Marco Polo Chief Revenue Officer Case Study

Marco Polo Network (TradeIX) partnered with Oakstone International on a retained basis to appoint a Chief Revenue Officer capable of building and executing a global go-to-market strategy ahead of full commercial scale. Despite limited live revenue at the time, Oakstone secured a proven enterprise SaaS revenue leader with deep experience selling complex, high-value solutions, completing the search within five weeks and laying the foundations for scalable global growth.

Trade IX/ Marco Polo Network Background

Search Background

The Challenge

The Successful Candidate’s Background

Result

Continued relationship

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Company Background

Marco Polo Network is a first-of-its-kind, supplier-friendly solution combining open account automation (AP and AR automation) with financing, B2B payments and ESG visibility.

Built for fast moving businesses who need to collaborate with thousands of suppliers to achieve their efficiency, inclusivity and working capital goals.

• Founded in 2015, by Andy Berti, Marcus Wade, Richard Tynan and Robert Barnes.

• HQ Dublin, Ireland. Approx 100 employees.

• Total Funding $16M (Series B)

• Digital supply chain transactions, payments, financing and ESG (SaaS)

Search Background

• TradeIX was looking for an experienced CRO with experience in building and executing their global go-to-market strategies.

• They wanted someone to help build their sales machine and optimise the cutting-edge technology they were developing.

• Retained agreement

The Challenge

• TradeIX was finalising the development of their technology and had orders in principal before the successful candidate joined. This made the opportunity hard to position to prospective candidates as there was limited existing revenue stream.

The Successful Candidates Background

• Extensive experience in leading SaaS vendors selling complex, high end, business-led solutions to large enterprise

• Previous employers include PriceFX and Ariba where the successful candidate was CRO, VP of EMEA and International VP.

Result

• The successful candidate was in Oakstone’s existing network from working with him while at PriceFX and Ariba.

• Rob Barnes (TradeIX CEO and hiring manager) met the candidate 3 times and offered them the opportunity.

• The search to sign time was 5 weeks.

Continued Relationship

• Oakstone maintains a strong relationship with TradeIX, however their hiring needs have been put on hold until their product is ready.

More about Oakstone and Marco Polo Network

• Why is enterprise sales experience critical in supply chain and payments SaaS?

  Supply chain finance, B2B payments, and ESG technology involve complex buying groups, high contract values, and long sales cycles. CROs in this space must understand enterprise decision-making and consultative solution selling.

• How did Oakstone successfully deliver a CRO hire so quickly?

  Oakstone leveraged its existing enterprise SaaS revenue network and proactively engaged senior leaders with relevant experience. The successful candidate was already known through Oakstone’s work in the fintech and procurement SaaS space.

• How can Oakstone support SaaS companies hiring global revenue executives?

  Oakstone International specialises in CRO and GTM leadership hiring for enterprise SaaS businesses, including companies in martech, procurement, supply chain, and payments, supporting appointments that accelerate global commercial scale.

I’m Hiring

Oakstone International are a specialised SaaS executive search and recruitment firm assisting companies globally. If you are looking for executive search assistance or would like to speak to a Divisional Director about future hiring assistance in EMEA, the US or APAC, contact Oakstone.

I’m Job Seeking

As a SaaS client-driven firm, we work exclusively for clients to find people with a specific set of skills and experience.

However, if you would like to submit your CV, it will be passed on to our divisional directors, and we will consider you for future roles that are appropriate to your background and goals.