Over a 40-year career, John Pound's focus has been on engaging to solve complex challenges involving vision, value, leadership, and governance. Though his firm, Integrity Brands, he has worked extensively with CEOs and boards as an investor, board member, and advisor, helping to plan, support, and oversee value-enhancing corporate repositionings and turnarounds. Earlier, through research and advocacy, he sought to strengthen the board-level process through which key directional challenges are debated and key decisions are made.
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Pound's early career was in research and policy, focused on improving governance as a value creation mechanism. In ten years on the Harvard faculty and two years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, he advocated for stronger, more engaged, more collaborative boards, and helped to develop and test new forms of constructive shareholder engagement at public companies. His work helped to lead the development of modern activist public equity investing. He worked with some of the largest and most visible American corporations to resolve controversies over valuation and mediate investor challenges. He published in many 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 on governance reform.
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In 1997, Pound founded Integrity Brands, to take investment positions in undervalued publicly-traded consumer facing companies and work in partnership with leaders to create value. The program was meant to demonstrate a model for expert, constructive activism and reflected his personal intuition and experience with product- and brand-driven businesses Integrity has invested in and helped to lead, oversee and advise on turnarounds and repositionings at over 20 public companies. Pound has helped rebuild and evolve brand 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, counselled and supported leadership teams, evolved board membership and operation, and overseen founder, leadership, and ownership transitions. Example investments include Gymboree, Cost Plus World Market, Kirkland's, Christopher & Banks, United Retail Group, Van's, and AT Cross.
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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 served on and led audit, compensation, governance, and strategic review committees. He has served on private company and nonprofit boards, and has been retained as an crisis/transition adviser by CEOs and boards across sectors. He has advised and partnered with private equity firms and with leading public equity investment organizations and advised numerous financial organizations.
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In 2017, 20 years after its inception, Pound paused Integrity's investment program. He has since focused on advising, coaching, and board work; nonprofit initiatives; and new academic engagement. Since 2021 he has been affiliated with the University of Arizona, advising on program development and teaching in the Eller College of Management. His nonprofit work includes initiatives in animal rescue and welfare, driving safety, and a new platform for student engagement to help solve real-world problems. He welcomes new opportunities to help leaders and boards with matters of vision, value, and governance.
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