This episode features a conversation with Thoma Bravo Managing Partner Scott Crabill and Imprivata CEO Fran Rosch.
AIR DATE:
March 20, 2025
LENGTH:
10:47
DISCLAIMER:
This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an advertisement. Views expressed are those of the individuals and not necessarily the views of Thoma Bravo or its affiliates. Thoma Bravo funds generally hold interest in the companies discussed. This podcast should not be construed as an offer to solicit the purchase of any interest of any Thoma Bravo fund.
Transcript
[MUSIC IN]
SCOTT CRABILL:
Hi, I'm Scott Crabill, managing partner at Thoma Bravo. And this is Beyond the Deal. Our bonus episode of Thoma Bravo's Behind the Deal, and I'm here with Imprivata CEO Fran Rosch. So, Fran, we talked a little bit about Imprivata in Behind The Deal, but maybe you can give us a bit of an elevator pitch here for those who didn't listen to that episode.
FRAN ROSCH:
Sure. Imprivata is an access management company focused on health care and other mission-critical operations. We make it simple and safe primarily for clinicians to access sensitive patient information so they can provide great care.
SCOTT CRABILL:
Excellent. So I'd love to transition to talk a little bit more about you. And first, you know, how would you describe your style of leadership?
FRAN ROSCH:
So I think a couple of things. I think my style is pretty open and transparent. I really believe in if we share and give a lot of people enough information, right? They will be empowered to make the right decisions and move things forward—so open transparency. I think a second thing for me is I am ambitious, you know, and I'm a goal-driven person, and I like to create an organization that's very goal-driven and ambitious and accomplish a lot of things so I can push. And then the third is inquisitive. Like, I love to learn. I love to always ask questions and encourage everyone in the organization to ask questions and challenge that will get us to the, I think, the best spot in the end.
SCOTT CRABILL:
Did you have in your in your career a mentor, that you really learned your leadership style from or someone that you kind of, you know, patterned your leadership after?
FRAN ROSCH:
No. And I know a lot of people do. I’ve never really had that mentor. I’ve worked for a lot of great people, and I’ve worked for some people who I really felt weren’t that great. And I feel you learn from both the people you really admire and you can take things away from them, but also you see things you don’t want and you say “I’m not going to be like that” And, you know, I was at Symantec for eight years. We had five CEOs in eight years. So you see a little bit of everything in that time frame. So never a single mentor, but I think everybody is your mentor in a way. You are always watching and observing and saying, “I really like that. I’m going to take that with me, or I really don’t like that. And that’s not the way people should be treated. So I am never going to do that if I ever get an opportunity to lead.”
SCOTT CRABILL:
Yeah. Do you remember anything specific that you did not like or did not want to emulate?
FRAN ROSCH:
Oh, sure. I think that I saw organizations–I saw leaders that kind of put their energy in, like pitting internal teams against each other. And there was so much wasted energy kind of inside the company instead of outside focusing on customers, focusing on competition, focusing on winning in the market. Just that wasted energy of fighting internally because there was not clear direction from the top who was doing what.
SCOTT CRABILL:
Got it. I’ve heard you say that feedback is a gift. Have you you know, in the course of your career received any feedback from a boss or a peer? Or someone that you have worked with that’s really been helpful for you that you have leveraged as you’ve built your career?
FRAN ROSCH:
Thank you, Scott. I do really believe feedback is a gift, and I say that all the time at work, and somewhat I say it for the organization, but I also say it to remind myself because I don’t always take feedback very well. And I think we do have to realize that you don’t always have to act on it or take it. But I believe it is really important. And I think some of the best feedback that I received is that is to take time to listen and ask questions. When I go around and do a lot of employee roundtables, I will really spend three-quarters of it just asking questions and listening to what people say. Or when you go out and meet a customer, don’t go right into your pitch; take that time to ask and listen. And I think that’s been a great piece of feedback for me because I am a talker, and I love what I do, and I love my products, and I can just get into that sell mode right away. Just to step back and listen is a piece of feedback that I received. And I try to use a ton of leverage.
SCOTT CRABILL:
That is great. I heard someone mention the other day that the best CEOs are there to serve their direct reports and the people that are doing the functional work in the organization rather than for the people being there to serve them, which is–
FRAN ROSCH:
Absolutely, you know, I tell people I don’t really actually do any of the work, right? so my job is to enable the people who do the work and that kind of reverse pyramid of the most important people in the company are the ones that are interacting with the customers on a daily basis. And our job is to put them in a position of success.
SCOTT CRABILL:
Yeah. What is the most significant hurdle that you’ve overcome in your career? Anything comes to mind in terms of hurdles you’ve had to cross?
FRAN ROSCH:
Let’s see. Hurdles. I will give you one example. So when I was at Symantec, I was asked to– my whole career enterprise software and the CEO at the time again, and Mike Brown said, “We want you to run the consumer business unit,” which was Norton at the time. I knew nothing about consumer advertising or marketing. And it was a tough commoditizing business at times, actually shrinking single digit, though, very profitable. It was a great challenge. But we got together with a great team, and we learned a lot about consumer marketing, consumer services, consumer subscription models. And we turned that business to growth while continuing to increase the profitability. That was a big challenge. When you have 60 million subscribers, $2.5 billion of revenue, moving that, turning that machine, takes a while. But we did, and it was a great success.
SCOTT CRABILL:
Awesome. You’ve been working out of the Thoma Bravo offices for the last couple of days so I’ve had the opportunity to work just down the hall from you and I’ve seen you on lots of zooms, you’ve been on lots of calls and you went to lunch with the CEO of another security software company, exchanged some notes and exchanged some ideas.
So that’s been great. But when you’re, you know, back at the Imprivata office, what is a typical day look like for you?
FRAN ROSCH:
Typical day? Well, I am an early morning riser. I am not a great sleeper, unfortunately, so I’m up early. That first cup of coffee to me is priceless. Just a simple black coffee is priceless in the morning. I like to catch up on news. It’s a big thing. It’s some sort of exercise, whether that’s go to the gym or do a little yoga. And then I like to be at my desk early. I love my job. I love working, and I work a lot of hours. And, you know, that’s not right for everybody. But it always has been a really important part of my life. So I am at my desk early. I am typically leaving my desk late, and I like to pack my schedule. And as we were talking a little bit. The job of a CEO is not a job of isolation. It is a job of engaging with the team. So I spend a lot of my time in meetings and making sure people are moving things forward—any quiet time to look at strategy. But I really have a packed schedule. And so it is a very busy day, which I like.
SCOTT CRABILL:
Excellent. So, the last question for you. You are still young, but you’ve had a long and distinguished career. Is there anything that you know now that you wish you could tell your younger self as you were kind of getting started in the business?
FRAN ROSCH:
You know, I guess I would say, you know, anything possible. And I think that however we grew up, however we were taught, however we were raised, you may not think that everything is possible. You may think there are some limitations on what you can accomplish, and I really think anything is possible. And. I try to take that with me, try to communicate that to our teams. Let’s really raise the bar and reach for it because I think it is very much possible. How about you? I’ll turn that back to you. Anything that you wish you had known?
SCOTT CRABILL:
Well, first, just to comment on your advice to your younger self. I did have a mentor that had a similar philosophy. And it was a bit of a different spin. He said that every business problem is solvable, personal problems, sometimes, you know, those can be more difficult to solve. But every business problem is solvable if you break it down into its component parts and you get the right energy and the right people focused on the problem. So that is a corollary to your anything is possible.
FRAN ROSCH:
Yes.
SCOTT CRABILL:
But for me, I'd like to tell myself that it is all about people and being in the investment business–you focus so much on the products and the technology and the market and the financial trends, and those are all really, really important. But at the end of the day, the most important part is the people part. It’s the leadership at the companies getting that right, getting the right team on the field to execute on the is so, so important.
And many of the situations that I have had that have gone sideways or have gone south or have been more difficult or tougher to deal with, I think getting the right people in place is the panacea to improve those situations. And it is the same at Thoma Bravo and the organization, you know, making sure that we have the best people in the industry here that makes your job so much easier, 90% of the of the effort you know, will fall by the wayside if you have the right people.
FRAN ROSCH:
Yeah, the way that we say it starts with people. And a lot of times, you know, we think of A, our growth rate or profitability metrics or retention, and those are a result. Those are your resulting metrics. You’ve got to go further and say, “Okay, how am I going to get those?” It starts with people. You got to have the right people in place, and you got to have the right products and technologies, and you got to be able to sell them effectively and you got to support them. But it really does start with people, and then you will get those results and people go the opposite.
[MUSIC IN]
SCOTT CRABILL:
Yeah, for sure. Well, great. Well, that is the last question I had. It’s been great getting to know you and being on Beyond The Deal.
FRAN ROSCH:
Thank you, Scott. I appreciate the opportunity to be on Beyond The Deal.
[MUSIC OUT]
DISCLAIMER:
Certain statements about Thoma Bravo made by portfolio company executives are intended to illustrate Thoma Bravo's business relationship with such persons rather than Thoma Bravo's capabilities or expertise with respect to investment advisory services. Portfolio company executives were not compensated in connection with their podcast participation, although they generally receive compensation and investment opportunities in connection with their portfolio company roles and in certain cases are also owners of portfolio companies, securities and or investors in Thoma Bravo Funds. Such compensation and investments subject podcast participants to potential conflicts of interest.
