In this inaugural episode of GCs in the House, Lina Guo sits down with Margaret Chow, SVP and Chief Legal Officer of Couchbase, to discuss her path to the GC seat, including how she has always pushed herself to get out of her comfort zone. Margaret also shares what it was like leading through an IPO, how she has expanded her exposure in the company by taking on the HR function, and why she gives her time to the board of the Anjiro Initiative.
As Chief Legal Officer, Margaret Chow is responsible for scaling the global legal function and advising Couchbase in all aspects of its business. Margaret is a proven leader and seasoned advisor for software and SaaS companies. Before Couchbase, she was Deputy General Counsel at Medallia where she guided the company from early start-up stage through a successful IPO. She led their transactions practice, supporting over $300 million in revenue, as well as the corporate, compliance and employment legal functions. Prior to Medallia, Margaret served as Associate General Counsel of Usablenet where she managed several critical practice areas including intellectual property, data privacy and litigation. Before her in-house roles, Margaret was a corporate attorney at Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP. Margaret also serves on the board of Anjiro Initiative, a 501(c)(3) organization. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
