ABOUT US
We provide expert consultation, execution, and strategic investment, partnering with boards and management teams to enhance company performance.
Why Brightrose ?
Business software advisory and co-investment firm, founded in 2020 by veteran CEOs and experienced operating executives.
We support public companies, PE-backed firms, and founder-led startups with
custom solutions across the business lifecycle.
We specialize in urgent, high-stakes situations where
$5M–$100M revenue software firms must rapidly transform to succeed.
Experts in unlocking global remote talent and building distributed execution teams that scale with speed
and precision.
We deliver fast situation analysis and plug in fractional execs or expert teams to extend and elevate
internal capabilities.
Action-oriented by design, with deep experience aligning execution directly to the investment thesis to
drive returns.
The Brightrose Business Model
SPECIALIZED TALENT
Handpicked, PE- and family office-experienced global contractors across all corporate functions- ready to plug in fast.
FLEXIBLE
Scales with your needs - whether filling talent gaps, covering transitions, or extending value creation teams
on demand.
RAPID ACTIVATION
Fast, aligned deployment to meet critical priorities and timelines with precision and minimal ramp-up time.
DAVIN CUSHMAN, FOUNDER & CEO
Davin Cushman is a 25+ year software industry veteran, starting his career in 1996 with enterprise application pioneer Trilogy. Davin’s Trilogy experience included working with Trilogy’s founder on strategies for inspiring innovation from some of the world’s most entrepreneurially-minded engineers. His professional experience also includes roles in operations and workforce strategy with Capital One, a company with a powerful, founder-led culture. He also completed a 10+ year stint as CEO of ESW Capital–owned Ignite Technologies, a privately held enterprise software company under which his team completed more than 40 mergers and acquisitions. Davin also served as CEO of SMG, Brightrose Software’s first investment, for over two years. He earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and an AB from Princeton University, and he has served as a public company director.
Contact: davin.cushman@brightrose.com
Brightrose is powered by global leaders experienced in delivering results.
KRISTIN OELKE, MANAGING DIRECTOR
For more than 20 years, Kristin has been a B2B marketing executive defining and executing growth strategies for technology and tech-enabled products and services. She has built brands for early-stage companies, modernized GTM strategies for mature firms, and generated billions in sales pipeline—driving results for both high-growth and late-stage businesses. Trusted by CEOs and Boards for her practical insight and strategic guidance, she pioneered the fractional integrated model for delivering right-sized go-to-market capabilities to teams under pressure to transform and perform. In 2024, her firm Green Street Advisors joined Brightrose to help more clients adapt to today’s evolving B2B buyer. At Brightrose, she leads Go-To-Market advisory services and is a frequent speaker on the topic of her book, Trust: Unlocking B2B Growth in Today’s AI World (2024).
THE EX|XO NETWORK
Founded in 2021 by Davin Cushman and sponsored by Brightrose, ex|XO is the corporate alumni network for former Crossover associates, experts who worked within the many ESW Capital brands worldwide. Operating in 100+ countries, ex|XOers are world-class operators in Engineering, Dev Ops, SaaS Ops, Product, Services, Support, Sales, Marketing, and all the other functions of a high-performing software company. Trailblazers in global remote ways of working, ex|XOers developed remote-first collaboration expertise years before the rest of the world worked remote. Network members connect, collaborate and share best practices with a common perspective on how to "work smart" developed by one of the most operationally-optimized business software investment platforms in the world. Brightrose's initial software investment, SMG, brought on board more than 30 former Crossover associates as part of its transformation.