In-House Counsel

GCs And Entrepreneurs: A Match Made In Heaven

How The Fourth Floor community -- a group that connects female founders to female legal executives and industry leaders -- was born.

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Sarah Feingold, former GC at Etsy and Vroom and Breen Sullivan, CAO and GC at Watermark, had a simple idea. You put together female general counsels, founders, industry leaders, and strategic partners and everyone’s career is going to rise up. Feingold explains, “These women entrepreneurs could use them as strategic advisors to help their company. Legal executives can use their advisor experience, board experience, and income to help women entrepreneurs.” That is how The Fourth Floor community was born.

To test the concept, Sullivan and Feingold held some focus groups.  Before the first lunch meeting, Feingold thought, I am going to eat my falafel sandwich by myself. No one’s going to show up. She was wrong. Forty people showed up. And they were highly engaged. “They were sticking post-its all over the place. We could tell the people were super, super excited to participate,” says Feingold. A few months later, The Fourth Floor has more than 350 members. “There is clearly a need for this type of connection between entrepreneurs and seasoned general counsel and leaders. It is mutually beneficial!” Feingold says.

Dinner Full of Opportunities

Then, The Fourth Floor launched Dinner 4 Four. Four women having a dinner where they exchange experiences and participate in a give/get exercise, became The Fourth Floor’s marquee program. Feingold said, “We have received so much positive feedback about the Dinner 4 Four program. It is amazing what an intimate dinner with highly motivated women can accomplish.” One of the key mantras of The Fourth Floor is to say what you want and what can you give to someone else. Feingold explains, “You talk about your get, what you’re looking for, and what you can give someone else. In the process, women were connected to publishers, investors, and information. It’s great when you put your requests out into the universe or when you put what you can offer someone out into the universe.  It empowers everyone.”

Women GCs  are More Than Just Their Legal Brains

One of the hypotheses of The Fourth Floor is that women general counsels are empowering advisers. Feingold said, “GCs, especially women GCs, have been pigeonholed as risk-averse lawyers that just like think about law and read law books all the time. To be a successful GC, you have to be business-oriented. You have to take appropriate risks, and you have to be a strategic business partner. And so I think me going from GC to co-founder is another example that women GCs are more than just our legal brains. We have much to offer to a business.” 

Taking Leaps? Y-e-s!

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Feingold explains, “I always ask myself, ‘Would I regret taking this leap?’ It’s safe to stay and do what you’re good at doing. It’s safe to stay in a stable company, where you’re happy enough.” She is not worried about closing doors. She encourages women to take calculated risks. Feingold continues, “If I never get another GC job, that’s because something else was there, and that something else was more exciting for me. And if I want to get a GC job again, I’m pretty sure that I can use legal skills to convince whomever I need to convince.” 

Olga V. Mack is an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to serve on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw to prepare women in-house attorneys become general counsel and legal leaders and WISE to help women law firm partners become rainmakers. She embraces the current disruption to the legal profession. Olga loves this change and is dedicated to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and inclusive than before. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack.

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