Retained executive search firm The Caldwell Partners International has appointed Mercedes Chatfield-Taylor to lead its newly combined Private Equity and Venture Capital Practice.
Based in San Francisco, Chatfield-Taylor previously founded and led the firm's Venture Capital Practice.
"Mercedes is the foremost search professional in the high growth technology venture capital sector today," said John Wallace, chief executive officer. "Her reputation for her relentless drive, client commitment and impeccable execution precedes her. For years, Mercedes has served in an advisory capacity to a roster of top tier venture capital and private-equity firms, assisting her clients and their portfolio companies in recruiting leaders focused on value creation. Mercedes is a rarity in the executive search industry in that she has built a practice that is truly industry and stage agnostic. She is comfortable serving as a behind the scenes executive coach to early stage founders and as a trusted advisor to public company boards of directors. Not surprisingly, her net-promoter score is off the charts, which can be attributed, in large part, to her intense focus on results. Combining our previously stand-alone venture capital and private equity practices under Mercedes' leadership will provide the ideal platform to best serve our clients."
With more than 18 years of experience in executive search, Chatfield-Taylor focuses on recruiting CEO, CFO, board director, operating partner, senior advisor and high level investment professional searches for the financial sponsor community and their portfolio companies across a broad range of industries. She brings deep expertise in software as a service, social, ecommerce, gaming and other transformative technologies.
"I am humbled and excited about this new challenge and look forward to working with my colleagues to bring exceptional leaders to high growth venture- and private equity-backed companies, as well as partners to the funds themselves," says Chatfield-Taylor. "To address the unique needs our venture capital and private equity clients, we have assembled an elite group of senior practitioners who are experts in their respective fields, and all of whom have conducted numerous searches and helped to create billions in market value. Our team has a sustainable advantage in that we know the talent and understand the must have skills and experiences required to create and sustain value. My partners share my obsession with finding the best solution for our clients. We deliver extraordinary talent in compressed time frames and our results are well documented."
Prior to joining Caldwell Partners in 2010, Chatfield-Taylor held leadership positions at executive search firms including Heidrick & Struggles where she helped re-establish and run their global Venture Capital Practice. Previously, Chatfield-Taylor co-founded an emerging technologies boutique search firm to address the unique hiring needs of venture-backed technology companies. Earlier in her career, Chatfield-Taylor was vice president of marketing for XL Insurance, a global excess insurance, reinsurance and financial risk-management company, with holdings of over USD13 billion. She managed XL's marketing efforts in Bermuda before moving to Sydney, Australia to open their first office in the Pacific Rim and lead the firm's efforts to impact the difficult Asian/Pacific insurance and financial risk management market. She is a graduate of Boston University, where she received a BA in business communications and a BFA in graphic design.
