From Bubbles to Boardrooms: Act 1: Startups Are Such Fun (Volume 1)
Michaela Rodeno is an experienced corporate director and recently retired CEO with extensive experience in building startup premium consumer products companies. Her 40-year career in the wine business spans the development of two prominent French-owned Napa Valley wineries (Domaine Chandon and St. Supéry) from inception to financial success.    Among her career achievements was the creation of the first relationship marketing program in the premium wine industry, the Chandon Club. In 1988, Rodeno brought her consumer focus to St. Supéry; early adoption of internet marketing, and later social media, was a key factor in building its highly profitable direct-to-consumer business.      As one of few female CEO’s in the U.S. wine industry, she was a natural choice when Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB) sought a director to represent its fast-growing premium wine practice in 2001. She served for ten years, chairing the Compensation Committee from 2004-2011.    Through most of her 21-year tenure as CEO of St. Supery (Skalli Corporation), Ms. Rodeno served on its board of directors (1994-2010). Her transparency, fluent French, innovative thinking in a traditional business, and management expertise earned her the trust of the shareholders, Europe-based Groupe Skalli. She retired from operations in mid-2009, remaining on the board for another 18 months after the board approved the successor she recruited.   In 2010 she was named to the Haas Hall of Fame. Ms. Rodeno earned an M.A. and B.A. in French Literature from the University of California, Davis, and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.  She attended the Stanford-Wharton-Chicago Directors College at Stanford and stays current on board matters through membership in Women Corporate Directors and various board publications. The Rodeno family grows, bottles and markets a small amount of Napa Valley Sangiovese under their Villa Ragazzi label, which Ms. Rodeno re-launched in 2011 after a decade-long hiatus.