How WhatCounts and Riverside Partnered For Growth

Meet Dave Tiley and Allen Nance, two executives joined in an ambitious effort to build a company called WhatCounts into a dominant provider of email marketing services. In 2010, WhatCounts was acquired by private equity firm The Riverside Company, of which Tiley is an Operating Partner. Among Tiley’s responsibilities is supporting WhatCounts’ President and CEO Nance as he grows WhatCounts through add-on acquisitions and sales initiatives.

In a joint interview with Privcap, Tiley and Nance share candid details on how their partnership works. They discuss the genesis of WhatCounts’ decision to invite Riverside in as a partner, the limits of an entrepreneur-driven corporate environment, the frequency and nature of their communications with each other, and why entrepreneurs should not worry that a private equity owner will crimp their creativity and boldness as business builders.

WhatCounts/Riverside Timeline

2000  Founded in Atlanta Georgia as Mansell Group to provide web-based e-mail technology-enabled marketing through software-as-a-service platform

2010  Acquired by Riverside Micro-Cap Fund II
Mansell acquires WhatCounts. Combined company changes name to WhatCounts

2011  WhatCounts acquires Blue Sky Factory, an opt-in email marketing platform