HOLLY ROLLO
Three decades of transformational leadership experience serving the federal government, private equity, venture capital, and the B2B software industry from large, complex, multinational environments to early-stage startups and everything in between.
SECTOR EXPERIENCE
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Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Threat Detection & Response, Disaster Recovery, Integrated Risk Management, Identity & Access Management, Fraud & Risk Intelligence, Enterprise Business Applications (ERP, CRM & HRIS/HCM), Networking, Collaboration, Customer Experience (CX), SIEM/Big Data Analytics, Database, Storage, Middleware, and Infrastructure.
IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU!
Executive Profile
Holly Rollo is a strategic executive and transformational leader in the technology industry with a focus on B2B software company value creation and growth. She specializes in repositioning companies and transforming organizations at scale to meet the modern pace of innovation and dynamic customer expectations. Holly is currently the CEO & Principal of Surge Strategies, a strategic advisory firm that helps executives, boards and investors lead through major transformations, including digital and cyber disruptions, cloud pivots, workforce transformation, mission execution, and hyper growth.
She is also the best-selling author of the new book, Power of Surge: Five Ways to Supercharge Your B2B Software Business and Unleash Hidden Value. She is an industry thought leader and advisor on national security, cyber threats, workforce trends, digital transformation, and risk management.
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Ms. Rollo is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Dell Technologies/RSA and helped lead digital transformation and successful carveout to Symphony Technology Group from Dell in 2020.
Prior to RSA, Ms. Rollo served as CMO at Fortinet, helping the network security company reach $1B in revenue, and was Chief of Product Strategy and CMO at SumTotal Systems (HCM), a Vista Equity Partners company which was acquired by Skillsoft. She has held leadership positions at FireEye, which grew from $5B to $13B market cap during her tenure; SuccessFactors (HCM), which was acquired by SAP for $3.4B; Cisco leading SME market strategy; and at SAP, where she helped lead the GTM transformation into the SME market with its first cloud-based ERP platform. She spearheaded repositioning for Sybase BI leading to its acquisition by SAP for $5.8B, helped drive the utility computing product strategy at Veritas leading into its $13.5B acquisition by Symantec, and helped lead post-acquisition corporate development and strategic planning at IBM/Tivoli.
Teams under Ms. Rollo's leadership have been honored to receive awards for Operations Transformation and Global Customer Demand Center Transformation. She has contributed to publications such as Harvard Business Review and Forbes and has been a mainstage speaker at multiple, large-scale industry events. She is a board advisor and contributing lecturer at Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business, is a mentor and advocate for young women in technology, and graduated with honors from Santa Clara University.
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She is also an avid double-handed blue-water sailor and navigator.
Board & Advisory
Member Board of Directors, MYOB, a financial services cloud company in the KKR portfolio; Risk Management & Cyber Security Subcommittee
Strategic Advisor & LP, Ballistic Ventures, a Venture Capital firm focused solely on early-stage cybersecurity
Member Board of Advisors, Livingbridge and FFL Partners, both are private equity firms
Strategic Advisor, Resurface Labs, an API security company funded by Access Venture Partners, Pangea, a security API service, Scythe, an adversary emulation and cybersecurity service
Advisory Board Member, Panel Member, and Panel Chairman within the DoD for the US Federal Government
Previous Advisory Board Member, UJET, a cloud startup funded by Kleiner Perkins
Notable Clients, Pondurance, a managed services provider; Tenable, a public vulnerability risk management company; and RiskIQ, a security analytics SaaS company (acquired by Microsoft)
MY GOAL
Outcomes In Three Months...
I created Surge Strategies to fill an unmet need. Today’s progressive CEOs, founders and investors are taking a more aggressive posture to drive market momentum and generate demand to match the pace set by the cloud and digital era. Yet, you can’t get faster outcomes by applying legacy go to market methods or execution models designed for the past.
Creating higher SaaS multiples means applying strategy, agility and grit early when it comes to marketing, sales and customer success, but this can’t be done by using traditional enterprise methods that are too heavy and take too long to deliver results. Not only are you competing with bigger businesses with bigger budgets, finding marketing talent aligned to today’s realities and expectations continues to frustrate leaders and investors alike.
Whether you are a hyper-growth business, a start-up or a turnaround, the through lines are strategy, speed and impact next quarter - and you can’t wait for an enterprise-class GTM engine in a year. Surge delivers modern strategic advisory services designed to rapidly transform your market position in just three months, so you can focus on execution and get your desired outcomes quicker.
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TESTIMONIALS
Words From Clients
Check out what other say about my services
"Holly's a great transformational leader. She can boil down really complex business situations and apply methods to evolve business strategy, create unique market positioning and align GTM execution for the biggest impact. Plus, she's just fun to work with. "
Amit Yoran
CEO, Tenable
"I’ve been working with Holly in a couple different capacities. She’s impressive and knows her stuff. She’s a valuable voice on highly strategic discussions in the cybersecurity space but also digs in to drive action when and where it matters."
Ted Schlein
Partner Kleiner Perkins & Chairman, Ballistic Ventures
"Individuals who get both the art and science of marketing are rare. Holly is one of those leaders. She’s very strong operationally and can create and drive initiatives that not only emote to prospects and influencers but drive tangible business results and growth."
Rohit Ghai
CEO, RSA
"I have never worked with a marketing executive and strategist that has impressed me more. From strategy to jumping in to help hands-on to prove out the strategy, she is always willing to lead or demonstrate what needs to be done to be successful."
Doug Howard
CEO, Pondurance
"Holly brings the strategy, the science and the art of marketing together to drive outcomes fast. She’s truly a unicorn."
Niloofar Howe
Board Member, Investor & Entrepreneur, Razi Ventures
"Holly brings real discipline to her role as an executive marketing leader and she’s knowledgeable on all aspects from brand to demand gen and everything in between. She’s a savvy executive and one I hope to work with again in the future."
Bill Shaheen
Operating Executive, Evergreen Coast Capital
Strategic Value
GTM & Product Strategy Transformation
Digital Transformation & Pivot to Cloud
Strategic Marketing & Brand Repositioning
Hyper Growth, Rapid Scale, Pre- & Post- Transaction Business Transformation Cybersecurity & Risk Management Oversight
Global Internal Change Management Multinationals, Early Stage, Legacy Turnarounds Venture Capital & Private Equity Environments
Diversity Advocate & Executive Advisor/Coach
Modern Pricing & Packaging
Workforce Transformation and Organizational Development