CEO Coaches — Brennan Group, Inc.

Over the last 12 years, Brennan Group has worked with dozens of Entrepreneurs and first-time CEOs.

We created this resource section for CEOs and investors with the intention of sharing the invaluable benefits of working with coaches who have been a first-time CEO themselves. Throughout our experience placing highly strategic roles for high-growth companies, we are always impressed to see the value that CEO coaches add to any search process.

Allow us to introduce Our Highly Recommended CEO Coaches:

Scott Berg

CEO Advisor & Coach; Managing Director at 10X CEO; Board Member at Pronto Forms;
Former CEO at ServiceMax

Scott Berg

CEO Advisor & Coach; Managing Director at 10X CEO; Board Member at Pronto Forms;
Former CEO at ServiceMax

Over the past 25 years I’ve had the great fortune to be part of successful technology companies that either went on to trade on public markets (Dendrite Cegedigm, Connect Inc., SuccessFactors) or were acquired by pubic companies and private equity investors (Extensity, Birst, ServiceMax). I thrive in the thrill-a-minute world of high growth software companies that face stiff competition on the road to market leadership. While my career started in IT, and Customer Service, Sales leadership and go-to-market strategy are my professional and intellectual foundation.

They say that being a CEO is one of the loneliest jobs in business. The pressure is always on to make the right decisions, hire and develop the right people, and pursue the right strategies, but you’re often alone in making the final call. On top of that, the role and complexity of being a CEO is expanding as global markets become local, companies serve a growing group of internal and external constituents, and the world demands a more inclusive and diverse workforce. 10X CEO®’s have the opportunity to leverage trusted peers to make them the best leaders they can be.

As a participating COO & CEO for 4 years in 10X CEO®, I learned what skills and priorities separate the top 1% of leaders and companies from the rest and the 10X return the top companies enjoy as a result. Humility, transparency and authenticity are crucial to developing your talent as a leader and growing every day. Like an athlete, you need to train, analyze and perform to be the best CEO. The power of the 10X CEO® peer network was critical to my decisions about commercial strategy, talent and work environment. I joined the program as a Managing Director to share my lessons learned with others and ensure that the ultimate peer network is available for the top company builders.

Dave Yarnold

Advisor, Board Member, and CEO Coach
Board Member at VidSig; MATRIXX Software; Model N; and Electric
Former CEO at ServiceMax

Dave has spent the better part of his career (30+ years) as a serial entrepreneur in the enterprise software industry. He currently works as an independent consultant, working with a number of CEOs as a coach and advisor, while serving as an independent director on the board of directors at Model N and several private companies. Prior to that, he was the CEO of ServiceMax, a cloud-based field service software application, which he sold to GE Digital in January 2017 for $1B.

Previously (2004-2008), he was Vice President of Global Sales for SuccessFactors, a SaaS leader in the talent management space, where he built a global sales team that grew from $2M to $120M in bookings over a four-year period. The company went public in November 2007 and was subsequently acquired by SAP for over $3B.

Mr. Yarnold’s experience in the software industry began in 1986 at Oracle, where he was part of the original team that developed and sold the first Oracle applications products. From 1996-1999, as Vice President of North American sales at Clarify, he helped that company grow from $18M to $250M in annual sales over a four-year period prior to Clarify’s acquisition by Nortel for $2.2B. He then led the Business Development and Worldwide Sales teams at Extensity, a provider of web-based employee productivity applications, from 1999-2003 during which the company completed a successful IPO in 2000, and, subsequently, a sale of the company in 2003 to Geac.

Barry Sowerwine

Board Member at AlphaSense and Rebellion Defense

Technology Executive with 30+ years of experience building and scaling high performance Sales, Business Development and Customer Success teams for hyper growth Software and SaaS organizations.

Over his career, Barry has helped 4 companies go public including Tableau Software where he helped architect, build and scale GTM operations in the Americas. Barry is passionate about authentic human connection and leading teams that “do the right thing” - prioritize people.

Currently, Barry is a Board Member for AlphaSense and Rebellion Defense and he provides consulting and advisory services to the high-tech industry.

Mike Seashols

Advisor and Board Member
CEO & Executive Chair at Secuvy, Board & Executive Coach; CEO and Executive Chairman of Sukhi; Former CEO at Golden Gate Software & Documentum, Co-founder at Versant, 1st VP Sales & Marketing Oracle then Ingres, both thru IPO

Scott Davis

Advisory Partner; Sales & GTM;
Sales Leader, Medallia & AppDynamics

Scott Davis has been advising private companies since 2017. Before this, Scott led the Medallia sales team, which grew global ARR from $20M to over $225M in four years. He also held senior sales leadership roles at AppDynamics, BMC Software, and BladeLogic. Scott is a GTM advisor focusing on all things related to sales.

Forrest Hobbs

Board Member at Decisiv; Advisor at Rainf4ll

25 years mapping customer needs to great technology and service to solve real business problems. Deep experience in B2B and B2B2C go-to-market design and execution, all aspects of field operations, demand generation, direct and partner Sales across all segments/sectors, Customer Success, Marketing, Business Development, Channel/Partner, Sales Excellence, venture funding, M&A and venture integration. Led and Advised GTM for numerous startups achieving positive exits. End-to-end ownership of GTM for multiple pre-series A startups achieving growth from $0-$157M ARR, $1M-$120M ARR and $0-to over $1B ARR in revenue.