Vista Equity’s Foundation funds family is going through a dramatic shift in leadership only a few years after installing new co-heads to lead the strategy.
Marc Teillon, who was appointed co-head of Foundation funds in 2019, will transition into a senior adviser role, two sources confirmed for Buyouts. Reuters reported on the move earlier Tuesday.
The firm named Vista veteran Martin Taylor to co-lead the mid-market focused Foundation series. Taylor joined Vista in 2006 and worked in operations and portfolio company value creation. He was the first president of Vista Consulting Group and helped establish the firm’s executive community and engagement programs, according to a letter to limited partners seen by Buyouts.
Taylor also is a member of Vista’s private equity management committee and flagship fund investment committee, the letter said. During his time at Vista, he worked with more than 50 portfolio companies, including on several exits like Ping Identity and Mediaocean, the letter said.
“The Foundation Fund is built to scale enterprise software leaders. Martin’s strategic operating expertise and diverse experience working with enterprise software businesses of all sizes will be powerful additions to the fund,” Foundation co-head Patrick Severson said in a statement.
Taylor will be the third new leader appointed to the Foundation funds in recent years. In 2021, former Foundation co-head Rob Rogers stepped out of leadership and the firm appointed Severson to run the strategy alongside Teillon. In 2019, Teillon stepped up to co-lead the Foundation strategy, replacing Alan Cline, who was moving over to help lead the firm’s small-market Endeavor strategy. Cline also stepped into a senior adviser role and eventually left the firm.
The leadership shifts come only a couple years into the life of the fourth Foundation fund, which closed on about $4.5 billion in 2020. There is an expectation Vista will look to launch Fund V later this year, which provided impetus for Teillon to move on, not wanting to be tied to a 10-year fund, a source said.
Teillon will continue to serve on the boards of several Foundation fund portfolio companies and remain a member of the Foundation Fund investment committee, the letter said. Teillon joined Vista in 2009.
Teillon’s step back does not appear to have triggered a key-person provision in the funds. As of 2021, Foundation had a two-tier key-person structure: the first tier would be tripped if both CEO Robert Smith and his former number two Brian Sheth departed. The second tier, made up of a group of six executives, would need a majority of the members to depart.
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