Robert E. Siegel
Stanford Graduate School of Business Lecturer
Investor
Author, The Systems Leader
Optimism is a choice. We don't feel it at every moment on every day, but if people believe that they can actually be successful, they can make positive things happen.
Summary
In this powerful conversation, Stanford Graduate School of Business professor, venture capitalist, and author Robert E. Siegel joins host Alan Fleischmann to unpack what it truly means to be a systems leader in today’s rapidly evolving world. With insights drawn from decades across technology, academia, and investment, Robert shares personal stories, leadership philosophies, and the cross-pressures confronting leaders—from navigating AI disruption to balancing empathy and execution. He dives deep into the ideas behind his latest book, The Systems Leader, offering a timely and inspiring framework for leading through uncertainty.
Mentions & Resources
The Systems Leader: Mastering the Cross-Pressures That Make or Break Today’s Companies
The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical
Guest Bio
Robert Siegel is a Lecturer in Management and has taught nine different courses in his time at Stanford. He has authored over 115 cases and led primary research on Google, Charles Schwab, Daimler, AB InBev, Box, Stripe, Target, AngelList, 23andMe, C3.ai, Majid Al Futtaim, Tableau, PayPal, Autodesk, Minted, Axel Springer, and Michelin, amongst others.
He is also a Venture Partner at Piva Capital and a General Partner at XSeed Capital. He sits on the Board of Directors of Bidra Innovation Ventures, Avochato and Findmine, and led investments in Zooz (acquired by PayU of Naspers), Hive, Lex Machina (acquired by LexisNexis of the RELX Group), CirroSecure (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Nova Credit, The League (acquired by Match Group), Teapot (acquired by Stripe), Pixlee TurnTo (acquired by Emplifi), and SIPX (acquired by ProQuest).
Robert is a Member of the Supervisory Board of HERE Technologies, and was a Member of the company’s Industry Advisory Board from 2017 - 2022. He is the Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board for TTTech Computertechnik AG in Vienna, Austria. He is a Member of the Industry Advisory Board for Tulco and was on the board of SmartDrive Systems for 14 years (acquired by Omnitracs). He is the Co-President Emeritus of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs, an alumni association that fosters relationships to strengthen the Stanford startup community.
Robert is the author of The Systems Leader: Mastering the Cross-Pressures That Make or Break Today’s Companies, and The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical. He has coauthored several articles for the Harvard Business Review and California Management Review, and is a frequent contributor to Fortune, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Forbes.
He was previously General Manager of the video and software solutions division for GE Security. He was also Executive Vice President of Pixim, Inc., a fabless semiconductor firm specializing in image sensors and processors (acquired by Sony). Before Pixim, Robert was Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Weave Innovations Inc. (acquired by Kodak), a network services developer that invented the world’s first digital picture frame, and delivered photos and other digital media to PCs and internet / mobile devices.
Robert served in various management roles at Intel Corporation, including an executive position on their corporate business development team, in which he invested capital in startups that were strategically aligned with Intel’s vision.
He is the co-inventor of four patents and served as lead researcher for Andy Grove’s best-selling book, Only the Paranoid Survive.
Robert holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is married with three grown children.
Transcript
Transcript will be uploaded upon the episode’s premiere.