CEO, Niche software editor
Client
With ~100 staff and 10 M€ revenues, our client is a niche software editor, owned by a renowned French private equity. Founded 15 years ago during the internet boom, the company developed and grew successfully under the leadership of its 3 founders. Following a reorganisation of the company governance, one of the founders had left. A year later, we were mandated to very confidentially recruit a new Chief Executive officer to replace one of the remaining founders.
Role
After a successfully 15 year growth period, the company was at a crossroad in terms of development. Although it was still profitable, growth in the core software activity was becoming more difficult. As a result, the company had recently acquired management consultancy, which need to be integrated. In addition, the departure of two of its founders had to be carefully managed to keep staff fully motivated and on board. The new CEO was expected to develop a convincing growth strategy and re-establish a constructive dialog with its private equity owners.
Candidates
To succeed in the role, it was essential to have business experience in software as well as a successful experience in running an independent P&L. Given the confidentiality of the situation as well as the urgency of the change needed, we focussed on quickly available candidates on the French market.
Outcome
We recruited a seasoned CEO, who had worked 15 years in software, before moving to another sector 4 years ago. The candidate was a former entrepreneur, who had found a software editor immediately after college, which he sold to a large multinational 10 year later. Although he had no private equity experience, he had been a majority shareholder and had run a large business unit in a multinational company. The second finalist candidate, who also had a strong entrepreneurial background as well as software experience, was placed as independent board member at our client board.
With ~100 staff and 10 M€ revenues, our client is a niche software editor, owned by a renowned French private equity. Founded 15 years ago during the internet boom, the company developed and grew successfully under the leadership of its 3 founders. Following a reorganisation of the company governance, one of the founders had left. A year later, we were mandated to very confidentially recruit a new Chief Executive officer to replace one of the remaining founders.
Role
After a successfully 15 year growth period, the company was at a crossroad in terms of development. Although it was still profitable, growth in the core software activity was becoming more difficult. As a result, the company had recently acquired management consultancy, which need to be integrated. In addition, the departure of two of its founders had to be carefully managed to keep staff fully motivated and on board. The new CEO was expected to develop a convincing growth strategy and re-establish a constructive dialog with its private equity owners.
Candidates
To succeed in the role, it was essential to have business experience in software as well as a successful experience in running an independent P&L. Given the confidentiality of the situation as well as the urgency of the change needed, we focussed on quickly available candidates on the French market.
Outcome
We recruited a seasoned CEO, who had worked 15 years in software, before moving to another sector 4 years ago. The candidate was a former entrepreneur, who had found a software editor immediately after college, which he sold to a large multinational 10 year later. Although he had no private equity experience, he had been a majority shareholder and had run a large business unit in a multinational company. The second finalist candidate, who also had a strong entrepreneurial background as well as software experience, was placed as independent board member at our client board.