Four promotions and the addition of a VP of Onboarding is expected to increase operational and strategic support for Mainsail Partners’ portfolio companies.
AUSTIN, TX and SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 3, 2022) – Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in fast-growing, bootstrapped software companies, announced the addition of David Abel to its Operations team as Vice President of Onboarding. In addition to this new hire, Mainsail announced that Phil Stern has been promoted to Operating Principal; Tolliver Bell to Vice President; Parker Draughon to Senior Associate; and Apoorva Polisetty to Talent Manager. These enhancements to the team will enable Mainsail to increase the operational and strategic support the firm offers to its portfolio companies.
As VP of Onboarding, David will work with Mainsail’s leadership team to optimize systems and processes to facilitate effective onboarding of new portfolio companies. He will also implement strategies which aim to drive go-to-market efficiencies for software companies in Mainsail’s portfolio. David brings over 20 years of experience scaling and managing operations for PE-backed technology companies. His operating experience includes sales operations, client success, implementations, and call center operations. Prior to joining Mainsail, David served as an executive consultant at SBI, a management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing. Previously, he worked for two former Mainsail portfolio companies, nCourt and eSecuritel.
“We are excited to welcome David to the Mainsail team,” said Chris Cassidy, Operating Partner at Mainsail. “We believe his breadth of experience helping software companies scale will benefit our entire portfolio of software companies. David previously worked at two Mainsail portfolio companies where we had the opportunity to experience first-hand the impact he is able to have on fast-growing companies.”
Phil Stern was promoted to Operating Principal. Phil joined Mainsail’s Operations team in 2020 as a Vice President, leading the firm’s Center of Excellence for Sales. He has been instrumental in deploying best practices across the portfolio in several areas, including sales leadership, territory and org design, compensation plans, sales enablement and pipeline management. Prior to his work at Mainsail, Phil was the Head of Payroll Sales at Gusto, a SaaS provider serving small businesses. Mainsail previously recruited Phil to lead the sales team at Zen Planner, a former portfolio company.
“In a short amount of time since joining the firm, Phil has had a broad impact on Mainsail and our portfolio companies. We have found that his extensive experience leading sales for SaaS companies has been invaluable for our sales leaders across the portfolio and helped to position these companies for continued growth,” added Cassidy.
Tolliver Bell joined Mainsail in 2017 as an Associate and was a Senior Associate before her promotion to Vice President. She most recently spent six months as Chief of Staff at Centerbase, a Mainsail portfolio company. Tollie was previously a board observer for ResMan, a Mainsail portfolio company, before ResMan was acquired by Inhabit IQ. She currently sits on the board for Centerbase.
Parker Draughon has been promoted from Associate to Senior Associate and Apoorva Polisetty has been promoted from Talent Analyst to Talent Manager.
About Mainsail Partners
Mainsail Partners is a growth equity firm with offices in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California that invests exclusively in fast-growing, bootstrapped software companies. The firm has raised over $1.3 billion and invested in more than 50 growing companies since 2003. Mainsail prioritizes investments in B2B software companies with compelling business models in growing markets. The firm’s approach to driving value creation is anchored in a dedicated Operations Team that is purpose-built to help founders scale their businesses and accelerate growth. These women and men include former software company operators who leverage real-world experience, well-established best practices, and a true partnership ethos to support management teams. For more information, visit mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.