical Risks. Example: Align Technology: We moved about 90% of our Russia based developers to Armenia.

(33:01) Challenges in Life Sciences Funding

(34:52) The AI Investment Boom

(37:16) Activism's Influence on Corporate Boards. "They punish the lack of communication. They punish obscuring things." Reference to E189 with Joele Frank and Anne Chapman.

(42:36) The Evolution of Compensation Structures "I think one of the key topics around comp is aligning pay, performance, and purpose."

(45:34) Other relevant board topics: human capital, innovation, data and board culture.

(47:57) The Importance of Board Refreshment (digital and IA natives that can govern in the boardroom)

(49:12) Books that have greatly influenced her life:

Passages by Gael Sheehy (1976)
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (2003)

(52:00) "People that helped her along"

(54:23) An unusual habit or an absurd thing that she loves.

(54:59) The living person she most admires: Francis Collins.

(56:39) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.

Sue Siegel is a highly accomplished executive, investor, and board member who has been at the forefront of innovation across life sciences, healthcare, and technology for more than three decades.

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