Steven Van Ooyen

Author | SaaS Founder/CEO with Successful Exit | Growth-Stage Scale Leader | Trusted by Boards & Investors | Leadership Coach

Argyle, Texas, United States

About

Growth-driven SaaS CEO, Founder, and Board Leader with a proven record of taking technology businesses from inception to private equity acquisition. In 2020, I sold my GPS fleet tracking SaaS company to Accel-KKR, then led the integration and turnaround of a simultaneous acquisition through COVID โ€” delivering profitable growth in one of the most challenging markets on record. I combine ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ with board- and ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ-๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ, scaling ARR, optimizing GTM strategy, and building high-performance teams that thrive under pressure. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜๐—ต๐˜€ & ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€: ย ย โ€ข Scaling early- and growth-stage SaaS to $MM+ ARR ย ย โ€ข Designing and executing high-velocity GTM strategies ย ย โ€ข Driving M&A โ€” from assessment to integration ย ย โ€ข Leading operational turnarounds without sacrificing culture ย ย โ€ข Building sales engines with best-in-class retention and CAC payback ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€: ย ย โ€ข Built and sold SaaS business to PE at a strong multiple ย ย โ€ข 55%+ CAGR, 15โ€“20% EBITDA during high growth ย ย โ€ข Created inbound marketing & sales system producing 350+ SQLs/month with ~35% close rate ย ย โ€ข Achieved best-in-class retention (>7 years avg. customer life) without contracts ย ย โ€ข Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Companies honoree I excel where ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† โ€” investor-backed companies facing inflection points, market shifts, or scaling challenges. Whether preparing for exit, pivoting GTM, or integrating an acquisition, my focus is always ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜, ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต. If youโ€™re seeking a CEO who can lead both ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, deliver results under investor expectations, and build a market-leading culture โ€” letโ€™s connect.

Experience

  • CTO / Executive Vice President at JCR
    Oct 2025 - Present ยท 9 mos

    As EVP & CTO, this role supports JCRโ€™s continued growth by strengthening both technology capabilities and organizational effectiveness. The focus is on building scalable systems, disciplined operations, and leadership leverage to support a maturing organization. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) The CTO responsibility centers on modernizing JCRโ€™s technology environment to better support scale, efficiency, and long-term flexibility. Emphasis is placed on improving platform capability, reliability, and data support while ensuring technology investments align with business priorities and growth objectives. Executive Vice President (EVP) The EVP role focuses on helping mature the companyโ€™s operating model as the organization grows. This includes supporting financial oversight, improving cost awareness and resource allocation, and partnering with ownership and leadership on planning and performance management. The role also emphasizes organizational structure, leadership alignment, and process optimization to reduce friction and support sustainable growth. Across both roles, the objective is to build durable systems, disciplined operations, and accountable leadership that enable consistent performance and long-term value creation.

  • Business Coach & Speaker at Coach Steven Van Ooyen
    Aug 2021 - Present ยท 4 yrs 11 mos

    Executive Coach & Fractional CEO Steven Van Ooyen Coaching (Self-employed) Date started โ€“ Present As an experienced former SaaS founder and Fortune 100 leader now serving as a Certified Maxwell Team Coach, I help driven professionals and leaders unlock their potential and build thriving, high-growth organizations. ๐Ÿ”น What I Do: Executive & Leadership Coaching: Partnering 1:1 or in small cohorts to provide clarity, accountability, and breakthrough insights. Fractional CEO & Advisory: Taking the helm or advising in SaaS, healthcare, and tech venturesโ€”driving strategic growth, talent development, M&A readiness, and team alignment. Team Leadership Training & Keynotes: Delivering frameworks and hands-on sessions to cultivate consistent leadership excellence, healthy culture, and high-performing teams. Exit Strategy Coaching: Guiding founders through strategic exits, positioning their business for sale or acquisition with confidence and strong financial outcomes. ๐Ÿ”น Unique Value: Led a global team of 45 engineers at a Fortune 100 company Co-founded and sold a GPSโ€“tracking SaaS business to a private equity firm (Accelโ€ฏKKR), earning an Inc.โ€ฏ500 award Experienced in M&A integration, talent assessment, and scaling operations across organizations Works with tech and adjacent sectors, including SaaS, HR, healthcare, and consumer tech ๐Ÿ”น Approach: No fluffโ€”solutions grounded in real-world experience A supportive but candid partner whoโ€™s been in your shoes A blend of structured coaching, ad hoc support, and strategic vision A committed mentor who readily challenges and empowers you ๐Ÿ’ฌ โ€œThe best type of coach is one who's lived it.โ€ Letโ€™s connect to explore whether weโ€™re a fitโ€”and how I can help you exceed your own expectations.

  • Member at PEF Community
    Oct 2024 - Present ยท 1 yr 9 mos

    Community member.

  • Chairman of the Board at Toldaly
    Jan 2023 - Present ยท 3 yrs 6 mos

    Founder and Chairman of the Board

  • Fractional CEO - Executive Consultant at Contracted
    Aug 2021 - Sep 2025 ยท 4 yrs 2 mos

    Utilizing his experiences and skills as CEO, encompassing SaaS product development, B2B sales and marketing leadership and implementation, CRM design and implementation, and culture creation, Steven quickly diagnosis business challenges and works with leadership to quickly devise lasting solutions. Possessing personal experiences, failures, and successes, Steven can reference solutions and systems that produced real results in real business settings. Most Recent Deployments in Healthcare, SaaS, Software Development, and Human Resources - Attacks Challenges as an Owner Should: - Introduces and Leads Operational Excellence - Ensures Proper and Timely Financials - Drives Growth Through Efficient Marketing, Sales, & Customer Success - Develops an Effective Leadership Team - Successes - Multi-Location Healthcare Group - Revitalized Online Reputation - Resolved Operational Issues in Days - Retooled Financial Reporting - Optimized for Insurance Requirements - Implemented Effective Management & Leadership Principles and Practices - Developed Financial Oversight, Budgeting, and Forecasting - Launched Regular Scorecard Accountability Throughout the Organization - HR Technology - Led Team Through Product Direction for Revolutionary HR SaaS Product Resulting in Successful Launch - Led Formation to Launch of Social Media Platform Product - Capitalization, Corporate Initiation, Recap, Board Direction, Fund Raising, Product Direction, Team Where appropriate, Steven implements business systems like EOS or those espoused by Patrick Lencioni and others to aid owners and executives to implement the changes required to build world class organizations. Past clients include multi-office healthcare, HR technology, real estate, construction, SaaS, transportation, and fleet management companies.