SPMB Assists Cervin Ventures in Recruitment of New Partner
January 7, 2022 – 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 private equity 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 SPMB, an executive search firm that helps find transformative executives throughout Silicon Valley, assisted in the placement of Daniel Karp as a partner with Cervin Ventures. Suzanne Heske, who heads SPMB’s investment practice, led the assignment. “We are thrilled for our client Cervin Ventures who welcomes Daniel Karp as a partner,” said Ms. Heske. “With a shared focus on finding disciplined entrepreneurs disrupting the enterprise application, infrastructure and tools spaces, Cervin and Daniel’s collaboration will be an exciting one to follow.” Mr. Karp’s investments include: TriggerMesh, Isovalent, Gong.io, MemVerge, Sealights, Rookout, LightBits Labs, illusive Networks, Habana Labs (acquired by Intel for $2 billion), GuardiCore (acquired by Akamai for over $600 million), Elastifile (acquired by Google), Prospera (acquired by Valmont for $300 million), Stratoscale (acquired by Zadara), Ctera, Celeno (acquired by Renesas Technologies for $315 million), Jungo Connectivity, QWILT and Innovid.
Cervin Ventures is actively investing in companies disrupting the enterprise application, infrastructure, and tools spaces. They back entrepreneurs who are revenue driven, aim to quickly achieve product-market fit and own their categories all while capitalizing the business appropriately at every stage.
Achieving Scale
For over 40 years, SPMB has worked alongside its clients to build executive teams that ensure venture capital and private equity-backed game-changers achieve scale, and position multi-billion-dollar public companies to unlock innovation. Specializing in technology and innovation, SPMB recruits upper management and board members to growth-oriented companies in tech, consumer, and sustainability industries. SPMB has also placed dozens of senior executives at the portfolio companies of leading private equity firm partners including Blackstone, KKR and TPG.
SPMB Recruits CEO for Shutterfly
The private equity sector is witnessing an explosive bidding war for top leaders as portfolio companies expand their needs for C-suite talent. SPMB, an executive search firm that helps find transformative executives throughout Silicon Valley, recently placed Hilary Schneider as the new CEO of Shutterfly, which was acquired earlier this year by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. She succeeds Ryan O’Hara, effective Jan. 15. Partner Becky Stein led the search.
“Hilary is an accomplished executive with significant digital industry expertise and a focus on innovation and superior customer experiences that will support Shutterfly’s next chapter,” said Reed Rayman of the Apollo private equity team and a member of Shutterfly’s board of directors. “We look forward to partnering with Hilary as well as the Shutterfly management team and employees to grow its three divisions and deliver the best products and services to consumers.”
Ms. Heske joined SPMB in 2019 to spearhead its investment practice. She is focused on recruiting transformational leaders to private equity, venture capital and asset management firms. Ms. Heske is also leading the firm’s cryptocurrency and blockchain efforts. She joined SPMB from Caldwell Partners, where she ran the firm’s West Coast financial services team. Prior to becoming an executive search professional, Ms. Heske spent 15 years working for financial services companies, including Merrill Lynch, Fidelity and Piper Jaffray as an institutional salesperson.
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
