Mainsail Partners

Chris Cassidy joined Mainsail Partners in 2010, where he works with portfolio companies on go-to-market strategy, helping sales and marketing leaders build teams, define target markets, develop data and technology infrastructure, and support the investment team in sourcing opportunities. Before Mainsail, he spent 10 years at Yahoo!, most recently leading marketing for its media businesses, and earlier worked at several early-stage companies, including a cellular billing software firm and a marketing agency tied to Warren Miller Entertainment. He holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Connecticut.

David Farsai is a Partner at Mainsail Partners, where he originates, executes, and supports new investments. Before joining the firm, he worked as an investment banker at Wells Fargo Securities in San Francisco, advising on M&A transactions in the software and storage industries, and earlier at Houlihan Lokey focusing on middle-market healthcare services deals. He holds a bachelor's degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Emily Azevedo is a Partner and Head of Talent at Mainsail Partners, which she joined in 2016, focusing on portfolio talent needs including executive recruiting, leadership development, compensation, and assessment. She previously spent eight years in executive search, most recently as an Engagement Manager at Heidrick & Struggles, and earlier worked in management consulting and served as Managing Director for the Brazil subsidiary of Altimetrik. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Ibmec São Paulo.

Jason Frankel is a Partner at Mainsail Partners, where he works with a number of portfolio companies. He previously served as Chief of Staff at GTreasury in 2018 and worked as an investment banker at Raymond James & Associates in Nashville, advising on M&A transactions. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University, with minors in Financial Economics and Corporate Strategy.

Michael Anderson is a Partner at Mainsail Partners with about twenty years of experience investing in private companies. He was previously a Principal at Summit Partners and held roles at Danaher Corporation, Onex Corporation, Nassau Capital, and Gleacher Partners. He holds an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Heather Booms joined Mainsail Partners in 2015, where she handles accounting and financial reporting for the firm's investment funds and management company. She previously worked as an Assurance Manager at BDO USA, LLP, providing audit services to private equity and venture capital partnerships and technology companies. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Accountancy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Tollie Brown is a Principal at Mainsail Partners, where she originates and executes investments in B2B software companies and serves on the boards of Rentvine, FieldFlo, Centerbase, Fullbay, and Teamfront. Previously, she was an investment professional at Aldrich Capital Partners, a growth equity firm based in Washington D.C. Brown holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia.

Previously worked in the Housing Division at Gresham House. Holds a BA in Politics from the University of Exeter.

General Accountant at Sawari Ventures. Previously an external auditor for three years at Abdul Aziz Hegazy Office and an accountant at Inter Solar Egypt Company.

Atasha Bozorgzad joined Mainsail Partners in 2024, providing day-to-day support to members of the firm's executive team from the San Francisco office. She previously worked as an Executive Assistant in the non-profit sector at Lykos Therapeutics and The Bridgespan Group, and in healthcare for the Australian Defense Force in Melbourne, Australia. She holds a B.S. in Health Education from San Francisco State University.

Barnaby Dorfman is a CTO-in-Residence at Mainsail Partners, advising portfolio CTOs, CPOs, and CEOs on scaling product and engineering organizations, with a focus on AI integration and execution strategy. A technology executive with over 30 years of experience, he held roles at Amazon (helping build the original Marketplace, IMDbPro, and A9 search), early startups Kyte.tv and Peerflix, and served as Global CTO at Go1; he was also part of the leadership that led to PayScale's acquisition by Francisco Partners. He founded Foodista.com, co-owns Don and Joe's Meats at Pike Place Market, and holds an MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and a B.S. in International Business from San Francisco State.

Bashir Abdallah is Vice President of Product at Mainsail Partners, where he works with founders and product leaders on product-led growth and applying AI. He previously served as Chief Product Officer at XOi Technologies, an AI-driven field-service platform, and before that as Chief Product Officer at ServiceChannel, a SaaS platform for facilities management that was acquired by Fortive for $1.2 billion. He holds a BA in Political Science from SUNY Plattsburgh.

Charlie Buffa works with sales leaders across Mainsail's portfolio companies, focusing on building outbound sales programs, adopting AI tools and workflows, sales training, and manager coaching. Before Mainsail, he held individual contributor and sales leadership roles at several SaaS companies, most recently serving as SVP Sales at Mainsail portfolio company Sourcescrub, and spent four years at SurveyMonkey leading BDR teams, with earlier roles at Wonolo and TechValidate. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.

Conner Cook works on accounting and financial reporting for Mainsail Partners' management company. He previously was a Senior Accountant at 4-Horn Investments in Austin, Texas, and began his career as an Assurance Senior at BDO in Spokane, Washington. He holds a Master of Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Washington State University.

Dan Blake is a CTO-in-Residence at Mainsail Partners, where he helps portfolio CTOs, CPOs, and CEOs build scalable product and engineering teams and implement AI strategies. A technology executive with over 30 years of experience building large-scale software systems, he previously served as CTO at Aspire (a ServiceTitan and Mainsail portfolio company), MedSpeed, and Valence Health, and held a senior role at Airstrip Technologies. He founded ArchiStrat Consulting and holds a B.S. in Applied Computer Science and Business from Illinois State University.

Eddy Ekstrom is Vice President of Data Science at Mainsail Partners, where he works with the firm and its portfolio companies on data science strategy and capabilities. Before joining Mainsail in 2026, he led data science, data engineering, AI, and ML teams at companies including Bill.com, Divvy, and Limble CMMS. He holds an MBA and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Utah and a B.S. in Computer Science from Brigham Young University.

Elia Barry joined Mainsail Partners in 2025 in an executive support role for Partners in the San Francisco office and remote mid-level executives. She previously spent nearly six years as an Executive Assistant at Kleiner Perkins, supported investment bankers at RBC Capital Markets, and coordinated administrative work for the Client Relations Group at Morrison & Foerster LLP. She holds a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount University.

Emily Dobroy is an Executive Assistant at Mainsail Partners, supporting senior and mid-level executives. She previously held operational roles in private equity, venture capital, and real estate, including Director of Operations at The Agency, a luxury real estate firm in Beverly Hills, and operations lead supporting the CEO at Disruptive, a late-stage technology investment firm. She earned a B.A. in Communications from California State University.

Erica Curello is Vice President of Business Development at Mainsail Partners, where she leads the firm's business development and partnership strategy and works with intermediaries to support sourcing. She previously held a business development role at Skyview Capital in Los Angeles and began her career in private equity on Marlin Equity Partners' business development team. She holds an M.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Biochemistry & Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego.

Hailey Dube is a Talent Analyst at Mainsail Partners, where she works with the Talent Team to help build C-suite and board-level leadership teams for the firm's portfolio companies. She previously worked at SPMB Executive Search, developing skills in GTM research, market analysis, and talent strategy. She holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley.

Immad Baig joined Mainsail Partners in 2017 and works with the VP of Finance and Controller on accounting and financial reporting for the firm's investment funds and management company. Before Mainsail, he was a Portfolio Accountant at State Street Corporation, handling cash flow forecasting, reporting, and fund reconciliations, and previously completed a summer financial training internship at Morgan Stanley. He holds a B.S. in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis.

Jack Davis is a Growth Manager at Mainsail Partners, where he supports portfolio companies through market research, go-to-market strategy, data analysis, and project management. He previously worked on the Global Operations team at BioLite, handling business intelligence, inventory planning, and data analysis, and before that in strategy consulting at Concentrix. He holds a Master of Science in Business Analytics from the University of Washington's Foster School of Business and a B.A. in Economics.

Jeniffer Agudelo joined Mainsail in 2025 and provides day-to-day support to members of the firm's executive team in the Austin office. She previously worked as an Executive Assistant in New York City across the fashion/photo, tech, and real estate industries. Most recently she was at Related Companies, a real estate development and acquisition firm, where she handled daily operations and supported senior executives in their Austin office.

Jess Bicknell joined Mainsail in 2023 and works with the firm's portfolio companies on customer experience and post-sale execution. She previously held customer experience, post-sale, and operational leadership roles at several SaaS companies, most recently as VP of Customer Success at LinkSquares, and served as COO of String Automotive (acquired by Experian in 2017), with earlier roles at Sakon and Semcasting following 15 years in advertising technology. She holds a B.A. in History and Philosophy & Religion from Colgate University.

Kaitlin DiDomenico joined Mainsail Partners in 2024, where she handles accounting and financial reporting for the firm's management company. She previously served as Controller at Treville Credit Company and Assistant Controller at Pennybacker Capital, and earlier worked at Ernst & Young and BDO. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Old Dominion University with a focus on Accounting and Business Analytics.

Kristy DelMuto leads brand and digital marketing at Mainsail Partners, focusing on content and communications aimed at founders, intermediaries and partners. Before Mainsail, she spent 12 years at LLR Partners building its private equity brand marketing function across deal sourcing, fundraising and recruiting. Earlier she handled communications and social media for NextGen Healthcare and led a technology, life sciences and private equity practice at PR firm Gregory FCA.

Lucy Bischof is a Talent Manager at Mainsail Partners, where she works with the Talent Team to help build C-suite and board-level leadership teams for the firm's portfolio companies. Before Mainsail, she was an Associate at True Search in San Francisco, supporting venture and private equity clients across the CEO & Board and Enterprise Technology practices. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Colgate University.

Lynn Atkinson is the Chief Operating Officer of Mainsail Partners, where she works with the firm's partners on strategy, investor relations, culture and team development, business and resource planning, and internal systems and processes. Before joining Mainsail, she spent over 20 years in leadership roles across financial services and technology-focused banking, including serving as global COO of State Street Global Advisors' defined contribution asset management business and holding investment banking positions at Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, and Citibank. She holds a B.S. in International Business from the University of Vermont and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business Administration.

Mason Escherich joined Mainsail Partners in 2024, where he supports portfolio company valuation, budgeting, fundraising, and financial reporting alongside the firm's finance team. He previously worked at Valuation Research Corporation providing valuations for private equity firms and their portfolio companies, and earlier worked in geotechnical engineering on civil infrastructure projects and served in the U.S. Marine Corps managing supply chain and logistics operations. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly and an M.S. in Finance from Santa Clara University.

Michael Casagrande is Legal Counsel at Mainsail, supporting the firm's professionals on legal matters related to firm and portfolio company operations. He previously practiced as an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP within its Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups, advising private equity sponsors and portfolio companies on buyouts, financings, exits, and other transactions, as well as corporate governance matters. He holds a degree from Skidmore College and a J.D. from Boston College Law School, where he served as an editor on the Boston College Law Review.

Rachel Byrne joined Mainsail Partners in 2023, where she works with portfolio company founders, CEOs, and boards to build and scale leadership teams and helps coordinate the firm's Leadership Acceleration Program (LEAP). Before Mainsail, she was a Graduate Assistant Coach for the Indiana University Swimming & Diving Team in the university's Athletic Department. She holds a BA in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University and an MBA in Finance from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Sam Cahoon joined Mainsail Partners in 2025, where he works with the Senior Director of Finance and the Finance Team on financial statement preparation and reporting for the firm's investment funds. He was previously an Engagement Manager at Standish Management, handling financial reporting and fund administration for venture capital and private equity firms. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of San Francisco and is a licensed CPA in California.

Tate Cook joined Mainsail Partners in 2018 and works with the firm's CFO and portfolio company leadership on financial planning, reporting, and analytics across the portfolio, with an emphasis on KPI rigor and data-driven decision making. Before Mainsail, he worked in KPMG's Valuation Services group on valuation engagements for financial reporting, tax, and strategic purposes. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and a minor in Economics from the University of Oregon.

Cathy Weist is Co-Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Alpha Wave. She previously was a partner at the law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel, working in its New York and London offices from 2007 to 2020 with a practice covering private funds, corporate transactions, and regulatory compliance, and earlier served as a corporate associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP. She is admitted to the New York bar and holds a B.S. in Communication from the University of Utah and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

CEO of Mint Ventures, featured in a podcast discussing how more women can start investing in female-led startups.

CIO at BBVA AM.

Blockchain veteran and co-founder of Chainlayer who has previously held roles in financial institutions including Rabobank and ING.