ON Partners is proud to have collaborated with SmartBear in finding the organization’s Chief Revenue Officer.
Arrowstream
CASE STUDY.
Raleigh McClayton
Raleigh McClayton appointed CEO of Arrowstream and Brightspot
THE CHALLENGE
Tailwind Capital, a middle market private equity firm investing in industrial and business services companies, engaged with ON Partners due to its unique executive search expertise at the intersection of private equity and SaaS. This CEO search for one of its SaaS portfolio companies also required ON’s ability to represent the individual perspectives and ambition of both the client and candidates throughout the search process.
Key Client Contact
Rick Willett
Chairman of the Board of Directors at Arrowstream and Operating Executive at Tailwind Capital
THE ASSEMBLED TEAM
Tindall Hein
Partner
Jeff Hocking
Partner
“ArrowStream is in the right position to serve the foodservice industry that really needs us right now. There’s no better person than Raleigh to understand this market, and work with the team to create the most benefit for our customers during these uncertain times,” said Rick Willett, Chairman of the Board of Directors at ArrowStream.
Crafting the Solution
Rick Willett partnered with ON Partners to help identify the best leader for an open CEO role at its portfolio company, Arrowstream, the market-leading supply chain intelligence solution for the foodservice industry. By combining their years of experience placing CEOs within private equity backed organizations and deep rooted knowledge of the software and tech industry, Hocking and Hein crafted the ideal target CEO profile and personally spoke with targeted candidates to share the story and opportunity of Arrowstream and assess the right fit.
The Result
McClayton joined Arrowstream having led both B2B and B2C software and technology firms over the past decade. He was CEO of ArrowStream, through the acquisition by Buyer’s Edge Platform. He recently joined Brightspot within the Tailwind portfolio as its new CEO.
“The team, our mission, and our best-in-class products make me incredibly humbled and excited to lead this organization,” said McClayton. “It’s clear the company is obsessed with helping customers manage and support their digital content. The foundation of the business was built on giving back to the community, and that facet is certainly appealing and pervades the company. We continue to invest heavily in our product and people. I’m thrilled to partner with David and the rest of the executive team moving forward.”
Additionally, ON Partners and Tailwind Capital have partnered on four executive engagements over the last year including the appointment of Helen Davis, currently the Head of Supply Chain BPC & HC at Unilever, to the Board of Directors at Arrowstream.
Closing Word
“At ON Partners, the senior partners actually do the work,” said Willett. “And because the partners are the ones personally assessing and building relationships with the candidates, they provide the right amount of feedback, context and background information on each individual that helps me better understand and trust who I should be considering for the leadership role.”
Executive search for the way you work.
Our approach is untraditional – by choice. We got rid of what wasn’t working (unnecessary layers, outdated practices, cookie-cutter solutions) and envisioned a firm made up of partners without limits.
Our partners are less limited in what types of companies and candidates they can work with or how they grow their practices. Each of our partners brings specialized expertise across industries and functions at the C-level and board.