Founder and Partner at WestWave Capital; Former General Partner at Foundation Capital; 4-time startup CEO; Notable Investments - ForgeRock, Visier, Solo.io, ThetaLake, Binarly, Secuvy, TugBoat Logic The Brennan Group brought a slate of new candidates to the search that we had never met before. Kate did a terrific job of understanding our company’s business, which enabled us to recruit the best person for the job. LinkedIn

CEO at Sandhill East; CTO In Residence at Fintech Innovation Lab; Board Member at Zscaler, Skyhive, Pure Storage, Digital Asset; Former Board Director at Guidewire; Lead Independent Director at Moogsoft; Advisor at DoControl, Winn.Ai, Cutover, Ninth Wave, and T-rex Kate recruited me to the board of Guidewire, which turned out to be a great fit for me, leveraging my experience in enterprise technology, fintech, m&a, and much more. I have known Kate since the early 2000s and she has always strived for, and delivered, excellence in every role I have seen her execute. In executive recruiting, she has found a career that allows her to use her unique blend of talents to help companies build stronger teams through different chemistry. I have referred Kate to a number of companies that I work with and had very good feedback on her ability to find candidates that others can’t, and to make sure the cultural fit is strong. LinkedIn

Board member at Big Panda, Sila Nanotechnologies Inc & Medallia Inc.; Former Parametric Technology CEO & Chairman of the Board We hired Kate as a sales rep in 1992 at Parametric Technology (PTC). PTC has become known to cultivate some of the best CROs in the world. Make no mistake, those that survived, let alone thrived, in the early ’90s are the “300 Spartans” in the early evangelical days of cold calling. Kate was one of the few that cold-called CEOs versus Engineering leaders. She would get meetings no one else could. Her drive, fortitude, and grit made her the top performer, and she was one of the first women promoted to manage sales and engineers. She led from the front and her team was also the top-performing region. I would recommend her for any executive search with confidence. She can get to anyone not looking and will deliver the unrecruitable.” LinkedIn

Managing Director at 10X CEO; Board at ServiceMax,& ProntoForms; former CEO & COO at ServiceMax I’ve known Kate for 6+ years. She ran several successful executive searches for us at ServiceMax. I first met Kate through a referral, at a time when traditional recruiting firms were not helping me fill a CRO role. Kate is the most thorough and strategically minded recruiter I’ve worked with. Her personal network of GTM leaders is very high quality and she has a few people who are currently looking for CRO opportunities. Kate’s approach is very hands-on. She will invest the time to really understand you, what you’re looking for, and the opportunity offers to the candidates. In my experience, Kate becomes such an expert in your company and message that she is able to find and align candidates to the role much more quickly than the usual big Bay Area recruiting firms. Linkedin

Co-Founder & CEO at Digital Asset; Former CEO/Founder at Hesta Home (exit) We met Kate through our long-term, highly trusted network who have worked with her on several searches with great success over the years. The CRO search was a critical one for us. 7 Ridge and Eldridge led our $120M raise in series D in May of 2021 and took part in evaluating firms. Although Kate competed with a firm we all knew for years, it was clear to each of us that she had the right background and energy. Her advice on the profile was impressive and she delivered only top-notch talent out of the gate. She literally only made our job tough when it came to narrowing down the candidates. Brennan Group is in it with you and is nothing short of an invested strategic partner when it comes to building a killer executive team. I will recommend Kate to any CEO, and she will be our “go-to” for future searches. LinkedIn

Chief Executive Officer at Util

Board at VidSig, Matrixx Software Model N & Electric Former CEO at ServiceMax I would retain Kate again for any executive search, she is terrific, relentless and gets to everybody. LinkedIn

17-yr Board member at Salesforce; SiteCore, Nutanix, IFS; Strategic Advisor at EQT; Former Board at Guidewire, AMD, Unisys, Pegasystems, eMeter, Kazeon, Success Factors & Achievers; Former CEO PeopleSoft Kate is the best "boutique" executive search professional I've worked with. Interestingly she had a long sales career in the software industry before starting a search firm. What distinguishes her from Heidrick, Spencer, Igon Zender, and other large firms is her sole focus on only your search, first-hand knowledge of the software space, ability to get through to literally anyone in the world (tenacity/creativity/charm), and her intuition. I have worked with Kate in two of my companies – Guidewire, where she recruited two Board members and several key executives, and Achievers, where she recruited our new CEO. One of the things I like about Kate is that she is totally proactive and prepared. Even before being awarded the search, she educates herself about the company, position, and every nuance of the search. That has resulted in candidates who not only meet the specific qualifications but are also an ideal match in personality, style, motivation, and temperament. In fact, it is not unusual for Kate to actually advise against a candidate based on her knowledge and intuition about the match. She is completely comfortable approaching any level executive at any company regardless of size. Her work ethic is amazing, and she is reachable 24/7. LinkedIn

Partner at Spring Lake Equity Partners; Board at MATRIXX Software, Zylo & MediaMath, One Door & Gravy Analytics; Former Board BlueConic Kate is the best executive search professional I've worked with. She placed executives in several Spring Lake Portfolio companies where she recruited four Heads of Sales and a board member that later became the CEO at Matrixx. In addition to being very easy to work with, Kate has found us, great candidates, every time. I like the way she runs her process – it’s very efficient and she’s an expert at navigating the interview process and identifying candidate role alignment. Linkedin

Chairman and Co-Founder at Guidewire Software; Director at Fairmatic, Hyperexponential, Checkr Inc., Clearwater Analytics & Bloomreach; Partner at Battery Ventures; Advisor at Vesta Technologies & KAV Kate evinces all the most important qualities for a great executive recruiter: creativity, persistence, persuasion, and detail orientation. She did an excellent job on several important searches for Guidewire. In each case, she undertook copious research and background work and delivered outcomes considerably faster than expected. LinkedIn

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

Strategic Advisor & Former CEO at SiteCore; Former CEO at MarkMonitor & Clarivate CompuMark I had the pleasure of working with Kate Brennan when she conducted a very successful search for a Chief Customer Officer for us at Sitecore. She has a reputation for taking on tough assignments and delivering outstanding results. I can attest that Kate went above and beyond in her search, getting to know our company and the role we were looking to fill. I knew that this would be a challenging search since it’s a newly emerging position and we had very specific requirements. She applied an enormous amount of effort in crafting a customized description of the company and the role as well as a compelling value proposition for candidates. With her amazing, focused, passionate, industrious work ethic, Kate created a remarkable pipeline of candidates, while staying close to the interview process, all the while gathering input and course correcting as needed. Working with Kate, you’ll get an exceptional executive recruiting partner – and thanks to her, we now have one of the best CCOs in the world. LinkedIn

Sr. Advisor at Ten VC, CMFG Ventures and Private Family Investment Office; Board Director at Happy Money, FRDM, The CareVoice, and Canopy; former Founder, CEO & Chairman at Trōv. As soon as I met Kate I knew that she’d work harder and be more effective than any other recruiter in the Valley. Indeed she proved tireless, fearless, tenacious, and dove into her work with single-minded determination. She delivered multiple, very qualified candidates who were well-vetted and prepped for our hiring process. And when we adjusted our expectations mid-stream, she graciously rolled with the changes bringing us a new slate of candidates equally qualified for the revised role. In the end, Kate found a remarkable contributor who has brought an immediate positive impact to our org. I cannot recommend Kate more highly. LinkedIn

Board Member at LeaseLock. GreenFig, Tuition.io & doxo; Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners; General Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures; Investor at Reserve & People Pattern Kate has a long successful background in big-ticket sales — a common background for many of the most successful recruiters, as the skills are very similar. Kate is exceptionally hard-working, focused, and creative. She builds and develops effective and often out-of-the-box networks to find and qualify the best candidates. She has done outstanding work with great results for two of my companies. She is appropriate for any executive-level search, with particular skills in the sales and marketing suite, CEO, and CFO. LinkedIn

Former CEO & Chairman at Coupa Software; Former VP at SuccessFactors; Former Director at Siebel Systems Kate was referred by people I respect because of her unique background and success in sales at tech companies. They were right, it clearly differentiates her. I worked with many Executive Search firms in my career – both as a candidate and as a client and her approach is impressive. In two months, Kate placed our EVP of Sales who has been game-changing and critical to the success of our growth and sales organization. Head of Sales is one of the most critical to get right and most often done wrong. She brings candidates we never knew or thought we could meet. She identifies them through the most successful Tech Exec’s in the business; they know Kate and respect her. She really gets our business, and value proposition…. her message is compelling and candidates listen. Kate goes beyond the resume and gets to the heart of whether someone is truly good and the right cultural match. She tells us the truth about a candidate, even if it isn’t what we want to hear. She exhibits the highest ethics and is a great human being to know. Making a career change can be an emotional process for a candidate and Kate is a huge asset in ensuring everything comes together successfully. LinkedIn

Founder/Chairman of the Board at Visier, Inc; Chairman Avast PLC; Director at TDC and SNPS The Brennan Group acted for Visier in the recent hiring of a Chief Marketing Officer. We are very pleased with the outcome and appreciated Kate’s strong sense of urgency, her constant follow-up, and her focus on results. She produced a very credible list of candidates and managed the project to a fast and successful result. I would recommend Kate’s firm to any high-tech company looking to grow and develop their organization. Linkedin

Co-Founder/CEO at Blooma; Board Member at The Sandbox San Diego, Mooring Ventures, NeuraLace Medical, GovX; Former Founder/President at MaintenanceNet I worked with Kate on filling a couple of our senior executive positions. There is no one better, or more connected, in the technology executive search business than Kate Brennan. Most recently, I brought Kate in to help find our new VP of Product. The caliber of candidates that she brought to the table would have taken us a year, or more, to capture on our own. If she doesn’t know someone, she knows someone that does. She goes above and beyond to contact, and raise interest, with the exact candidates that you need to be speaking with. I would highly recommend Kate to any organization that is looking to recruit the best of the best executive team. LinkedIn

SVP at JFrog Security; Co-Founder at Vdoo (a JFrog Company); Founder & Former Co-CEO at Cyvera Ltd. (acquired by Palo Alto Networks, Inc.) We relocated our company, Cyvera, to San Francisco, understanding that one of our biggest challenges would be to find the best people to join us and build our US operations. After working with a few consultants, we met Kate and it became clear how exceptional she is in comparison and retained her for this role. Kate has a sales leadership background at Technology companies so she understands what the needs are. She quickly grasped our value proposition, composed a compelling opportunity description, and pitches the overall story in a way that attracted the best sales leaders out there to join us. LinkedIn

CEO at Stova, formerly Aventri; Board Member at Vcheck Global; Former President & CEO at Steele Compliance Solutions, Inc. & Achievers Kate’s work ethic, intuition, and ability to pitch our value prop have been invaluable in rapidly finding and placing (in less than 3 months) our SVP Sales, who wasn’t looking to make a move. She’s sensitive to the importance of cultural fit in a performance-driven organization. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone with a deeper commitment to your company’s success.

Founder, Chairman & Chief Scientist at Matrixx Software; Former SVP at Oracle; Founder, Former CEO & CTO at Portal Software We recently worked with Kate to recruit a key executive within our leadership team. Because the position plays a vital role in the growth of our company, it was imperative that we had a robust pool of candidates. From day one, Kate was prepared. She went the extra mile to form a complete understanding of the position, our needs from the candidate, and our company culture. From Kate’s vast network of connections, she presented us with several qualified candidates within a few short weeks. Each candidate understood our goals, appreciated our vision, and had already completed a thorough vetting process. In addition to her professionalism and resources, she is accessible, trustworthy, and respected throughout the industry. LinkedIn