Riviera now has four partners and a growing team focused on supporting global private equity firms to fill their portfolio companies’ most important positions.
San Francisco, CA, January 8, 2023 – Riviera Partners, the premier global executive search firm specializing in recruiting top-tier technology, product, and design leaders, has promoted Justin Cottrell to Partner within its Private Equity-backed practice. This promotion expands the leadership team of Riviera’s Private Equity-backed practice to four partners. Alongside Cottrell, a dedicated team of 20 professionals is committed to securing critical tech leadership roles for portfolio companies of prominent global Private Equity firms.
Today, the growth of Riviera’s dedicated Private Equity practice is accelerating, driven by demand for specialization by stage and function, and superior access to top technical leaders. A leader in the tech-focused executive search space for more than 20 years, Riviera’s Private Equity practice developed organically with a few foundational Private Equity partners and quickly grew into a leading practice.
Riviera has partnered with top private equity firms, including Advent International, Permira, Warburg Pincus, The Carlyle Group, Serent Capital, Insight Partners, Bain Capital, L Catterton, General Atlantic, JMI Equity, FTV Capital and Battery Ventures. The firm has worked with notable PE-backed companies to help recruit seasoned technology, product, and design executives, including for Abrigo, Accelerate Learning, Acquia, Beautycounter, BirchStreet Systems, CCC Information Services, CentralSquare, Chargebee, Dave, EDB, Ellucian, GeoComply, InMarket, Khoros, Medable, Net Health, Palo Alto Networks, Reorg, Securonix, Seismic, Standard Industries, Thumbtack and Zendesk.
Cottrell: knows the executives with an industry track record of profitably managing growth through successful exits
“Justin is a valuable asset to the Riviera team and our clients,” said Eric Larson, Managing Partner of Riviera Partners’ Private Equity-backed practice. “He understands the unique challenges of private equity-backed companies and knows the executives with an industry track record of profitably managing growth through successful exits.”
Cottrell has over 15 years of experience in tech-focused executive search, specializing in core product development functions across all industries and domains. With Riviera since 2021, his domain experience includes B2B SaaS, eCommerce, commerce enablement, B2B2C marketplaces, IoT/connected devices and direct-to-consumer. As a Partner within Riviera’s Private Equity practice, he primarily works with post-investment businesses looking for top-grade talent and scale toward an exit. Cottrell has also been active in hiring former operators into value creation roles as Operating Partners and Managing Directors into the strategic resource groups of his Private Equity clients.
“Since joining Riviera, I have enjoyed working with private equity investors to enable their technology-driven portfolio organizations on their journey to scale,” said Cottrell. “I look forward to deepening our relationships and continuing to drive impactful outcomes for their tech leadership needs.”
His clients have included Tempo, CloudCall, Encompass, Gale Healthcare, Loop, Jump, Magnit, NetDocuments, Quizlet, Consumer Edge, Ethyca, CentralSquare, Updater/MoveHQ, SimpliSafe and Tonal. He has assisted private equity investment partners in helping their portfolio companies find top talent and has worked with Bain Capital, EQT Group, Warburg Pincus, Cove Hill Partners, TA Associates, Diversis Capital, THL Partners and FTV Capital.
Cottrell’s industry experience includes industry-specific workflow platforms, cloud-based enterprise content management, live event/ticketing, eCommerce reverse logistics, all-in-one moving/relocation platform, HR & workforce management, UCaaS, developer tools for security and compliance, alternative data, LawTech, EdTech, HealthTech staffing platform, and GovTech.
Riviera has specialized in placing technology leaders in the most successful start-ups and enterprises since 2002. A partner at all private and public company growth stages, the firm has completed thousands of searches, partnering with world-class venture capital and private equity firms to provide top technology and product leadership to their portfolio companies across all major technology hubs and brands. The specialized recruiting firm is defining the modern era of executive search by combining deep recruiting expertise with innovative AI and machine learning technology to score, predict, and match the best candidate for a company’s specific needs and stage.
Before Riviera, Justin served as Sector Leader of Korn Ferry’s Technology Officers Practice, leading a team of functional recruiting experts and delivering numerous C-level engagements for Fortune 1000 companies. Earlier in his career, Justin was President of Talener, a boutique technology search firm specializing in recruiting product, engineering, and design talent for early and growth-stage venture-backed companies.
ABOUT RIVIERA PARTNERS
Riviera Partners is a global driver of innovation for today’s most influential companies – expertly placing executive talent in the crucial areas of IT, software engineering, product management, security, AI, and design. Riviera combines over two decades of recruiting expertise with a proprietary platform that uses machine learning to score and predict the best candidate for a company’s specific needs, driving successful outcomes. As a result, the company has become the go-to talent partner for leading private equity investors, venture capitalists, public companies, and technology innovators. Learn more about Riviera Partners at www.rivierapartners.com, and follow us on LinkedIn.
