Christopher Gaffney

Chris Gaffney is a Managing Director and co-founder of Great Hill Partners, a Boston- and London-based private equity firm founded in 1998. Great Hill says it has raised more than $19 billion in commitments and invested in more than 100 companies since inception.

At Great Hill, Gaffney has been with the firm since 1998 and serves on both the Investment Committee and Executive Committee. His firm profile says his sector focus is business services and software. Paradox’s board profile adds that he is responsible for transaction origination, investment policy, fundraising, investor relations, and general management of Great Hill.

Before co-founding Great Hill, Gaffney was a General Partner at M/C Partners. He began his career as a Commercial Lending Officer at the First National Bank of Boston, in its specialized media lending unit. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics, summa cum laude, from Boston College.

Gaffney has worked in private equity since 1986. His Great Hill profile says he has served on more than 50 boards across companies ranging from seed-stage businesses to multi-billion-dollar public companies.

• Great Hill targets companies “beyond early stage” with 15%+ annual growth, investment sizes of $100 million to $750 million, enterprise value below $1.25 billion, and either majority or minority ownership structures.
• The firm’s core sectors are software, financial services, healthcare, consumer, and business services; Gaffney’s personal sector focus is business services and software.
• Gaffney’s own stated operating philosophy: “being a knowledgeable, active partner and good sounding board is as important as access to capital.”
• He says he admires executives with strategic thinking, competitive instincts, persistence, team-building ability, and smart risk-taking.
• Great Hill describes its approach as partnering with high-growth companies, applying sector expertise and value-creation strategies, and helping “industry insurgents” take share from incumbents.