Bespoke Partners Recruits CEO for Stax Payments
October 16, 2023 – San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners recently recruited Paulette Rowe as the new CEO of Stax Payments in Orlando, FL. The search was led by Brian Waivada and Alexandra Bossetta. “Following an extensive global search, we’re pleased to welcome Paulette to Stax,” said Ross Croley, founder and CEO of GSV and chairman of the board of Stax. “An accomplished executive with a breadth of experience, Paulette understands the complexities of the industry and inspires teams to greater success. We’re confident Stax will flourish under her leadership and remain grateful to John for his guidance and dedication.”
Ms. Rowe is a global executive with strategic leadership experience across banking, payments and fintech. She has a track record in growing and transforming businesses, driving market growth, and building winning cultures with strong customer alignment. She previously served as CEO of Paysafe’s Integrated and E-commerce Solutions division. Ms. Rowe has also held senior leadership positions with organizations such as Barclays, Meta, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, and GE Capital.
In her new role, she will focus on guiding growth and operational strategies across Stax’s software and payments portfolio, which is designed to help merchants and SaaS platforms grow and thrive by eliminating transactional friction between these businesses and the customers they serve. “Stax has experienced fantastic organic and inorganic growth in recent years, carving out an enviable niche as a disruptor and a leader in the payments landscape,” Ms. Rowe said. “I’m delighted for the opportunity to work with this dynamic team in developing innovative solutions that simplify and enhance integrated payments.”
Since 2014, Stax has grown to process over $30 billion in payments and serve more than 30,000 businesses across the United States and internationally. Stax Platform provides businesses of all sizes the scalable business technology needed to manage financials, payments, invoicing, inventory, sales data, customer data and more.
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.
Filling Top C-Suite Roles
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 Recruits CEO for AbsenceSoft
Mr. Waivada joined Bespoke Partners in 2020 as a partner in the New York City office. He has over 25 years of combined retained executive search and in-house talent acquisition experience to bear for Bespoke and its private equity clients. In his prior role as a partner at True Search, Mr. Waivada was instrumental in growing the firm from 30 to 300+ employees and focused on a broad range of private equity backed software searches, including CEO, CFO, COO and operating partners.
Bespoke Partners Recruits Chief Commercial Officer for Billtrust
Tess Fischer and Alexandra Bossetta of Bespoke Partners have placed Scott Collins as the chief commercial officer for Billtrust, a B2B order-to-cash software and digital payments market leader. “Scott brings a wealth of experience to the role, and I am excited to welcome him to Billtrust,” said Sunil Rajasekar, CEO. “At this key time in Billtrust’s growth, and when the urgency for companies to have more control over financial outcomes is greater than ever, Scott’s leadership in scaling sales organizations will be vital as we continue to increase our global presence.”
As a senior vice president at Bespoke, Ms. Bossetta is currently the functional lead for the firm’s HR, talent and operations practice and head of the Austin office. She leads executive recruitment and assessment for high growth PE-backed and public software organizations, placing leaders in CEO, president/COO, sales and marketing, and HR/ talent leadership roles. During her tenure, she has successfully completed 60+ searches. Ms. Bossetta leads a 30-person office where she is responsible for strategic initiatives across culture, events, travel and people matters for Bespoke’s Austin, TX team.
Two-Year Guarantee
Bespoke recently announced a two-year guarantee on executive placements with the company’s leadership assessment service. “Doubling the industry standard of one-year guarantees on executive placements, the two-year guarantee from Bespoke Partners ensures placed executives will remain with client companies for at least 24 months,” the firm said. “The new guarantee is available to clients who utilize Bespoke’s FIT Profile behavioral assessments to assess leadership candidates and executive leadership teams.”
“Bespoke is proud to deliver an industry-leading 99 percent success rate of placed executives who continue to lead client companies for at least two years,” said Mr. Walczykowski. “We recognize that our clients are looking for stability in these uncertain economic times, and the need for seasoned executives who can successfully achieve a firm’s investment thesis has never been more critical.”
Related: Bespoke Partners Recruits Operating Partner for Thoma Bravo
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; and Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
