Renovata & Company Recruits CFO for Siteimprove
February 7, 2023 – Global executive search and private equity advisory firm Renovata & Company has placed Elliott DeLoach as chief financial officer of Siteimprove, a marketing performance platform in San Francisco. “Elliott is an experienced CFO who brings more than 25 years of experience serving private equity-backed and public companies,” said Joanna Chang, partner at Renovata & Company. “His global experience spanning investment banking, M&A, finance, and corporate development will serve Siteimprove well during this next chapter of growth.”
“One of the most rewarding parts of my job is bringing incredible talent to Siteimprove and watching that talent grow and flourish,” said Shane Paladin, CEO of Siteimprove. “I’m thrilled to welcome Elliott to the leadership team.”
Mr. DeLoach brings more than 25 years of experience in investment, M&A, finance, and corporate development roles, spanning banking, private equity, and both private and public companies across many industries. He was most recently CFO of Yapstone Inc. Before that, he was CFO of Velo Payments. Prior to that, Mr. DeLoach served as CFO for CytoSport Inc. and was vice president, finance, for Annie’s Inc. He spent his earlier career with Solera Capital, Aurora Capital Group, and Morgan Stanley.
Backed by Nordic Capital, Siteimprove empowers brands to stand out and optimize their content for accessibility, user/customer experience, and marketing performance—so they can expand their brand’s reach, exceed their marketing goals, and work towards a future with purpose. With approximately 600 employees and 7,500 customers worldwide, the company is entering a new phase of growth.
Private Equity Search & Advisory Firm
Renovata & Company partners with financial sponsors, their portfolio companies, and public corporations to deliver leaders and investment insights. The search firm’s executive recruiting activities are focused on search assignments covering board-level mandates, which include board directors, CEOs, CFOs, and other C-suite executives, as well as investment professionals and operating partners. The firm provides strategic counsel to clients across the technology, digital, business services, industrial, consumer, and retail sectors.
Related: Renovata & Company Recruits CEO for Vivino
Renovata & Company has relationships with over 50 of the top 100 private and growth equity firms globally. Its private equity advisory services include diligence support, backable executive introductions, and deal sourcing delivered by its affiliate, L Capital Advisors. The firm also makes equity co-investments alongside its private equity clients through its investment affiliate, L Capital. The search firm is privately held and operates from five offices across two continents: Boston, Hamburg, London, New York, and San Francisco.
Ms. Chang is a partner and COO of North America at Renovata & Company. She advises growth and private equity clients on building leadership teams and boards for portfolio companies—and brings expertise in the go-to-market function, including marketing, revenue, and services officers. In addition, she has an emphasis on leading diversity mandates for her clients.
Recruiting CFOs for VC/PE Companies
Executive search firm Caldwell recently conducted a survey on the CFO role to fine-tune its understanding of the skills and experiences that define success today for a CFO of a PE-backed portfolio company and, equally importantly, which attributes may sound appealing but are not essential. More than 300 private equity CFOs shared candid responses on their backgrounds and how they landed in their current role. The results provided a clearer picture of who sits in the CFO chair at many PE-backed portfolio companies, and the skills and credentials that are truly impactful in their leadership role.
When asked to describe their previous experience, 10 percent of the participants said, “I was a divisional CFO or No. 2 finance executive in a PE-backed company,” while 20 percent had the same status at a public company. Another 35 percent had been a CFO of a public or private company. And only 34 percent had been CFO of a PE-backed company. So just a third of the CFOs in the Caldwell survey had previously held a PE CFO role.
Among companies with less than $25 million in revenue, only 15 percent of the CFOs had prior experience as CFO of a PE-backed company, while 56 percent of the companies with greater than $500 million revenue hired a CFO with prior experience in a PE CFO role. In the three other revenue categories, the companies hired a CFO with prior PE CFO experience 40 percent of the time, or less. These findings would seem to indicate that hiring a CFO with prior PE CFO experience is a “nice to have,” but not a must-have credential for all companies, said the firm.
Caldwell also asked the CFOs: “What were the key factors in your hiring?” and asked them to check all relevant factors. Among the total population of participants, the No. 1 factor was industry experience, and the second factor was PE experience. Tied for third were a previous successful exit and a prior role as a stand-alone PE CFO.
Related: Renovata & Company Recruits Chief Revenue Officer for Bitmovin
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
