Pound earned an AB in Political Economy at Harvard and a PhD in Economics at Yale. He spent two years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a decade on the Harvard faculty. Through his research and policy advocacy, he helped to lead the development of modern activist public equity investing. He spoke on governance reform at leading universities, US and foreign government bodies, and policy organizations, including the World Economic Forum in Davos. His research appeared in a spectrum of leading publications including The Journal of Finance, The Journal of Financial Economics, The Journal of Law and Economics, The Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, He advised widely on governance and value creation, counseling major corporations, activist investors, and a wide spectrum of major institutions.
In 1998, Pound founded Integrity Brands (originally Integrity Partners) as a masthead for a program of focused investment, advisory, and board involvements in product-led, consumer-facing businesses. Its mission was to deploy Pound's expertise in governance and active investing to help unlock value in this focused sector, through engaging with both both the art and the science - the vision and execution - critical for success. ​Since 1999, Pound has helped to drive value, as an investor, board member, board chair, executive chair, co-chair, and formal and informal advisor, at over two dozen public companies including Gymboree, Cost Plus World Market, Vans, Guess, Christopher and Banks, United Retail Group (Avenue Stores), Kirkland's, A.T Cross, and others. He has been particularly focused on merchandising-driven turnarounds. Integrity's investments have been undertaken through multiple LP vehicles, in partnership with funds of funds, family offices, private equity firms, and high net worth individuals.
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After nearly 20 years managing the Integrity program, Pound paused Integrity's franchise investment activities to focus on advising and coaching, board service, and new academic and nonprofit work. He continues to work with CEOs, founders, boards and investors on strategy, value creation, and governance, and has worked also with nonprofit and university leaders. He has been affiliated with the University of Arizona since 2021, working with multiple research and teaching units, and is currently engaged with program development and teaching in the Immersion Learning initiative at the Eller College of Management. He is incubating a nonprofit venture in the animal welfare area and also a platform to engage university students to solve real-world problems. He resides in Tucson, Arizona with his family, his rescue dogs, and a rotating assortment of unsatisfying vintage vehicles.
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