Nisha Ramachandran is currently the General Counsel at Signifyd, which provides commerce protection for online retailers and is based in San Jose, California. She was a corporate associate in Wilson Sonsini’s Palo Alto office from June 2012 until October 2014. Nisha earned her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law and a Master of Public Policy and B.A. degrees in history and cognitive science from UC Berkeley.

We recently connected with Nisha to talk about her career path, her time at Wilson Sonsini, and her move in-house. We also asked whether she had advice for others and about her experience as a working parent, among other topics. 

Did you choose a law career or did it choose you?

It really chose me. Initially, I didn’t think about going to law school at all. Instead, I dreamed of being a journalist. It’s interesting—looking back, my work with technology start-ups dates back to my earliest days of reporting as I was building up a portfolio of work. I was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley during the 2000 tech boom and there were just so many interesting stories to tell. My first published freelance story was on LeapFrog Enterprises, a technology-based educational toy company. And I spent a summer interning at Red Herring, a well-known tech magazine in San Francisco at the time.

I moved to D.C. after college and joined US News & World Report as a business reporter. Most of my stories explored changes/transformations within a business—for example, why were retailers like CVS and Target suddenly offering in-store health clinics, or why was Starbucks moving into the entertainment business? It was oddly great training for a future corporate attorney. I used to listen to earnings calls and comb through 10-Qs and 10-Ks to come up with my story pitches.

But none of this is how I found my way to law school. One day, my editor assigned me a story on some bankruptcy legislation moving through Congress. It was my first time on The Hill and I was riveted by the hearings. But even more so, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted to be in the middle of the action, instead of reporting on the action. And so, I left my so-called “dream job” and headed back to UC Berkeley, this time for a joint J.D.-Masters in Public Policy.  

Could you tell us a bit more about your career trajectory, including your time at Wilson Sonsini?

Going into law school, I thought I would be a litigator. Really, I went to law school largely because I wanted to work at the intersection of policy and law. So, I spent my first summer at a boutique litigation firm. The firm’s summer program was anchored around writing several memos, persuasive pieces on various topical issues. It frankly still sounds like something I should love, but for some reason it just never clicked for me. I quickly crossed litigation off my list of possible paths.

I chose Ropes & Gray for my second summer, mostly on the strength of its corporate practice, and returned as an associate post-graduation. I spent a lot of my time there working on private equity transactions. But I also picked up a handful of venture financings and found that I really enjoyed the work. Venture deals are often smaller and as a result, you can play a larger role. And you also get to really understand the nuts and bolts of a company. Financings usually feel good at the end of the day; you’re helping a company raise the capital it needs to expand and pursue new things. It really made me think about the kind of corporate attorney I wanted to be and the kinds of companies I wanted to work with. And that naturally led me to Wilson Sonsini.

Initially, I worked with a lot of early-stage companies—I did everything from incorporating a company to seed financings, Series A rounds, and, of course, answering all the various questions you get from start-ups just finding their way. And it was fun. One of the best things about Wilson is that you get to work with all sorts of companies, all at the cutting edge of technology and life sciences. There’s just no other experience like that.

But the other thing about Wilson is that you really get an opportunity to see companies as they mature and grow—that Series A start-up becomes a Series D late-stage private company. And so over time, I started working with pre-public and publicly traded companies. I did a couple of IPOs and I just loved that whole process. It goes back to the reporter in me. You really get to help tell the story of a company from where it started, where it is, and where it wants to go.

How did you find the experience of moving in-house?

At the end of my fourth year at Wilson, I moved in-house to Sunrun, a residential solar company. I hadn’t given much thought to going in-house at the time. In some ways, I actually felt like I was just hitting my stride at Wilson. I liked the mix of work; I liked my clients.

But solar adoption was just in its early innings and Sunrun’s mission is to create a planet run by the sun. This was why I went to policy and law school in the first place, to be at the center of change. It’s something that has continued to be important to me. I’ve now been in-house at three very different companies—Sunrun, Fitbit, and now Signifyd—but they all have strong missions.

Initially, moving in-house was a whirlwind. Actually, it’s been a whirlwind at every step. I’ve always been on smaller legal teams and the benefit is that you get to see a wide range of issues. But there are only so many hours in a day and so the eternal question is, how do you figure out where to spend your time? What is a priority versus a nice-to-have?

That’s been especially true over the last couple of years of my career. At Fitbit, we were already navigating a proposed sale to Google when the pandemic hit in 2020. And it’s not as though our legal team grew in size to meet all the new challenges; we really had to do much more with less. The one advantage we had was a tight-knit team that had worked together over many years and could be direct in what needed to be done and what support it would take. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be able to raise your hand and say, “I need help here,” and for others to offer that support. I’ve been on both sides of that equation so many times.

Building that kind of culture is something I think about a lot, especially in my latest role as the General Counsel at Signifyd. Signifyd is an e-commerce fraud protection platform that helps merchants trust more and grow fearlessly. As a company, we are also in a period of growth. Much of my day to day is spent trying to see around the curve and plan as much as possible in advance. On any given day, my work ranges from advising our board and senior leaders and negotiating strategic transactions to assessing our use of legal technologies and managing compliance and privacy matters—there is huge breadth to the role.

Any advice for those looking to move in-house?

There’s this wonderful illustration on career paths and what people think they look like (linear, a straight line) versus what they actually look like (lots of twists and turns). There’s certainly one version of my career that looks like that first version. But when I look back, I don’t see that straight line. I see lots of twists and turns, each one valuable in its own right.

I bring that up only because there’s no clear path to going in-house. It’s so easy to think, “If I do X, then it will lead to Y.” Sometimes that’s true. Maybe you are a corporate attorney and capital markets are on fire. But maybe it’s a down market. So the biggest piece of advice I can give is this: Focus on finding as many of those twists and turns as you can and see where those paths may lead, wherever you are now. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic change. If you’re mainly doing ‘34 Act reporting, try to pick up an M&A deal. More variety will just multiply your odds of finding the right fit at the right time.

There’s also another benefit. Taking different opportunities and trying new things give you an invaluable skill set. So much of the work you do in-house is connecting the dots across multiple areas. But it’s easier to make those connections if you’ve spent time in different areas.

Have you been able to achieve work-life balance and what do you do to unwind, given the current environment?

Oh gosh, that’s a question. I’ll be very transparent here. We have two young kids, a six-year-old and a three-year-old, and two careers to balance between myself and my husband. I’m keenly aware of the challenges and pressures that working parents, and particularly working mothers, face these days.

I will say that I am very fortunate in so many ways. My husband and I share a lot of the parenting responsibilities; we have a 50/50 partnership. And my parents live in the area and are more than willing to step in when needed. We have also had wonderful caregivers who have helped us make it all work. To have that kind of a support system is invaluable.

Even with that, it’s still not easy. We calendar, we schedule, and we plan and plan some more. We also try very hard to stick to the same schedule every day. Over the years, I’ve found that approach helps with work-life balance, because you can be clear and direct with others about when you are likely to be working and when you are not. Setting expectations and being transparent goes a long way.

For myself, I’m up early; I work out and answer some emails, and then get the kids ready and out the door. I try to maximize every minute I have while the kids are out. Then I look forward to family time—there’s always a back and forth between going for a walk (me) or playing a card game (my son) or having a spontaneous dance party (my daughter). That’s followed by dinner, bedtime for the kids, and then usually wrapping up work and planning for the next day.

Of course, it’s not perfect. Sometimes there’s a deal going on, the kids are sick, and the house is in chaos. But then the deal closes, the kids are feeling better, and okay, the house is probably still in chaos. But it’s sunny outside and we’ll go for a bike ride and stop for pizza somewhere. And those are always my favorite days.

What’s something interesting that people would be surprised to learn about you?

I spend a lot of my spare time finding good books for my kids to read. I’m an avid reader and I would be thrilled if my kids were the same way. It may not work, but I’ve decided that if I surround them with really great books, they’ll develop the habit of reading. I have a list of blogs and other channels I follow for recommendations and keep lists of books to get from the library. Along the way, I’ve developed a deep appreciation and respect for children’s authors and illustrators. In a way, it is a master class in distilling information—a crucial skill I used both as a journalist and now as an attorney. But children’s books take all that to a new level, often tackling complex topics and concepts in a way that a six-year-old or a three-year-old will grasp. Right now, I’m reading the ever-funny CatStronauts series with my son (again) and my daughter loves Priya Dreams of Marigolds & Masala.

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