CorpGov hosted the sixth annual Palm Beach CorpGov Forum on Nov. 4-5, 2026, at the Palm Beach Lake Pavilion and The Cove Club, both located waterfront with sweeping views of Palm Beach Island, along with a reception at Cucina Palm Beach. The Forum featured a VC-focused opening keynote panel on Wednesday evening, “Founders Bootcamp: Boards, Banking and Risk Management.”
The panel featured Jeff Buzen, Head of M&A at McGill and Partners; John Ehrhard, Co-Founder of XQai; Charles Orozco, Senior Vice President–Group Director at Flagstar Private Bank; and Joshua Siegel, General Partner at Acronym Venture Capital. Ryan Keating, Partner and Industry Leader, Venture Services, at EisnerAmper, moderated the discussion.
Key comments from the panel:
-
“I think a great board member should be like a great parent where they are your biggest cheerleader, they’re passionate about your success, and help you believe and fulfill the dream,” said Jon Erhard. “But also they have no problem speaking up and telling you when you’re about to take the wrong step and chime in.”
-
“We don’t want founders telling us what will happen,” said Joshua Siegel. “We want to know what has happened, we want to know what is happening, and then we want to know, well, what are you going to do to change it, right?”
-
“Start working with the right partners that can help you for where you are today, but also for where you’re going two, three years down the road, whether that’s ramping up to an IPO, it’s preparing for an exit to a private equity firm or to a strategic, right?” said Jeff Buzen. “Your insurance needs are going to differ wildly from when you’re a startup Series A company to when you’re a late-stage company that’s ramping up to an exit.”
-
“We’re able to get creative with underwriting,” said Charles Orozco. “Unlike a traditional bank, when you work with them, it’s more along the lines of, these are our rates, this is the box.”
-
“I love to say that startups don’t need passengers, they need navigators,” said Ryan Keating. “And you’ve got to pick the right partner.”
READ MORE
Photo Gallery of the 6th Palm Beach CorpGov Forum
Speakers: CorpGov Forum 2026:
- Keynote: Paul Abrahimzadeh, Partner, 1789 Capital
- Keynote: Vishal Garg, Founder and Head of Product, Platform and Innovation, Better Home & Finance Holding Co. (Nasdaq: BETR)
- Andrew Bair, President and CEO, Capital Defense Technologies
- Jeff Buzen, Head of M&A, McGill and Partners
- Marcos Cervantes, Founder and CEO, Q-Branch
- Doug Chia, President, Soundboard Governance; Host, The Public Company Series Podcast; Former Corporate Secretary, Johnson & Johnson
- George Corbin, Board Director, Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE: EPC); Former Chief Digital Officer, Marriott and Mars
- Craig DeDomenico, Managing Director, Equity and Equity-Linked Capital Markets, Stifel
- Robert DuPuy, Former President and COO, Major League Baseball
- Adam Dobrik, Senior Director, Shareholder Activism Practice, Forward Global
- Don Duffy, Chairman, ICR Capital
- John Ehrhard, Co-Founder, XQai
- Andrew Freedman, Co-Managing Partner; Chair, Shareholder Activism Practice, Olshan Frome Wolosky
- Chuck Garske, Senior Managing Director, Okapi Partners
- Joe Germani, Partner and Co-Founder, Longacre Square Partners
- Bruce Goldfarb, President and CEO, Okapi Partners
- Brenda Gosselin, Partner, Goodmans LLP
- John Grau, President, InvestorCom
- Mary Guzman, Founder and CEO, Crown Jewel Insurance
- Mark Harms, Chairman and CEO, Global Leisure Partners
- Benjamin Heriaud, Partner, Capital Markets and Mergers & Acquisitions, Vinson & Elkins
- Rick Horrow, CEO, Horrow Sports Ventures
- Rafique Jiwani, Head of GTM Value Creation, Operating Advisor, Goldman Sachs Private Equity
- Andy Katz, General Partner, BrknPar Ventures (Sport Tech Growth Equity Fund)
- Ryan Keating, Partner, Industry Leader, Venture Services, EisnerAmper
- Harrison Lance, Head of Capital Markets, Southeast, New York Stock Exchange
- Jonathan Lo, Vice President of Startup Finance, EisnerAmper
- Robert Maciejko, Founder, Board AI Institute; Co-founder, INSEAD AI (Alum-Led); Member, INSEAD’s AI Advisory Group
- Mark Martini, Senior Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets, E.F. Hutton & Co.
- Ron Orol, Senior Editor, The Deal
- Charles Orozco, Senior Vice President – Group Director, Flagstar Private Bank
- Kory Patrick, Principal, Risk Advisory Services, Kaufman, Rossin &Co.
- Matthew Player, CEO, Zoneomics
- Joseph Quintilian, Partner, Distributed Capital Partners, and co-founder, Ajna Labs LLC
- Michael W. Robinson, Chairman and CEO, The Montgomery Strategies Group
- Patrick Rooney, Family Owner, Pittsburgh Steelers; President, Palm Beach Kennel Club
- Joshua Siegel, General Partner, Acronym Venture Capital
- Emma Sissman, Vice President, Goldman Sachs Alternatives
- Dorothy Sluszka, Partner, Shareholder Activism, Corporate/Securities Law, Olshan Frome Wolosky
- Charles Soranno, Managing Director, Protiviti
- Adam Tamzoke, Counsel, Latham & Watkins
- Sebastian Tiller, Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets, Vinson & Elkins
- Greg Veltri, Stock Plan Lifecycle Director, Infinite Equity
- Karen Walker, CFO, Sysdig
- Judson Wallace, Managing Director, White Rabbit Capital
- Candice Wilson, Managing Director, CFO Advisory Practice, EisnerAmper
- Joseph Yaker, Founder and CEO, Xpand Global Inc.
- Ned Zelles, Director, Head of GTS Corporate Services, GTS
- Katie Creaser, Partner, Technology, ICR (Moderator)
- Adam Kommel, Activism Data Product Manager, Bloomberg (Moderator)
- Stuart Levine, Chairman and CEO, Stuart Levine & Associates (Moderator)
- Jarrett Banks, Editor-at-Large, CorpGov (Moderator)
- John Jannarone, Editor-in-Chief, CorpGov (Moderator)
Never Miss Our Weekly Highlights HERE
Contact:
Editor@CorpGov.com
Click HERE to follow us on LinkedIn
—
