Bespoke Partners Forms Alliance with Ampersand Leadership Group
July 24, 2024 – San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners has formed an alliance with Ampersand Leadership Group, a leadership advisory firm for private equity firms and their portfolio companies. “Recognizing both firms’ expertise optimizing talent to drive value for private equity portfolio companies, this collaboration will give clients streamlined access to tailored talent solutions spanning the investment lifecycle,” Bespoke said. “These include leadership and organizational diligence, as well as new leader search, assimilation, onboarding, and ongoing assessment and development.”
“Bespoke understands what private equity-backed software and SaaS businesses need from their management teams,” said Eric Walczykowski, CEO of Bespoke Partners. “Through our data-driven, AI-powered executive index, we source and recruit the industry’s top executives to fill open roles in less than 100 days on average, with a placement success rate of over 95 percent. By partnering with Ampersand, we can further invest in the success of our candidates by equipping them with direct access to Ampersand’s suite of organizational and executive assessment and development offerings.”
“We especially appreciate the holistic approach Bespoke brings to adding value for the clients they serve, whether that be during a due diligence process, in the first 100 days post-close, or mid-hold,” said Matt Richburg, managing partner of Ampersand Leadership Group. “Joining this ecosystem creates a natural extension for us to support their efforts and maintain an open dialogue when we encounter clients with a need for Bespoke’s unique, direct access to the software/SaaS candidate market.”
Ampersand Leadership Group supports private equity, CEOs, and boards in selecting, developing, and aligning top talent to drive growth and investor returns. They collaborate with clients that span the globe and invest across a variety of industries including financial & professional services, healthcare, technology, media, consumer goods, chemicals & industrials, and education.
“Bespoke Partners and Ampersand Leadership Group have always aimed to build high-performing leadership teams that drive organizational transformation and generate outsized returns for their investors,” the companies said. “Together, this ecosystem partnership reinforces both firms’ commitment to this goal and the success of their clients.”
Dedicated to Partnering with Top PE Firms
Bespoke Partners is an executive search and leadership advisory firm dedicated to partnering with top private equity firms, including Francisco Partners, Clearlake Capital, WCAS, Insight Partners, GI Partners, General Atlantic, CVC Capital Partners, and TA Associates, among many others, to recruit software talent and assess and evaluate teams at every stage of the investment lifecycle, from growth equity to buyout. Bespoke Partners is headquartered in San Diego, and operates other regional offices in Austin, TX, and Philadelphia.
The search firm has completed over 1,000 searches since its inception a decade ago. Its expertise includes all C-level searches across multiple functional domains, including financial officers, HR and people, marketing and technology, as well as board of directors and internal private equity operating partner searches. The firm’s expanding leadership advisory platform includes organizational due diligence as well as executive assessment and coaching.
Related: Bespoke Partners Launches Strategic Resourcing Group to Serve PE Outfits
Bespoke offers a two-year guarantee on executive placements with the company’s leadership assessment service. “If your search firm gives you only a six-month guarantee on placements, then you are working with someone that does not have your best interests at heart,” said Adam Boone, chief marketing officer at Bespoke. “We recommend moving on to work with a firm that takes your success seriously.”
New Programs
During the first quarter, Bespoke launched its Alliances Program to curate content and services from select third-party firms that are proven to boost growth and profitability in portfolio companies. Alliance partners provide plan templates, execution guides and other best practice materials covering the full range of senior leadership roles, including CEO and GMs, finance, go-to-market roles, technology leader roles, and people and talent leader roles.
A Look at How Data-Driven, Tailored Search Drives Growth in Today’s Market
Executive search has entered a new phase of evolution. Recruiters say that while old-school search firms across the industry continue to ply the same old trade they always have, a new breed of search is producing outsized returns for clients. “At Bespoke Partners, we are at the forefront of this evolution,” said Eric Walczykowski, CEO of San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners. “We are leveraging data-driven, tailored search methods that not only buck the trend but also drive unprecedented growth for our clients.”
Market headwinds persist across a wide range of industries. “But unlike search firms that have been suffering from slowdowns in company hiring, our team achieved record commercial results in the first quarter of 2024,” Mr. Walczykowski said. “This is a testament to the effectiveness of our tailored, data-driven search process. Because we specialize in executive search for private equity backed firms, we know better than any other firm which leaders will have the biggest impact on value creation.”
Bespoke launched its Bespoke Leader Community, a peer network of senior executives the firm has placed. “We are honored to work with the most impactful executives in the software and SaaS space,” said Morgan Kuwashima, manager of the Bespoke Leader Community. “These are leaders who have cracked the code on value creation and have led their companies to produce outsized returns for their private equity sponsors.”
An invitation-only network of peers, the Bespoke Leader Community offers members networking opportunities and access to a curated library of resources contributed by Bespoke alliance partners. Members also receive early access to Bespoke’s talent market trend research, a tool for effective team build-out and talent management. “Our job does not end at placement but continues throughout the hold period and our placed executive’s tenure,” said Matt Sommi, senior vice president, private equity programs at Bespoke. “Both the new Alliances Program and the Leader Community provide unique, tailored resources and access to leadership best practices that increase the likelihood of success for the leaders we place.”
Related: Bespoke Partners Launches People & Talent Leadership Recruiting Practice
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
