Ross & Company Places Chief Revenue Officer at Apixio
December 9, 2016 – Executive search firm Ross & Company has placed Tom McNamara as chief revenue officer of Apixio. Managing partner Jim O’Sullivan led the assignment. This expansion of Apixio’s leadership team comes after the close of $19.3 million in Series D funding led by SSM Partners.
Mr. McNamara brings 25 years of experience building successful sales organizations for healthcare technology and analytics companies. Prior to joining Apixio, he served as chief revenue officer for GNS Healthcare, High Roads, Connance, and Silverlink Communications. He also led sales at HPR, a medical payments company, up to and through a successful IPO.
“Tom has a superior track record of accomplishment in sales management with leading healthcare technology organizations, selling software and services to the senior management of health plans and hospital systems,” said Mr. O’Sullivan. “He’s a hands-on leader with a reputation for leading and mentoring executives at varying levels. He understands the art and science of selling as it relates to process, accountability and forecasting, as well as building and nurturing relationships, positively influencing decisions and delivering and receiving feedback with both internal and external constituents.” He added that the choice was a perfect personality fit with the organization’s culture.
“The healthcare industry is transforming at a very rapid pace. Payers and providers are now really interested in how to best extract insights from their clinic and hospital charts,” said Mr. McNamara. “Apixio is helping this transformation by tapping into source systems and mining notes to deliver value to customers and, ultimately, patients.”
Apixio is a data science company focused on healthcare. Its patented cognitive computing platform extracts and analyzes clinical data in electronic and PDF health records, generating important insights into patient health.
Mission-Critical Innovators
The role of chief revenue officers has changed dramatically over the course of the last several years and they are quickly becoming mission-critical innovators for companies that look to dominate a market first and fastest, say recruiters. Exceptional candidates that are making short lists these days seem to have jack-of-all-trade CVs: typical skill sets include diverse backgrounds in marketing, operations, sales, technology, and strategy.
“A few ago this role was simply a company’s head of sales or head of sales & marketing, but today depending on the solution, the revenue chief role has evolved into a sales leader who is a multifaceted commercialization expert who appreciates and understands the tactics and strategies to sell solutions, not just the new widget,” said Mr. O’Sullivan. “Of course, this individual is measured by driving positive top-line results, but as a true partner to the CEO must be a thought leader that supports and influences the vision of business.”
In fact, the chief revenue officer position can be a stepping stone to the CEO role for some. This position is now typically held by someone who grew up in sales, but learned marketing to business development, and could step in and even run a company if the CEO was incapacitated or terminated.
“We’ve seen leaders take that leap and have success,” said Mr. O’Sullivan. “That said, some have a hard time making the transition as their deficiencies in operations, product, and finance are exposed and can be a liability when managing up to a group of investors and board members. So that leap is not a natural progression and revenue leaders may find themselves coming back to familiar finance-related roles. Tom could have taken that leap at a point in his career, but he choose not to do so, and focused on being the best revenue officer.”
Established in 1992, Ross & Company specializes in conducting general management, board of director and vice president level engagements for prominent venture capital and private equity funds whose primary investment focus lies in the healthcare and technology sectors.
The firm has completed chief revenue officer searches for a number of clients, including Valence Health (acquired by Evolent); ABILITY Network (owned by Summit Partners); Silverlink (acquired by Welltok); Navicure (now owned by Bain Capital and prior JMI Equity); and QPID Health (acquired by Evicore; previously owned by New Leaf Venture Partners); among others.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
