Bespoke Partners Recruits New Leader for Madison Dearborn Partners

October 7, 2021 – Tremendous opportunity lies ahead in integrating a set of distinctive human capital solutions that will deliver exponential value to private equity firms and their portfolios. At the core of this drive are PE talent leaders and executive recruiters who are developing solutions to help clients navigate change and power value creation early in the hold period. Creating value in portfolio investments, to be sure, begins with assimilating the right team, and executive recruiters continue to step up.

Recently San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners placed Chris Trendler as managing director, head of portfolio talent at Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP), a Chicago-based private equity firm. Alex Bossetta led the assignment. “We are excited to announce that Chris Trendler has joined the MDP team in a newly created role as managing director and head of portfolio talent,” said Madison Dearborn Partners. “He will work alongside our investment team, portfolio resources group, management teams and boards of directors to lead talent strategy across the portfolio. He will also help us strengthen relationships with prospective executive talent.”

Mr. Trendler most recently served as partner at ghSMART, a leadership advisory firm to CEOs, investors, and boards. Prior to that, he was vice president of operations at Tallwave, a customer experience design company. Before that, Mr. Trendler was an engagement manager at global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Since its formation in 1992, Madison Dearborn Partners has raised aggregate capital of close to $28 billion and has completed over 150 investments. MDP seeks to invest in partnership with outstanding management teams to drive growth and achieve significant long-term value appreciation at its portfolio companies and for its limited partner investors globally. A flexible investment approach, encompassing both buyout and growth equity investments, expertise in five dedicated industry verticals, and a focus on upper middle market and middle market companies have been and continue to be key tenets of MDP’s investment strategy. MDP has five dedicated industry verticals: basic industries; business and government software and services; financial and transaction services; healthcare; and telecom, media and technology services.

Serving the PE Sector

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, to recruit software talent and assess and evaluate teams at every stage of the investment lifecycle, from growth equity to buyout.

Related: Larger Funds Bring Increased Competition for Private Equity Talent

The search firm has completed over 600 searches since its inception in 2011. Its expertise includes all C-level searches, as well as board of directors and internal private equity operating partner searches. The firm’s leadership advisory expertise includes organizational due diligence as well as executive assessment and coaching. Bespoke Partners also has offices in Austin and New York City.


Bespoke Partners Assists Clearlake Capital and Siris-backed Constant Contact in CEO Search

Search firms have been stepping up their efforts to assist private equity-backed firms and their portfolios across the nation find top-level talent, including chief executives, chief people officers, CFOs and other C-suite roles. All are seen as key players as organizations grapple with the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Just recently, Bespoke Partners placed Frank Vella as CEO of cloud-based digital marketing provider Constant Contact. The appointment comes after a $400 million growth equity investment by Clearlake and Siris funding Constant Contact’s spin-out from Endurance International Group Holdings Inc. announced in February.


With a focus on CEO, CPO and CHRO searches for private equity-backed software companies, Ms. Bossetta has helped build out executive teams at Sphera, Nearpod, Appriss, Aternity, Cority, Care Brands and others. Prior to Bespoke, she worked at GLG, where she supported private equity and venture capital firms in deal origination and due diligence efforts.

Recent Placement

Bespoke Partners recently placed Impact Strategy Group founder Kristin Nimsger as operating partner at Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm with over $73 billion in assets under management. Ms. Nimsger is a proven executive leader known for driving transformation and growth. She is founder and CEO of Impact Strategy Group. During her career, Ms. Nimsger has led (as CEO and/or president) four SaaS software businesses driving outsized results for shareholders, management teams and customers. She has had direct responsibility for strategy, technology development roadmap and execution, product marketing, go-to-market, client success, operations, and G&A functions.

Thoma Bravo is a private equity firm with a 40-plus year history, including over $73 billion in assets under management as of last fall, and a focus on investing in software and technology companies.

Related: Talent Chiefs Emerge Among Fastest-Growing Roles in Private Equity

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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