Boardroom with Rich Kleiman

Todd Graves, Founder and CEO of Raising Cane's, shares the story behind his billion-dollar chicken finger empire, sparked by a challenging college business plan. He recounts overcoming setbacks, including Hurricane Katrina, and emphasizes the importance of valuing employees and cultivating a strong company culture across 900 locations. Graves discusses innovative collaborations with celebrities like Post Malone, fostering authentic connections with loyal fans known as 'Caniacs,' and his aspirations for community philanthropy. Tune in for insights on entrepreneurship and resilience!

Over the 2025 All-Star Weekend, Boardroom and Bose hosted an intimate conversation in San Francisco for an audience of business, entertainment and sports power players. The conversation, led by Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, was a deep dive into the intersection of sports, music and culture, driven by Carmelo Anthony, Quavo, and Bose CEO Jim Mollica - three individuals who know the space best. As a newly minted NBA Hall Of Fame inductee, Anthony's storied career gave him the ability to reflect on how much the business has changed to become more collaborative through the years, a sentiment that Mollica can agree with from a corporate perspective. Mollica shares how his team in the music space has committed to partnering with music lovers across several sectors, including the brand's partnership with Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards. Quavo, a Grammy-nominated music icon, also shared how many of his most popular hits and career moments are deeply reflective of the NBA culture he was raised on, showing again how the ties between all of these individuals remain intrinsically tied.

Matt Barnes, a former NBA player and co-host of the award-winning podcast 'All the Smoke,' shares his journey from athlete to media mogul. He recalls how the show began with casual barbershop-style chats and evolved into a powerful platform. Barnes discusses the impact of athlete-driven narratives and the cultural shift regarding cannabis in sports. He delves into the challenges of navigating media deals, building partnerships, and the importance of authenticity in storytelling. His reflections emphasize patience and a long-term vision for success.

In this episode of Boardroom Talks, Rich Kleiman sits down with super producer Mike Will Made-It to explore his groundbreaking career. Mike breaks down how Atlanta's musical legacy influenced modern sound, why genre-blending is key to his success, and the powerful impact of artists like Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, and Future. Plus, he shares his thoughts on the role of Artificial Intelligence in music, the mystery behind streaming numbers, and how industry icon Jimmy Iovine shaped his approach to making hip hop accessible to the mainstream.Don’t miss this candid conversation with one of the industry's most influential producers!

Wallo267, host of Million Dollaz Worth of Game and New York Times bestselling author of Armed With Good Intentions, didn’t achieve success overnight. In this episode of Boardroom Talks, he sits down with Rich Kleiman to share the raw truth about relationships in prison, the unlikely characters he met, and the mental strength he developed during his decades behind bars. Wallo reveals how those lessons taught him everything he needed to know about marketing, building relationships, and growing a business. He also dives into his business partnership with Barstool and reflects on whether money truly solves life's biggest problems.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong joins Rich Kleiman for an all new Boardroom Talks. This conversation dives into the early aughts of Armstrong's journey through the business world, a journey that led him from Bay Area Bitcoin meetups to the Silicon Valley staple Y-Combinator, a place where his idea for the future of cryptocurrency truly came to life. Armstrong stresses how the early stages of cryptocurreny, much like any new innovation, including Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, continues to be riddled with peaks and valleys, but that the utility will always be there for those who need it. Throughout the highs and inevitable volatility, of the bitcoin ecosystem, Armstrong discusses how he's striving to do good in the world, empower the younger consumer of cryptocurrency and foster an environment that helps people have autonomy over their money in the digital space.

Host, Sideline Reporter and Journalist Taylor Rooks is everywhere. From Thursday Night Football on Amazon, NBA on TNT, her show 'Taylor Rooks X' on HBO Max and her newest venture, a brand new podcast with fellow host Joy Taylor called 'Too Personal,' Rooks has spent her life and career solidifying her significance. In this episode of 'Boardroom Talks' with Boardroom Co-Founder Rich Kleiman, Rook's discusses her beginnings as a correspondent at the Big Ten Network right out of college and how that experience left her hungry for an even bigger stage, how she made her way to the New York market to continue to evolve her career and where she'd still like to go. Later, the duo discuss how her good friend Sue Bird helped play an integral role in understanding discrepancies within the coverage of women's sports, where and how media still continues to fall short and the differences in how men who play basketball at the highest level are viewed versus their WNBA colleagues. Lastly, Kleiman and Rooks dive into the culture of NBA player podcasts, the differences between covering the NBA and the NFL and how her new podcast, 'Too Personal' is a place for women to create the same kind of thoughtful and polarizing conversations their male counterparts have in the media everyday.

After a devastating injury mere months after being drafted No. 2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chet Holmgren missed his entire first season with a foot injury. Nearly a year later, Holmgren, alongside his teammates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, took the one-seed in the Western Conference, with Holmgren playing a full 82-game season. In this Boardroom Cover Story, Holmgren sits with Boardroom Co-Founder Rich Kleiman to talk about how he processed, reassessed and reinvented his approach to the game after injury, how he's found himself in a tight race to Rookie Of The Year with San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama and what it's like playing across from legends like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. Holmgren also shares stories about how 76ers Joel Embiid gave him a humble welcome to the league, why he doesn't feel pressure to put on more weight and how he plans to capitalize on the business side that comes with being an NBA player.

VISA CMO Frank Cooper joins Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman to discuss the ever-changing role of the CMO, NYC in the 90s, his journey from entrepreneur to executive roles at Pepsi, Buzzfeed, Blackrock, VISA and more.

Minnesota Timberwolves Superstar Anthony Edwards is Boardroom’s December Cover star in light of his new signature shoe, the AE 1 with Adidas. Ant and his business partner Justin Holland join Rich Kleiman to discuss how he connected with the sport of basketball, committing to the University of Georgia to stay close to his family and being drafted to the Timberwolves. Later, they discuss how he compartmentalizes his play and his business, how he doesn’t plan to act again, despite starring alongside Adam Sandler in “Hustle,” and how Kevin Durant inspired him to name sneakers after the people he loves.