A commitment to diversity and inclusion, a deep understanding of the product, company and risk profile, and an actual human being they can trust. Oh, and no memos...

Business in The Valley moves quickly, which makes missteps with general counsel of tech companies risky business for their service providers. Last month, Legal Marketing Association’s Silicon Valley group hosted three GCs in a no-holds-barred panel that included Thomas Chow, general counsel at PubMatic; Phuong Phillips, chief legal officer at Zynga; and Chris Young, general counsel of Ironclad. Catherine Zinn, chief client service officer at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, served as moderator.

These panels typically showcase brutal honesty, and this one did not disappoint.

At least one venerable Valley service provider (who shall remain nameless here) was publicly shamed. “Yeah, I fired them,” Chow shared. In the spirit of “all feedback is good feedback,” here are some highlights.

Diversity & Inclusion

The GCs, all attorneys of color, made it clear that diversity and inclusion is serious business.

Chow: “All things being equal, I choose the diverse candidate, or look for personality fit,” Chow said. He reaches out to partners and “will have an idea in 48 hours how responsive they are. I can tell by the kinds of things they tell me whether they are pragmatic or not, and whether they are enthusiastic about working with me. Outside counsel who don’t recognize all walks of life will not be good in front of a jury, or understand my business, because we are very diverse.”

Young: “It’s incredibly important to me to have diverse counsel. I’m half black, I’m perceived as black and treated as black. I feel like there are more black folks who should be at the table.”

"Outside counsel who don’t recognize all walks of life will not be good in front of a jury, or understand my business, because we are very diverse..."

Phillips hammered the point home. “At Zynga, 60 percent of our customers are women age 35-60. Four of our eight board members are women. In my legal department of 20, 80 percent of us are women,” Phillips said. Prospective counsel need to mirror the company, and really understand the product and customer base. “Most law firms realize they should bring a diverse slate when they come to see me. It is just the beginning of what we are hoping for, which is a much more diverse community in our company.”

Customer Knowledge and Product Demos

When Phillips was an associate at Wilson Sonsini, she did work for Solar City. “I really wanted to understand the product, so I became a customer. And shortly thereafter they hired me in-house to take them public.” That’s the intensity behind the panel’s “know your customer” mantra.

Young: “When I was general counsel at GoFundMe, I was pitched by lawyers who literally didn’t understand how we made money, how many customers we served, where our offices were. But some people actually demoed the product and set up a GoFundMe campaign. They were raising money for a cause, and I loved that sense of curiosity.”

Communication Styles and Tools

This hot-button issue incited profanity.

"You want to build credibility quickly? Do something that is completely against your business model."

Young: “I can’t stand memos, and I hate long emails. And it’s not a good way to communicate with our executive team. You want to build credibility quickly? Do something that is completely against your business model. I didn’t ask for a memo, and I don’t want to see it on the bill. Pick up the phone. We can do this in 15 minutes.”

Chow: “You really need to work with results in mind. Of 20 good options, only three of them will be viable for my company. I don’t want to sift through bad ideas. No 10-page memos.”

"Feed me the information in a way that I can flip it to my team."

Phillips: “We’re all about PowerPoint. Feed me the information in a way that I can flip it to my team. I’m a three-bullet point person. If I see a 10-page memo, I cry.”

Zinn: “The memo died in 1986, and will never be revived.”

Bottom line from Zinn: “It's ok to ask: how do you want to get the information?”

Reputations and RFPs

Ironclad is a series B startup that’s growing quickly. “Given our stage,” Young said, “I have to be very deliberate about who I engage. I may inherit a full-service firm, but I typically whittle that down as I build my own portfolio of counsel.”

He doesn’t rely on Chambers, though that may change as they grow, and so far, there are no RFPs. Like Phillips and Chow, Young turns to trusted peers – a tech GC list, fellow ACC members, the Women General Counsel Network, a listserv of Asian American GCs—to get suggestions for counsel. This shadow network often trumps rankings, though each GC said they participate in the surveys.

Chow uses Chambers, but has had “mixed experiences” relying on their recommendations. “I don’t want to pay for Tier 1. I do look at Chambers to get an idea of who the actual partner or relationship manager will be. What are their relationships? Will they have ties to a regulator or certain judge?”

Handling Mistakes

And when relationships go south or there is a misstep? “I’m super transparent,” said Phillips. “You’ll know. It’s usually because of the attorney, not the firm. Just bring me another amazing person. That’s how to salvage the relationship. As long as that person does incredibly well.”

"Just bring me another amazing person. That’s how to salvage the relationship..."

Chow said he was a client of a top-tier Valley firm, but that he had fired them in the past. “In my current role, I’m stuck with this firm because they are trusted by our board, CEO and CFO. I can also tell you that I only give them work in their sweet spot. I had to have a very candid conversation with the relationship manager. Things weren’t working out again, and I let my opinions be known to others on the management team. We had another long heart-to-heart conversation with the relationship manager, and we were able to reset.”

Firms may stay on the roster, the GCs agreed, but the spend falls precipitously. When it does, firms need to act.

Authentic apologies go a long way. “I have said to clients I’m sorry that happened, and it’s not ok,” Zinn said.

"...time and relationship building, not marketing brochures."

The Key to Yes

“I’m human,” said Chow. “ I trust people over time when I understand how they think. That comes with time and relationship building, not marketing brochures. Let’s go out for a meal. Don’t always sell me, just talk to me.”

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Susan Kostal helps lawyers and law firms with legal marketing and content strategy. A former legal affairs journalist, she crafts collateral, directs content campaigns, advises on and creates web content, and ghostwrites for lawyers. Learn about her firm, Stet, at www.susankostal.com, and connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.