Introducing the Livingbridge Software Advisory Board

Livingbridge is a leading private equity investor in software businesses. We look for disruptive solutions that will transform the way things are done and our job is to help these businesses reach their full potential. We’ve been doing it for 25 years and have the track record to prove it.

All of the software businesses we invest in, have had early success driven by a great product that customers love. At this point, management teams are typically faced with a unique set of scaling challenges which require industry specific expertise and support.

To that end, we are delighted to announce the Livingbridge Software Advisory Board – a group of world-class software operators who can support our investees with some of the toughest growth challenges they face.

The Livingbridge Software Advisory Board includes:

Phill Robinson (Chairman):

One of the most accomplished and successful figures in European software, Phill recently retired as Chief Executive Officer of Exact, where he remains a Non-Executive Director of its Supervisory Board. Previously Phill was the CEO and then Chairman of IRIS software which became the largest UK private equity software buyout in 2018. Prior to IRIS Phill was Chief Marketing Officer for salesforce.com. Phill will support Livingbridge investees with his extensive Board level experience, having led three successful exits and worked with several leading Private Equity firms over the last 15 years. Phill can help lead Strategy into execution, deliver M&A transactions, & enjoys building great software products that customers love.

Sanj Bhayro:

Sanj is a sales leader with 20 years of experience across SME, Mid-market and Enterprise sales strategies. He currently serves as Vice President, EMEA Sales for Intercom. Prior to this, Sanj was Vice President, Operations & Customer Growth, EMEA for Google Cloud and Chief Operating Officer, EMEA at Salesforce. Sanj will support with go-to-market and sales strategies across Livingbridge software investees.

Adrienne Gormley:

An expert in customer success, Adrienne has spent the majority of her recent career at Dropbox, leaving as Global VP of Customer Experience and Head of EMEA to join N26 as Chief Operating Officer in 2020. She recently left N26 and is focused on her plural career, which includes serving as Independent Non-Executive Director for Pleo and as Independent Board Director for Epidemic Sound. Adrienne will help with customer success strategies across the portfolio, and is currently working with the team at RealVNC, a 2021 Livingbridge investment.

Paul Smith:

Paul is one of the leading software sales executives in Europe, and an expert in scaling Enterprise software sales functions. He is currently Global Chief Commercial Officer at ServiceNow, following an eight-year stint as Executive Vice-President and UK General Manager of Salesforce. Paul’s expertise will be invaluable for Livingbridge investees building out their sales functions, supporting with team structures, hiring, compensation and sales strategies.

Charlie Pickering:

Charlie is an experienced Chief Technology Officer with over 20 years of experience working with PE-backed organisations, to build, and execute technical strategies that underpin their Vision. Charlie has a track record of successfully delivering software into the SME and enterprise markets for companies with complex product portfolios. While Charlie’s background is predominantly technology-based, his experience as a Product director has enabled him to guide organisations through the transition from legacy point application providers to SaaS-based solution providers. Charlie will help portfolio companies with their technology and product strategies, supporting their teams to turn market insight into commercial opportunities.

Simon Peet, Partner at Livingbridge, said:

“We are thrilled to be launching our Software Advisory Board, a group of high-calibre individuals from the industry whose capabilities are closely aligned with the common areas of value creation across our portfolio.”

Simon Hollingsworth, Partner at Livingbridge, said: “With this new pool of expertise at our fingertips, we will be able to deliver an increasingly compelling and differentiated proposition to both new and existing partners. We are honoured to be welcoming these renowned individuals into the fold.”

Phill Robinson, Chairman of the Livingbridge Software Advisory Board, added:

“I am thrilled to be chairing this new advisory board, comprised of exceptionally talented individuals who have excelled in their field. We look forward to working with Livingbridge to deliver long-term growth to its current investees, as well as identifying the best new opportunities in the sector.”

If you would like to discuss Livingbridge’s software capabilities further, please feel free to get in touch.