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Profile: Karen Roter Davis, JD-MBA Class of 2000
On November 22, 2005 we had an opportunity to interview Karen Roter Davis. The following answers were paraphrased from the information Karen provided during the interview.
Northwestern JD-MBA Graduation Year: 2000
Undergraduate School: Princeton University
Current Employer: Google
Title: Principal, New Business Development
Current Hometown: Mountain View, CA
(AN = Alumni Newsletter, KRD = Karen Roter Davis)
AN: What was your background before enrolling in the JD-MBA program, and what motivated you to do the joint program, particularly at Northwestern?
KRD: I graduated from Princeton with a degree in Public Policy. I had always thought about going to law school but wasn’t sure I would enjoy the practice. Instead, I decided to do consulting work for a few years and enjoyed that very much. However, I maintained my interest in law and decided to pursue a joint law and business degree. I thought the joint program would provide me with the knowledge and skills I needed to become involved in entrepreneurship, whether working with entrepreneurs and/or having my own company. I was drawn to Northwestern’s program because it prioritized an integrated experience with both schools and seemed to have a tight-knit student class.
AN: What did you take advantage of while you were at Northwestern?
KRD: I was part of the founding team for the Small Business Opportunity Center (SBOC) and was President for one of the years I was there. Northwestern Law was known for its strong clinical litigation programs, but it was missing a clinical transactional program. We started SBOC because we wanted to give back to the community and give students who had an interest in transactional law an opportunity to contribute. It was a great experience for me because I saw my coursework meet reality, and I felt like I was able to help small companies.
AN: Since graduation how has your career progressed?
KRD: I wanted to make sure that coming out of the program I cemented my legal skills. Studying law and practicing it are so different. A law degree teaches you how to think, but it doesn’t necessarily teach you how to execute. I went to a law firm called Venture Law Group, which specialized in legal work for start-up and emerging technology companies. The attorneys there seemed more proactive about giving business advice and helping with funding, so I could still have more exposure to the business side while practicing law. I did primarily corporate and securities work, but also got exposure to things like employment-related issues, loans and leases, commercial agreements, and working one on one with entrepreneurs in pre-IPO companies. After a few years, I realized I still wanted to move closer to the business side of things. Google’s legal group was extremely proactive and was involved relatively early on in areas such as new product development and deal structure. I was hired to do commercial transaction work, but, as a result of my securities law background, I was asked to join the IPO team and worked on that for a few months. In July 2005, I decided to focus more on my main interests on the business side, which were structuring deals and helping to get new products to market, so I transitioned into Google’s New Business Development group. In this role, I work with the executive and product teams to vet new product ideas and then form appropriate partnerships to help support those products.
AN: Is a law degree necessary in your current job? Has it been helpful?
KRD: I don’t think it’s necessary, but several people in my group are also lawyers. My legal background is amazingly helpful in figuring out different ways to structure a deal. It’s also helpful when I’m interacting with legal because I can ‘red-flag’ issues of concern. It helps to have a law degree, but could you do it with just good business and deal experience to draw on? Yes.
AN: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
KRD: Right now I enjoy what I’m doing. Other options I potentially want to explore include teaching at the graduate level or starting my own company. It would be ideal if I could combine both teaching and being an entrepreneur; I don’t think the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. However, your needs and goals change so much over 5-10 years (mine definitely have!) that you have to at least put in your plan to ‘be flexible’. No one knows what the future holds. So we’ll see….
AN: Do you have any advice for the current JD-MBAs?
KRD: To the extent that you can resist pressure to follow a certain path, and really just follow your interests, you will be a lot happier career-wise. When you take your first job out of school, do something that develops skills you’re interested in, and then figure out what you like about that job and what you don’t. With each new opportunity, keep triangulating around your interests by trying to get more of what you like and less of what you don’t.
AN: What do you do in your spare time?
KRD: I do a lot of hiking and try to get outdoors as much as possible. I spend a lot of time with my husband and daughter, Kayla, who is almost two. I used to be in a band back at Northwestern, but now I sing songs to my daughter.
AN: You were in a band while at school full-time?
KRD: Yes, I was in a band with some fellow Kellogg students called “Away from Goodness”. It was really fun—we performed in Evanston and Chicago, wrote original music and recorded a CD. It gives you perspective and an escape while you’re wrapped up in the intensity of law school.
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