Leadership
Bazaarvoice's leadership team fuses a history of innovation with vast experience in eCommerce, multi-channel retail, and word of mouth marketing. With more than five decades of combined technology- meets-marketing know-how, Bazaarvoice's leadership team has the knowledge and expertise to create a bold new world of customer-to-customer communication.
Executive Leaders
- Brett Hurt Founder & CEOBrett Hurt Founder & CEO
Brett is the Founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice, where he is responsible for guiding the company's strategy. He is a seasoned CEO, and has been pioneering eCommerce innovations since 1998 and online communities since 1982.
Brett has extensive experience in the online marketing arena, especially as it pertains to the eCommerce industry. He founded Coremetrics in February 1999 after spending 10 years developing Internet-based software. Brett helped grow Coremetrics into the leading marketing analytics solution for the eCommerce industry, and Forrester Research rated Coremetrics #1 in the industry. Prior to Coremetrics, Brett was the founder and CEO of Hurt Technology Consulting and BodyMatrix, an online retailer of sports nutrition products. Before that, he was a consultant at Deloitte Consulting and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Brett has more than 15 years of Internet programming experience and has developed multiple software applications, including Internet marketing analysis solutions, eCommerce platforms, Web-based classroom management applications, virtual communities, multiplayer online games, and Bulletin Board System (BBS) software. He started programming when he was seven years old, launched a BBS on a 110-baud modem when he was ten, and created one of the first Internet-based multiplayer games in 1990. Brett holds an MBA in High-Tech Entrepreneurship from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin.
Brett was named Entrepreneur of the Year for Austin in 2009 and is a member of the Austin chapter of the international Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). He proudly served three terms over six years on the Board of Directors of Shop.org, the leading non-profit industry association for retailers online and a division of the National Retail Federation, the largest trade organization for retailers. He serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Wharton School, is an inventor (US Patent #7,050,989), and presents at various industry events and universities. Brett passionately speaks on and interviews other CEOs about how company culture drives performance. He has a long-term aspiration to write a book on the subject, with the working name How to Make Your Company Suck Less.
One of the few and incredibly proud, Brett’s a native Austinite and an enthusiastic supporter of both local businesses and entrepreneurs. He’s dedicated to an overall healthy lifestyle, and is a yoga practitioner and an aspiring vegan. A budding oenophile, red wine is an increasing area of passion (especially cult California reds).
Outside of Bazaarvoice, his biggest and most rewarding project is raising his two children with Debra, his incredible wife. And now there are two puppies in the household too, which adds to the fun (and, yes, chaos at times).
- Brant Barton Co-founder & Chief Innovation OfficerBrant Barton Co-founder & Chief Innovation Officer
As Chief Innovation Officer, Brant focuses on strategy, innovation, and culture, working closely with all key functions to execute our mission statement through new business and product opportunities, strategic partnerships, and internal initiatives. Brant has previously led Client Services and Business Development at Bazaarvoice. He has 13+ years of Internet industry experience and speaks frequently at industry, partner, and academic events on social media, customer centricity, and Bazaarvoice's corporate culture.
Prior to co-founding Bazaarvoice, Brant led the account services function at Coremetrics (now a division of IBM), a provider of web analytics and digital marketing solutions. At Coremetrics, Brant’s team serviced 400+ of the world’s most respected consumer and retail brands, consistently exceeding client satisfaction, product adoption, revenue retention, and measured ROI targets. Brant began his career at Sapient and has held founding management roles at two other Internet start-ups. He holds a B.S. in management information systems from the University of Alabama.
- Heather Brunner Chief Operating OfficerHeather Brunner Chief Operating Officer
Heather manages all day-to-day operations for Bazaarvoice, including providing guidance to all departments ensuring complete cross-organizational integration.
Heather has built a career delivering technology to create business value for both privately-funded new ventures and Fortune 500 companies. Before joining Bazaarvoice, Heather served as President and CEO of Nuvo, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trilogy and provider of managed network services, and she was previously COO for B-Side, a privately funded entertainment technology company. She has held various other executive management roles at leading technology companies, including Coremetrics, Trilogy, and Concero, where she led a team of 130 business and consulting professionals. She was also a practice director at Oracle, where she led the grounds-up development of the Central Texas enterprise sales and consulting practice, building an $18 million book of business in less than 18 months. She began her career at Accenture, where she ascended to Senior Manager in less than five years.
Heather holds a bachelor's degree in international economics from Trinity University, and the Austin Business Journal named her a 2010 Profiles in Power “Woman of Influence.” Heather is an active, decade long volunteer with the Capital Area United Way, serving on the Board of Directors and chairing the Community Impact Cabinet. In her free time, she enjoys time with her husband Brian and two wonderful daughters, Summer and Sienna, rocking out with her iPod at the gym, or attending yoga class.
- Mike Svatek Chief Product OfficerMike Svatek Chief Product Officer
Mike drives Bazaarvoice’s long-term product strategy. He and his team of product managers, product designers, and Bazaarvoice Labs work with global clients to understand their long-range business plans and ensure Bazaarvoice’s roadmap is strategically aligned with the world’s most respected brands.
Prior to joining Bazaarvoice, Mike was a founding executive at Baynote, a market leader in recommendations and social search. As the senior executive responsible for product management and marketing, he defined the core products and positioning and launched the company out of stealth mode. Mike oversaw the growth of Baynote’s products and markets, culminating in hundreds of customer deployments globally. Prior to Baynote, Mike was Director of Product Management at Interwoven, and he has held various leadership positions in marketing, product management, and application development at Cisco Systems, Dell, and ExxonMobil.
A frequent industry speaker and writer, Mike has been a guest lecturer at Stanford University and currently serves on the Information Management Advisory Board at The University of Texas McCombs School of Business. Mike holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and a BBA from UT’s McCombs School of Business.
When not at Bazaarvoice, Mike enjoys winning office pools for college football and pretending the NFL doesn’t exist in order to salvage his overall record. Mike is a proud native Austinite, whose love for technology and entrepreneurship took him to the San Francisco Bay Area for a decade where he developed a love of sushi and the outdoors. An avid runner and hiker, Mike can be found most weekends lost in the hills around Austin with his wife and two children.
- Mark Riggs General Manager, EuropeMark Riggs General Manager, Europe
Mark is responsible for all European business activities. He manages the European region and oversees strategic planning, business operations, and the management of key functions including sales, channels, services, and marketing.
Prior to the General Manager role, Mark spent nearly two years at Bazaarvoice as Chief Client Officer. He helped re-define what “service” means for SaaS companies and set the new standard assuring all clients maximize the impact of their consumers’ voices to realize measurable value from social commerce.
Prior to Bazaarvoice, he was at Endeca Technologies, Inc. During his four-year tenure, he created a global presence for Endeca through rapidly scaling their consulting, internal/external education, support, and client-care teams to 200 team members world-wide. Before Endeca, Mark was at Business Objects, where he was vice president of global services, first for North America and then for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During his five-year tenure, he led the consulting and training divisions in these regions overseeing 400 team members facilitating the company's growth from $300 million to $1.5 billion. Prior to Business Objects, Mark held leadership positions with Cambridge Technology Partners, where he was a founding member of the subsidiary Cambridge Management Consulting (CMC), and Electronic Data Systems. Mark attended both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Northern Arizona University and holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems with Magna Cum Laude honors.
Mark has lived in both Paris and London, but is a true native of the northeast U.S. and most recently from Boston. In his free time, Mark enjoys riding his Harley, playing golf, and training for marathons.
- Michael Osborne Chief Revenue OfficerMichael Osborne Chief Revenue Officer
Michael is responsible for driving Bazaarvoice's growth through expansion of the client base, partnerships, and revenue. Prior to joining Bazaarvoice, Michael served as Director of Client Services at Coremetrics where he led a large team of Account Executives and Account Analysts responsible for more than $30 million in annualized revenue. Michael and his team directly managed and grew the relationships with clients such as Bank of America, Victoria's Secret, Columbia House, and many more. Michael's expertise is in sales leadership, achieving growth goals, and building and motivating world-class teams of sales and service people coupled with a strong understanding of how online businesses operate.
Michael previously worked as Presales and Partner Manager at Trilogy Software, an enterprise software firm specializing in solving the most complex business problems through technology solutions. Michael worked directly with Accenture and IBM Global Services to facilitate Trilogy implementations across numerous financial services clients. Before that, Michael worked with companies such as Intel and Microsoft, leveraging his BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
When not in the office, Michael can be found on a golf course chasing that ever-elusive 80, or in his back yard playing fetch with his Jack Russell terrier, Icarus. Michael is an avid photographer and well versed in all things technological. When friends need a recommendation on which new gadget to buy or how to install the one they just bought, Michael is usually their first call. He's a self-proclaimed “Grill Master” and someone who just might be caught singing karaoke from time to time.
- Erin Mulligan Nelson Chief Marketing OfficerErin Mulligan Nelson Chief Marketing Officer
Erin Mulligan Nelson brings more than 20 years of customer-centric marketing experience to Bazaarvoice. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Erin is responsible for leading Bazaarvoice’s marketing strategy to help companies integrate social data, drive better business results and put customers at the center of their business. Her passion for leading purpose-driven organizations complements the company’s accelerated growth grounded in embracing customer conversations as the cornerstone of its business success.
She has overall responsibility for Bazaarvoice’s corporate and product marketing, communications, analyst relations, brand strategy, client marketing and business development.
Prior to joining Bazaarvoice in November 2010, Erin served as senior vice president and CMO for Dell Inc. She was responsible for customer relationship management, communications, brand, social media, core research and analytics and overall marketing agency management.
In 2010, the Advertising Federation of America honored Erin’s distinguished career and inducted her into The Advertising Hall of Achievement for demonstrating the power of ideals-led branding.
Before she became Dell’s CMO in January of 2009, she held leadership positions across marketing and sales in all of its business units, including spending three years in Europe as the company’s vice president of marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to her time with Dell, Erin worked in brand management at Procter & Gamble, corporate strategy at PepsiCo, and management consulting with A.T. Kearney.
Erin serves on the board of directors of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA). She is also a member of the University of Texas McCombs Business School Advisory Council.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration majoring in international business and marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.
- Stephen Collins Chief Financial Officer and Chief Innovation OfficerStephen Collins Chief Financial Officer and Chief Innovation Officer
As Chief Financial Officer at Bazaarvoice, Stephen is responsible for leading the finance and legal teams and providing strategic and operational leadership as a member of the executive leadership team.
He also is Chief Innovation Officer, leading the teams responsible for the company's new business and product opportunities as well as strategic partnerships.
Stephen has extensive leadership expertise and experience, particularly in developing and rapidly-growing markets. He entered the technology industry in 1997 as a member of the leadership team during the start-up and explosive growth phase at DoubleClick, Inc., recently acquired by Google for $3.1 billion. During his career in technology, Stephen has held the titles of CFO, CIO, COO, and CEO. Most recently, Stephen established Natchez Advisors, LLC to provide management advisory services and capital to early-stage technology companies based in Tennessee. As part of his Natchez Advisors activities, he served as interim CEO of the social commerce network start-up Moontoast, Inc., between May 2009 and April 2010.
Stephen completed his undergrad at the University of Alabama and stays actively involved with the University. He is a member of the University of Alabama Lifetime Giving Society and a member of Culverhouse School of Commerce Board of Visitors.
When Stephen is not dedicating his efforts to Bazaarvoice, he is an active USA Cycling Category 2 and Masters competitive cyclist, and founded TriStar Cycling Team, a 501(c)3 non-profit competitive cycling organization devoted to the education and training of junior cyclists in the Southeast United States.
- Bryan Barksdale General CounselBryan Barksdale General Counsel
As our General Counsel, Bryan leads our legal team to build a legal strategy that assists Bazaarvoice in achieving its key strategic goals and advises the company’s board and management on legal issues and corporate governance matters.
Over the course of his legal career, Bryan has built a corporate/securities practice focused on technology companies and the institutions that finance them. He has advised clients on a wide range of corporate and transactional matters, including formation, corporate governance, venture capital and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, and public company reporting obligations. Prior to joining Bazaarvoice, Bryan practiced law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he worked with Brett and Brant to incorporate Bazaarvoice and represented the company from its formation. Bryan also practiced law with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and Andrews Kurth.
Bryan holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.Ed. from the University of Mississippi. He earned his J.D. from Washington & Lee University, serving as Editor in Chief of the Washington & Lee Law Review and graduating magna cum laude and Order of the Coif. Outside of work, Bryan enjoys spending time with his wife and three sons, playing the guitar, mountain biking, fly fishing and cooking for family and friends.
