ABOUT US
We provide expert consultation, execution, and strategic investment, partnering with boards and management teams to enhance company performance.
DAVIN CUSHMAN, FOUNDER & CEO
Davin Cushman is a 25+ year software industry veteran, starting his career in 1996 with enterprise application pioneer Trilogy. Mr. Cushman’s Trilogy experience included working with Trilogy’s founder on strategies for inspiring innovation from some of the world’s most entrepreneurially-minded engineers. Mr. Cushman’s professional experience also includes roles in operations and workforce strategy with Capital One, a company with a powerful, founder-led culture. Mr. Cushman completed a 10+ year stint as CEO of ESW Capital owned Ignite Technologies, a privately held enterprise software company under which Mr. Cushman's team completed more than 40 mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Cushman also completed a 2+ year stint as CEO of SMG, Brightrose Software's first investment. He earned a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and AB from Princeton University and has served as a public company director.
Brightrose is powered by global leaders experienced in delivering results.
KRISTIN OELKE, MANAGING DIRECTOR
For more than 20 years, Ms. Oelke has been a B2B marketing executive defining and executing marketing growth strategies for technology and tech-enabled products and services. Throughout her career she has built brands for new and early stage companies, modernized go-to-market strategies for mature organizations and generated billions in sales pipeline supporting the success of both high-growth and late-stage businesses. In 2024, the marketing services firm she founded, Green Street Advisors, joined forces with Brightrose to assist more clients in navigating today’s changing B2B buyer trends with cost and time-efficient modern marketing capabilities. At Brightrose, Ms. Oelke directs Go-To-Market advisory services. She is the author of Trust: Unlocking B2B Growth in Today's AI World (2024 Amazon).
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.
