About us

 

SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR,

DATA SCIENTIST, & INVESTOR

 
 
 

KEVIN NOVAK

  • Founder of Rackhouse VC

  • Uber's first head of Data Science

  • Inventor of Uber's dynamic pricing product

  • Chief Data Officer for Tala Financial

He served as Uber’s first Head of Data Science, its first Head of Data Science Platform, and was one of the early members of Uber Freight (Uber’s innovative freight marketplace). Kevin was the inventor of Uber’s dynamic pricing product, and holds several patents around GPS points processing, marketplace optimization products, and using data science to improve the mobile experience. He has also served as Chief Data Officer for Tala Financial, an alternative underwriting lender, helping the world recognize the creditworthiness of those without traditional financial identities. Kevin has invested in firms like Standard Cognition, Volley Automation, and several dozen others. He was one of the founders of the Greylock Data Science Community and regularly advises universities around the US on data science curricula.

 

jan crisostomo

Operating Partner

Jan was previously a partner at Neo where she advised portfolio companies on recruiting/people ops and oversaw strategic recruiting & community programs, including the Neo Scholars program. She proudly spent the last 15 years as an operator, building world-class recruiting functions for Sentry, Google, Dropbox, and Bessemer Venture Partners. When she's not crafting awkward third-person bios, she enjoys reading, coaching, and mindfulness. She is experienced in toddler negotiation, and is a certified Tantrum Whisperer. 

Priyanka rao

INVESTOR

Priyanka’s journey began in investment banking, where she specialized in tech-focused M&A before transitioning to a rotational strategy and operations management program at Yext. There, she honed her expertise in GTM, product strategy, and sales strategy. With operational experience under her belt, Priyanka founded Zequality, a B2B SaaS startup dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion for enterprises and universities through innovative solutions and data-driven insights where she was prior to joining Rackhouse. Priyanka is an avid golfer, Formula One enthusiast, and proud dog mom to a golden retriever.

Emma Michaelson

CHIEF EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Emma is a driving force behind Rackhouse’s exceptional efficiency. Drawing from a wealth of experience at Ernst & Young and Google, Emma is known for her exceptional organizational finesse and innovative problem-solving skills. Her meticulous orchestration of operations contributes daily to the seamless functioning and continued success of Rackhouse. Emma is also a certified health coach passionate about promoting holistic modalities to wellness. A writer at her core, she has aspirations to someday publish a children’s book. She stays informed on the forefront of psychedelic therapy, and as an avid traveler, yoga enthusiast, and culinary maestro, her diverse interests embody the energetic spirit she brings to every endeavor.

 

TONI ALEJANDRIA

Community

Toni is a leading community builder and experience designer with a background in marketing bringing years of experience with organizations including Summit Series, REALITY, and startups like Zenreach and Tilt. Her skills have brought her around the world working with partners and companies in countries including the United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, Israel, and more. She brings a unique approach to the Rackhouse team cultivating the LP and portfolio company communities and managing fund operations.

MOLLY NASKY

FRACTIONAL CFO

Molly is a fractional CFO and she advises firms ranging in size from $10M AUM to $800M AUM on matters related to accounting, tax, compliance and back office management.  She has worked in the venture industry for 25 years including 6 years as the original CFO at Techstars where she led the creation of the back office and finance function to support the growth of the global accelerator programs and related funds.  

KOFI ASANTE

VENTURE PARTNER

Kofi is the VP of Strategy and Business Development at Elroy air, an aerospace startup building an autonomous vertical take-off and landing system that can deliver 300 lbs of cargo over a 300-mile range. Prior to Elroy Air, Kofi was at Uber on the team that launched Uber freight. Kofi also serves as a board member at the Tufts Entrepreneurship Center.

 

david gorcey

VENTURE PARTNER

David Gorcey has nearly two decades of experience growing early stage technology startups in AdTech, AI, Developer Tooling & SaaS. In that time, he's closed partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, social media platforms, global digital media brands, and SaaS vendors. His expertise lies in enterprise partnerships, full cycle sales and business development execution, and GTM strategy.

David currently oversees enterprise partnerships at Stytch, and resides in Concord, CA with his wife, & daughter.

Zack Isaacson

VENTURE PARTNER

Zack Isaacson has spent his career building Venture Capital-backed startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, he runs Pac Heights Partners, a boutique agency helping build software engineering teams for deep tech startups. Previously, he co-founded Sweat Equity Ventures, a VC firm backed by Reid Hoffman. Prior, he worked at Sutter Hill Ventures building out early stage teams with Mike Speiser. Zack started his career in agencies and scaling Sumo Logic from two founders to a team of 350+ employees worldwide. 

Silvanus lee

VENTURE PARTNER

Silvanus Lee is a founder, investor and advisor to technology start-ups. He was previously co-founder and CTO of BasisAI (acquired 2021) — an Enterprise AI company headquartered in Singapore backed by Temasek and Sequoia Capital. Silvanus held tech leadership roles at a number of high-growth companies, including Twitter, Uber and Dropbox. Silvanus graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Computer Science, and is currently based in Singapore and San Francisco.

 
 

Pepper

Chief Barketing Officer

Pepper is the spirit behind Rackhouse making sure everyone takes their breaks and remembers to play. She loves treats, visitors, and playing in the backyard.