About Boardroom

Boardroom is a sports, media and entertainment brand co-founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman and focused on the intersection of sports and entertainment. Boardroom’s flagship media arm features premium video/audio, editorial, daily and weekly newsletters, showcasing how athletes, executives, musicians and creators are moving the business world forward. Boardroom’s ecosystem encompasses B2B events and experiences (such as its renowned NBA and WNBA All-Star events) as well as ticketed conferences such as Game Plan in partnership with CNBC. Our advisory arm serves to consult and connect athletes, brands and executives with our broader network and initiatives.

Recent film and TV projects also under the Boardroom umbrella include the Academy Award-winning Two Distant Strangers (Netflix), the critically acclaimed scripted series SWAGGER (Apple TV+) and Emmy-nominated documentary NYC Point Gods (Showtime).

Boardroom’s sister company, Boardroom Sports Holdings, features investments in emerging sports teams and leagues, including the Major League Pickleball team, the Brooklyn Aces, NWSL champions Gotham FC, and MLS’ Philadelphia Union.

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Inside the Inaugural Boardroom x Visa Talks With Lil Baby and Michael Rubin 

Last Updated: November 16, 2023
Moderated by Rich Kleiman, Boardroom and Visa hosted a conversation with Lil Baby and Michael Rubin on the intersection of sports, music, and business.

Boardroom teamed up with Visa, a worldwide leader in payments, to curate a meaningful conversation centered on sports, music, business, and how to win authentically across all industries. 

Boardroom co-founder and co-CEO Rich Kleiman moderated the conversation with legendary rapper Lil Baby and business mogul and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin at the inaugural Boardroom x Visa Talks event. Boardroom and Visa teamed up to bring together some of the brightest minds to speak on modern-day entrepreneurship and building lasting businesses. The group dropped countless gems on their personal challenges and successes on the road to getting to where they are now. 

Lil Baby and Rubin are far from strangers; the pair detailed how they met nearly four years ago while gambling, and they’ve been tight ever since. The two have many differences, down to the industries they work in. Still, the stories they shared demonstrated how they quickly found common ground and subsequently connected on business opportunities. 

“The goal of mine with any Boardroom event or piece of content is to drive conversation that can’t be experienced anywhere else, and this event was the pinnacle of that for me,” Kleiman said. “The purpose of our collaboration with Visa is to get game from some of the people and brands we admire most and create an exclusive experience alongside it. We definitely captured that, and we look forward to more of these special moments in the future.”

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Meaningful conversation and connection didn’t just happen on stage, though. Leaders across sports, music, entertainment, and business attended Boardroom x Visa Talks, including Julius and Kendra Randle, Gayle King, Fabolous, KAWS, Justin Tuck, Jadakiss, Ashlyn Harris, Steve Stoute, Amber Sabathia, Paul Rabil, Rick Pitino, Speedy Morman, Yes Julz, Joey Badass, Victor Cruz, and many more. 

“Boardroom x Visa Talks is a conversation among people who are shaping culture and commerce,” said Frank Cooper, Chief Marketing Officer, Visa. “The discussion with Rich Kleiman, Michael Rubin, and Lil Baby at the Roxy provided insights about the process for achieving excellence, the power of purpose, and the connection between culture and commerce. I believe those lessons are applicable to business executives, athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs alike.”

Boardroom x Visa Talks took place at the intimate, old-school theater inside the Roxy Hotel in New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood. Attendees could feel the cinema vibes when they stepped into the building, accentuated with movie poster signage and a concession stand that offered classic movie snacks, including popcorn and candy. Following the fruitful discussion, attendees migrated over to the Roxy’s jazz club, Django, for some light snacks, networking, and jams curated by DJ Clark Kent. 

Check Boardroom’s social channels to see more of what attendees had to say, and look out for a rundown of key takeaways from Lil Baby and Rubin’s discussion. 

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Michelai Graham

Michelai Graham is Boardroom's resident tech and crypto reporter. Before joining 35V, she was a freelance reporter with bylines in AfroTech, HubSpot, The Plug, and Lifewire, to name a few. At Boardroom, Michelai covers Web3, NFTs, crypto, tech, and gaming. Off the clock, you can find her producing her crime podcast, The Point of No Return.