FinancialForce has appointed Allen Seto as Chief Legal Officer. The press release stated that Seto would help FinancialForce through its next stage of growth. He will report to Scott Brown, CEO of FinancialForce. Brown commented, “I am thrilled to welcome Allen to the executive leadership team and look forward to leveraging his deep expertise as we continue to grow the company. Allen possesses the perfect combination of public and private experiences at scale that will help lead our company to the next level.”
Seto replaces Melissa Fruge, who was only in the role for 17 months and left in June 2021. She is now SVP and General Counsel at DISCO.
Seto has a broad experience beginning his career at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, where he dealt with a wide variety of corporate affairs. His more recent experience has been helping pre IPO technology companies through a sale process.
- He was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Silver Peak. He oversaw its sale to HPE for $925 million
- Vice President and General Counsel at publicly traded ShoreTel until its sale to Mitel Networks for $530 million
- Associate General Counsel at Taleo, where he advised the company through its $1.9 billion sale to Oracle Corporation
Seto commented, “I look forward to working closely with the executive leadership team and leveraging my experience to help FinancialForce through its next phase of growth. Leading the legal function of a company at this rate of growth is an exciting opportunity, and I am eager to play a role in building the future of the company.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Seto has broad experience. At Shoretel he led a global legal team. That experience will stand him in good stead at the rapidly expanding FinancialForce. There is one omission from his CV, and that is leading a company through to IPO. The question arises whether Brown is looking towards a possible sale, the obvious choice being Salesforce rather than an IPO.
If FinancialForce can prove itself on a wider global stage, it could go IPO or be acquired by Salesforce. The choice of Seto might indicate that the latter is more likely. Fruge, his predecessor, had greater experience of IPOs, which lends some support to this theory as well. Of course, it could also indicate that FinancialForce may itself look to acquire in 2022, to expand its portfolio.
