Michael Speranza vs Ted Hawksford

Michael Speranza

CEO of Kantata

BIO: Michael Speranza is CEO of Kantata. He has more than 20 years of private equity experience leading several global software and services companies. He specializes in defining compelling product visions and scaling companies from $100 million towards $1 billion in annual revenue. Previously, Michael was CEO of Avolin, a global provider of CRM, e-commerce and IT software solutions formed after the successful divestiture of the business he had previously led at Aptean, a global provider of ERP and Supply Chain software. Under his leadership, the company successfully integrated more than a dozen new products and services into its portfolio and grew to $150 million in annual revenue. Michael began his career working as a systems analyst at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab then moved onto Deloitte Consulting. Later he joined Avero, a successful THLee start-up that pioneered SaaS-based business intelligence for the hospitality industry where he was one of the first ten employees. Michael then embarked on a 20-year career working with leading private equity firms, including Goldman Sachs, SilverLake Partners, Centerbridge Partners and Vista Equity Partners. Michael is originally from New York and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Ted Hawksford

CEO of LiquidPlanner

BIO: With 25 years of diverse professional experiences, Ted has accrued expertise in leading business transformations and developing teams to achieve large scale growth. His business-driven people strategies have been essential in helping companies achieve overall business goals, including sales growth, customer loyalty, and productivity gains as well as talent acquisition, retention, and experience. Before joining LiquidPlanner in February 2019, Ted was vice president of human resources at Restaurants Unlimited, Inc., where he contributed to leading organizational strategy, promoting operational effectiveness, and elevating team performance through innovative leadership. Ted’s prior roles include leadership capacities at Booking.com, Fluke Corporation, and Microsoft. Ted graduated from the University of Washington with an executive master of business administration and obtained his undergraduate degree in hospitality business management from Washington State University.