Philip Soffer Principal, Go to Market

I’ve supported Turn/River as a portfolio company CEO, a limited partner (LP), and now as a team member. I’ve long admired how T/R applies rigorous analysis to guide each company while continually testing and refining strategies to deliver strong outcomes throughout the portfolio.

I bring a systematic yet personal approach to my role at T/R, pursuing our well-developed, data-driven approach but always open to insights that arise from novel situations. In concert with portfolio leadership and a remarkable T/R team, I lead go-to-market efforts, using our vetted playbooks to help portfolio companies achieve capital-efficient growth while delivering outstanding value to their customers.

My first experience in the software industry was as an early employee of Plumtree Software (now part of Oracle), where I oversaw product management, from shipping our first product to growing to nearly $100 million in revenue. I then joined Lithium Technologies (now Khoros), running engineering, product, and product marketing before joining an education collaboration startup called Piazza, launching it from under 10,000 active users to 500,000 in one year. Most recently, I was CEO of one of T/R’s portfolio companies, Test IO, where I increased revenue eightfold while executing a successful exit to EPAM Systems (NYSE: EPAM).

At this point in my journey, I’ve come to believe that my greatest professional accomplishments arise from the success of those I’ve hired or mentored. One notable example: I met an ambitious 21-year-old named Dominic Ang at UC Berkeley in 1999 and encouraged him to join Plumtree Software, even if his ultimate goal was to work in private equity or investment banking. I believed a solid foundation in software company operations would make him better at his job, which has worked out rather well.

Outside the office, you can find me spending time with my wife and three kids, buying groceries at The Berkeley Bowl, biking, skiing, or just walking around.