Mainsail Partners Adds Three to Operations Team

The San Francisco-based private equity firm Mainsail Partners has announced three new hires, including Kathyrn Cavanaugh, Amy Corrieo, and Chris Cassidy. Cavanaugh, a former venture capitalist who last worked for Sightline Partners and De Novo Ventures, joins Mainsail as vice president of talent, a recruiting position. Corrieo, previously director of Finance for Professional Healthcare, is now Mainsail’s controller. And Cassidy, who joined Mainsail two years ago after working in marketing at Yahoo, has been promoted to operating partner at the firm.

PRESS RELEASE:

Mainsail Partners, a leading growth equity firm backing “bootstrapped” entrepreneurs, announced several new hires to bolster its operations team and offer deeper, hands-on assistance to its portfolio companies in the areas of executive talent, finance and digital marketing. The staff additions highlight Mainsail’s intense focus on delivering targeted, operational expertise to its CEOs and speak to the firm’s broader growth since it raised its first fund in 2003.

Mainsail said Kathryn Cavanaugh, a former venture capitalist with an operating background in healthcare, has joined the firm as Vice President of Talent. In that role, Cavanaugh will work closely with Mainsail portfolio companies to identify, recruit and develop talented new senior-level executives, board members and advisors. Cavanaugh, who most recently worked for Sightline Partners and De Novo Ventures, also will lead key Mainsail business development initiatives as she develops a deep and broad talent network for Mainsail CEOs to leverage.

“Kathryn comes from the world of venture capital, which is all about personal networks and talent identification,” said Gavin Turner, a Mainsail co-founder and managing partner. “That background, coupled with her global operating experience in engineering, makes her the ideal person to lead a core talent function for Mainsail that will add tremendous value for our CEOs and serve as a differentiator for the firm.”

Cavanaugh said she is “thrilled to join the Mainsail team and work for a firm that is so forward-thinking in its views on talent.”

Mainsail also announced that Amy Corrieo has joined Mainsail as Controller. Corrieo was previously Director of Finance for Professional Healthcare LLC, a Mainsail-backed company sold to Kindred Healthcare in late 2011. With Amy joining the team, Chief Financial Officer Lars Ahlstrom will spend more time working with Mainsail’s portfolio companies to streamline financial reporting and budgeting processes to enhance decision-making and improve forecasting.

Finally, Chris Cassidy, a Yahoo! Inc. marketing veteran who has been at Mainsail since 2010, has been promoted to Operating Partner. In that role, Cassidy will continue his work driving growth at Mainsail portfolio companies through digital strategy and execution in areas such as social media, search marketing and lead-management. Over the last two years Cassidy has worked closely with all of Mainsail’s portfolio companies including Togo’s, Steelwedge Software and Paylease.

“These new hires, and Chris’s promotion, speak to our focus on investing in exceptional operational talent and delivering support to time-strapped entrepreneurs who may not be experts in functional areas like finance or human capital,” said Jason Payne, a Mainsail co-founder and managing director. “We know these additional resources and the expertise these individuals bring to the table will help our CEOs accelerate growth and build more robust businesses.”

Earlier this year Mainsail announced the addition of Taylor McKinley to its operations team in the role of Vice President of Operations and Technology. Mainsail also recently added three new associates to help the firm source new deals: Nathan Grossman, Bronzon Leen and David Farsai.

About Mainsail Partners Mainsail Partners is a leading growth equity firm that invests in successful “bootstrapped” businesses and builds them into great companies. Mainsail, based in San Francisco, makes a select number of investments each year and leverages the operational expertise of its team to add value to its portfolio companies. Two of Mainsail’s portfolio companies were ranked on the 2012 Inc. 500|5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.mainsailpartners.com .