LIZ CARACCIOLO
Scottsdale,Arizona
Summary
Purpose driven, entrepreneurial and market-facing executive with a track record of growing enterprise value and building collaborative, customer-focused, high performing cultures. Enabled three separate successful exit strategies for multiple founders, investors and private equity.
Overview
30
30
years of professional experience
Work History
Founder/Principal
IGNITE ADVISORY SERVICES
05.2022 - Current
- Consultancy supporting executives in small and mid-market companies with key initiative support, strategic advisory and executive coaching
- Perform interviews and vet candidates for executive leadership positions
- Identification and vetting of vendor/partners in support of key initiatives (technology, marketing, leadership development)
- Provide advice and counsel regarding key decisions and initiatives including organizational structure, business and go-to-market strategy in addition to tactical plans
Adjunct Professor of Finance
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
05.2022 - Current
- Depth of knowledge and expertise in finance concepts, including financial markets, investments, corporate finance, and financial analysis
- Facilitate engaging and interactive classroom discussions, encourage critical thinking and active participation among students and adapt teaching to accommodate diverse learning styles
- Develop presentations and instructional materials in alignment with course curriculum
- Used variety of learning modalities and support materials to facilitate learning process and accentuate presentations.
- Taught finance course, providing instruction to up to 45 undergraduate students per class.
Chief Operating Officer
OPENWORKS
05.2019 - 05.2022
- Hired to accelerate topline growth of $70M, expand EBITDA margin and build an intentional, high-performing culture
- Responsible for 130 people across Sales, Operations, Marketing, Customer/Franchise Experience, HR & IT functions
- Redesigned business plans and relaligned company objectives – comp plans, KPI’s, operating system, etc, to increase topline growth to $113M and improved earnings by 13.8x’s
- Developed and implemented go-to-market strategy to include refreshing our brand/positioning, launching a thought leadership plan, implementing new systems/processes to improve demand generation, resulting in increased marketing qualified leads (MQL’s) by 850% and increasing average deal size by 50%
- Reorganized and functionalized the business to improve scale and performance resulting in a reduction to customer termination rate by 50%
- Coalesced leadership around the development of corporate mission, vision, values and strategy creating clarity and alignment to the long-term objectives and enhancing the company culture
- Evaluated company tech stack, selected new partners and implemented new systems to meet the evolving needs of the business (HRIS, Talent Management, CRM, Sales/Marketing automation)
- Designed and implemented corporate Management Operating System to a weekly/monthly metric scorecard, meeting cadence, decision matrix and accountability chart to clarify roles/responsibilities, increase transparency to business results and challenges and accelerate speed of decision making
- Identified, on-boarded EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) partner and implemented EOS through all leadership levels in the company
- Built and facilitated a company-wide playbook to improve the overall run-rate cost of the business resulting in $915K in annualized savings
- (or X% of annualized costs) – operating leverage?
- Up-leveled talent in HR, Operations and Sales and restructured division resulting in reduced cost-to serve and increased sales productivity
- Refined performance management, engagement and reward/recognition programs resulting in 213% improvement in eNPS
- Selected, created and Implemented leadership development program to up-level leadership capability across the organization
- Represented organization at external meetings and events to promote and build relationships with key stakeholders.
- Refined organizational structure to consolidate, streamline, and delineate necessary functions.
- Aligned organizational objectives with company mission to increase business growth and integrate work strategies.
- Identified and mitigated operational risks to minimize potential negative impacts on organization.
- Established [Type] and [Type] policies to promote company culture and vision.
- Oversaw business-wide changes to modernize procedures and organization.
- Represented organization at industry conferences and events.
- Initiated strategy to drive company growth and increase market share and profitability.
- Developed innovative sales and marketing strategies to facilitate business expansion.
- Cultivated company-wide culture of innovation and collaboration.
- Devised and presented business plans and forecasts to board of directors.
EVP, General Manager
VERRA MOBILITY
04.2016 - 03.2019
- Transformed $131M technology-enabled solutions business unit with break-even financials and declining topline into a consistently growing $147M business unit ($57M EBITDA) with increased scale and a high-performing culture
- Supported two successful exits including the founders to private equity and private equity via an IPO SPAC transaction
- Aligned the organization to a bolder future by establishing a mission, vision, strategy and implementing an operating system to engage employees and communicate progress/performance to our goals
- Reduced costs by restructuring various departments and executing on-going improvement initiatives improving EBITDA by $2M-$3M annually resulting approx
- 20M of enterprise value
- Increased market competitiveness by closing solution technology gaps, reducing costs to improve price point and strengthening core capabilities resulting in increased win-rate of new contracts from 45% to 65%, 3-4x’s larger than any competitor
- Reignited and accelerated innovation by up-leveling product management talent and implementing innovation process launching two new solutions that grew pipeline by $20M and grew deal size by 40%
- Expanded market size by passing new legislation in multiple states for core solutions increasing the Total Addressable Market (TAM) by $25M
- Achieved 99% renewal rate ($53M) by launching product enhancements and closed $8.6M in new business increasing enterprise value by $23M
- Improved employee engagement through delivery of consistent communications plan, increased employee engagement activities resulting in retention of 99% of identified key talent
- Raised employee performance by implementing goal cascades, bi-annual performance reviews; implemented 9-block talent assessment and up-leveling 100% of low performing leaders
- Drove financial performance by raising financial awareness and accountability with monthly business unit reviews including income statement, KPI and AR analysis, forward looking forecasts and trending
- Supported the sale of the company by preparing and delivering investor presentations for business unit to prospective private equity and strategic buyers resulting in a successful exit to Platinum Equity in 2017
- Kept the original board (founders and investors) informed and gained agreement on key decisions by presenting progress to business plan/strategy at monthly board meetings
- Developed and implemented strategies to increase sales and profitability.
- Monitored financial performance, set budgets and controlled expenses to provide financial stability and long-term organizational growth.
- Developed and maintained relationships with customers and suppliers through account development.
- Analyzed market trends and competitor activities to create competitive advantages.
Senior Vice President, Government Solutions
VERRA MOBILITY
01.2015 - 03.2016
- Hired as 7th leader in 7 years to reverse declining client retention trend and reignite client expansion
- Reversed declining retention trend and reignited Improved retention rate from 90% to 97%, exceeded client expansion targets by 72% and grew recurring revenue by $5M improving the enterprise value by $20M
- Restructured and up-leveled account management talent in weakest regions and enrolled organization into a compelling future vision for the Account Management organization
- Instituted revised renewal process to begin up to 10 mos
- In advance of renewals which included upfront renewal strategy sessions with cross-functional, decision-making stakeholders
- Accelerated the approval process for client expansion pursuits by delegating decision-authority with pre-approved parameters reducing cycle time by 75% (1mo
- To 1 week)
- Raised the customer focus in business by hosting quarterly account reviews and publishing client scorecards
- Developed measurement tools, dashboards and reports to track metrics on adoption and effectiveness of initiatives.
- Restructured [Type] department to reduce overhead and improve overall efficiency.
Vice President, Corporate Development
BILLINGTREE
07.2012 - 12.2014
- Hired to accelerate growth and diversify revenue to increase the value of the company for an exit by its founders
- Diversified company revenue and increase market size by selecting and entering an adjacent market segment resulting in diversifying company revenues by 5% in 1 year
- Repositioned company as the recognized, compliance thought leader in core collections industry by producing industry study, white papers, webinar series and earned media enabling price premium of 10%
- Monitored industry trends, keeping current on latest changes and competition in industry.
- Analyzed market trends and corporate positioning and uncovered new markets, sectors and opportunity types.
Director
BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH, EQUITY METHODS
01.2010 - 07.2012
- Hired to improve competitive position of offering to Fortune 500 companies via launch of new products and features
- Developed and implemented business case for new solution
- Gathered voice of the customer, business requirements and drove launch plan resulting in $1M in revenue and $30M market opportunity
- Increased capacity for platform innovation by designing and implementing process to acquire new business resulting in $2M in development capacity to build new features/functionality
VP Client Services
BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH
01.2006 - 12.2009
- Hired to build client delivery and marketing functions for B2B SaaS Software start-up
- Rapidly grew market share and scaled customer service model supporting 185% annual customer growth resulting in successful sale of Equity Methods to Merrill Lynch
- Established unique thought leadership position in market and exceeded lead generation goals by 50%
- Consistently achieved high customer implementation experience scores (9 out of 10)
- Designed and launched two adjacent services resulting in higher retention and $500K in recurring revenue
Belt/Marketing Manager
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, B2B Software and Services, Six Sigma Black
01.2002 - 07.2005
- Led marketing and business development initiatives in various roles to increase revenue and customer loyalty
- Achieved six sigma black belt certification, taught courses, mentored green belts resulting in $250K in savings
- Launched a new service and promotion that resulted in $1M in in-year incremental revenue
Management Trainee/Sales Manager
NESTLE
07.1993 - 05.1999
- Became the youngest mgmt trainee in the country to be promoted to Sales Manager (9mos
- From hire date)
- Exceeded sales quota and achieved new product adoption targets with team of 12 sales reps by raising performance and engagement through individual development plans, goal clarity and team building activities
Education
MBA - Marketing and Finance Concentrations
GOIZUETA BUSINESS SCHOOL, EMORY UNIVERSITY
Atlanta05.2001
Bachelor of Science - Business Management & Marketing
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Ithaca, NY05.1993
Skills
- Building & Aligning Culture
- Developing & Executing Growth Strategies, Sales & Marketing
- Improving Customer Retention & Focus
- Achievement of Business Plan Goals
- Leadership & Team Building
- Enhancing Business Scale
- Change Leadership
- Enterprise Value Creation
- Meeting & Exceeding P&L Targets
Additional Information
- Ironman Triathlete
- Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
- American Marketing Association Award Recipient
- Co-authored case study, "The Sports Expert Online, Inc.", Customer Equity: Building and Managing Relationships as Valuable Assets (2001): 97-103. Harvard Business School Press, 0875847641
Timeline
Founder/Principal
IGNITE ADVISORY SERVICES
05.2022 - Current
Adjunct Professor of Finance
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
05.2022 - Current
Chief Operating Officer
OPENWORKS
05.2019 - 05.2022
EVP, General Manager
VERRA MOBILITY
04.2016 - 03.2019
Senior Vice President, Government Solutions
VERRA MOBILITY
01.2015 - 03.2016
Vice President, Corporate Development
BILLINGTREE
07.2012 - 12.2014
Director
BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH, EQUITY METHODS
01.2010 - 07.2012
VP Client Services
BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH
01.2006 - 12.2009
Belt/Marketing Manager
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, B2B Software and Services, Six Sigma Black
01.2002 - 07.2005
Management Trainee/Sales Manager
NESTLE
07.1993 - 05.1999
MBA - Marketing and Finance Concentrations
GOIZUETA BUSINESS SCHOOL, EMORY UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Science - Business Management & Marketing
CORNELL UNIVERSITY