Lasting Partnership – Periscope’s Journey
with HireBetter
Highlights
Impactful Connections
The trust built through a proven track record of success with executive leadership has resulted in collaborations spanning beyond the organization.
Company-Wide Reach
Over a ten-year period, more than thirty team members were identified and placed in key positions that fueled the company’s growth and reputation as a leader in the public sector software space, many of whom are still with the organization in key leadership roles.
Successful Acquisitions
An engaged, long-term human capital partnership provided by HireBetter enabled Periscope’s growth and acquisition. In fact, Periscope was successfully acquired twice – by Parthenon in 2014 and most recently by Canadian MDF in 2021 for more than $200M.
The Challenge
Assembling a highly skilled and entrepreneurial team in the specialized and fiercely competitive domain of government procurement software proved to be a challenge for this lean start-up prior to its partnership with HireBetter. Finding individuals who also aligned with the company’s deep passion for minimizing waste in the public sector was a further roadblock in identifying the right talent, especially with such a limited pool of qualified competitors to pull from.
HireBetter has been my strategic partner for over 10 years.
The guidance, market intelligence, and quality of talent they provided to my team and I were the differentiator.
The partnership helped our company’s ability to scale successfully, attract investment by a leading growth-oriented private equity firm, and ultimately led to the strategic transaction that created the leading eProcurement solution in North America. The quality of support HireBetter provides is so valuable, I have continued to utilize them as I guide other software companies through growth as an investor.
Brian Utley, Managing Partner AV Capital,
Former President & CEO Periscope Holdings
Solution
Recognizing the significant long-term benefits that Periscope’s success would have in reducing financial burdens on governments and taxpayers across the country, HireBetter joined forces with the company during its early stages when Periscope was still a privately held and self-funded venture. Over the span of more than a decade, HireBetter successfully filled over 30 key positions within Periscope across diverse departments including Business Development, Marketing, Human Resources, Operations, Client Success & Implementation, Product Development, Software Development, and Accounting & Finance.
Strategic Approach
Key to the success of the partnership was a community of collaboration that cemented HireBetter’s understanding of the distinct industry niche, skill set, and cultural requirements required.
HireBetter conducted ongoing market analysis to understand the competitive industry landscape and provided ongoing mapping of both direct competitors and companies with adjacencies that were applicable to the business.
This knowledge base empowered HireBetter to identify candidates efficiently and accurately. As Periscopes’s human capital partner, HireBetter evaluated candidate capabilities, identifying those possessing the essential technical skills and the ideal cultural alignment needed to fuel Periscope’s growth.
HireBetter’s partnership model allowed Periscope to outsource the recruiting process that fueled the majority of its growth by establishing a consistent and reliable process tied to a pricing structure that was scalable. By leveraging HireBetter, Periscope was able to concentrate on growing its core capabilities while efficiently managing talent costs.
Overall Results
The ongoing expertise in talent strategy and acquisition that HireBetter provided enabled Periscope to understand both their short and long-term talent needs, fill crucial roles with the right resources to scale, and build a cohesive, skilled workforce during times of explosive growth. Periscope was successfully acquired by the growth-oriented private equity firm Parthenon Capital in 2014.
Even after the acquisition by Parthenon, the collaboration between HireBetter and Periscope Founder and CEO Brian continued to thrive. This enduring partnership played a pivotal role in providing the appropriate talent to ensure Periscope’s smooth transition during the initial private equity investment phase and eventual strategic acquisition by MDF in 2021.
The trusted track record of success and collaboration with Brian and his leadership team has fostered ongoing partnerships beyond Periscope to other organizations as he has transitioned to investor and Managing Partner of Austin-based AV Capital.
