Pound earned an A.B. in Political Economy from Harvard and a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale. In ten years on the Harvard faculty and two years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, he advocated for stronger, more engaged, more collaborative governance, publishing a blueprint for a new paradigm in the Harvard Business Review entitled "The Promise of the Governed Corporation." That model has since largely been adopted by American public companies. His research on shareholder activism, and his work at the Securities and Exchange Commission, led to the deregulation of investor communications - the foundational policy change that made possible modern public equity activist investing.
Pound worked with some of the largest and most visible American corporations to resolve controversies over valuation and mediate investor challenges, including, e.g. Chrysler, Kodak, and KMart. He worked with leading investment organizations and helped the Bass Family found the first $1B fund for activist investing in the US. He published in scholarly and popular journals including The Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics, The Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, and spoke internationally at venues including The World Economic Forum on governance reform.
In 1997, Pound founded Integrity Brands, to take investment positions in undervalued publicly-traded consumer facing companies and work with CEOs, leadership teams, and boards to create value. Integrity has invested in, and helped to lead, oversee and advise on turnarounds and repositionings at over 20 public brands and retailers. Its investments have been managed through a series of partnership vehicles; investment partners have included family offices, high net worth individuals, funds of funds, hedge funds, and private equity firms.
In his work with portfolio companie Pound has helped rebuild and evolve visions, create new strategies, realign operating models, incubate new ventures, triage unsuccessful strategies and assets, plan distressed and growth financings, and oversee sales and restructurings. He has recruited new leaders, counseled and supported leadership teams, evolved board membership and operation, and overseen founder, leadership, and ownership transitions. Examples include Gymboree, Cost Plus World Market, RedEnvelope, Spy Optic, Kirkland's, Christopher & Banks, United Retail Group, Van's, and AT Cross.
Pound has served as CEO at two public companies; Board Chair at three; Executive Chair at two; Lead Outside Director at one; and as a board member at five. He has also served on multiple private company and nonprofit boards.
Pound paused Integrity's investment program in 2020 to focus on coaching, advising, and other personal interests. He has since served in several roles at The University of Arizona; consulted on strategy for other universities; served on nonprofit boards; worked with emerging consumer-facing companies; and advised leaders and boards on strategy and finance. His advisory work focuses on the complex dynamics of key decisions that merge vision, value, leadership, financial structure, and governance . He is incubating a new venture in the dog rescue arena aimed at increasing recue visibility and catalyzing expanded rates of shelter adoption.