Joining Palmares Advisors as M&A Partner

It’s hard to believe it has been nearly two years since the Transifex acquisition!

What have I been up to since then? I've had the joy and privilege of taking a step back and enjoying a much-needed sabbatical. After 20 years of full-time work, it truly felt like I was given the gift of time. During this period, we traveled a lot with my family and I spent countless hours playing with my kid. I got reacquainted with coding after many years and renovated our family home. Finally, I read quite a few books, watched quite a few movies, and played quite a few video games that were on the back burner. 😆

Tech-wise, I’ve been working with a handful of tech startup CEOs as an angel investor and close advisor. There's something incredibly special and rewarding to me about being next to founders in all the critical choices they need to make daily, sharing perspectives, and addressing issues.

During this time, I stayed in touch with Andy Kelm from Palmares who had been our M&A Advisor on the Transifex sale. As I learned more about the firm, we realized this would be a great fit for me. Palmares is different from the typical boutique Investment Bank or M&A firm: the team members are all entrepreneurs and former operators (not finance folks), pragmatic people focused on working directly in the trenches with clients rather than having a large team of analysts.

So — I've joined Palmares Advisors as a Managing Partner. We’re four now, three in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Europe.

In the first few months, I have quickly found how fulfilling this work is to me. It’s an extension of the advisory work I do, but, this time, I get to support a company at one of the most critical moments of its life: the exit. Where strategy, alignment, and positioning have a huge impact, where every word matters, and where good negotiation makes a world of difference in people’s lives.

Here's to the adventures that lie ahead, and to making a meaningful impact!

I’m grateful and excited, and I can't wait to see where this journey takes us. 😀