Get to know rasa.io
About Us
Core Purpose
At rasa.io our core purpose is: To Better Inform the World
The Core Purpose of an organization describes its “why” – the reason it exists. At a fundamental level, a Core Purpose must evoke a deeply and emotionally meaningful response across a broad swath of people far removed from the company. Check out our BHAG.
Core Values
Demand diversity in thought
We demand all of our team members seek out ideas beyond their own. Diverse ideas often come from diverse people and sources. We are creative and seek to turn over stones and solicit ideas from people who may not always be first to share them.
Simpler is better
Find the simplest possible way to solve each problem. Unnecessary steps, features, or processes must be cut with extreme discipline.
Tell it like it is
No matter what, say what you mean and mean what you say. Do this while practicing empathetic listening.
Learn by doing
We are not afraid to start things with little information or insight, experiment, fail, iterate and try again. We strive to find the best way to solve hard problems with a bias towards action. We work hard to share our learning along the way so that we can get better as individuals and as a team.
Measure it
If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Measure everything that you are shooting for and tell it like it is along the way.
Own it
As a team and as individuals, we own our individual outcomes end to end. When we sign up for something, we get it done. As a team, there is no “they,” there is only “us” and “we,” and we all own our success together. We vigorously debate our goals once we set them; even if we don’t all agree, we all own them together.
Celebrate success
Celebrating success means celebrating success and the steps that lead to the success. We embrace failures along the way and the need to start from a position of inexperience.
Company Culture
We’re a results-driven, goal-oriented company comprised of a collaborative, creative, and passionate team. We value employee growth, work-life balance, and each other — we share appreciation between team members regularly and enthusiastically.
Meet The Team
Amith Nagarajan
Executive Chairman and Founder
Amith has successfully started and scaled a number of technology companies over the past 3 decades. He is an entrepreneur who believes in the principles of Conscious Capitalism. Amith founded rasa.io to partner with brands to better inform the world using conscious business practices and cutting edge technology. Now, alongside our team at rasa.io, Amith works on developing AI to drive meaningful daily engagement between brands and their audiences via personalized content curation. For many years Amith has also been an active early stage investor in technology companies.
Erica Salm Rench
Chief Operating Officer
After working in enrollment management where she focused on recruitment strategy and marketing, Erica managed a team of online marketers at the largest digital marketing company in the Gulf South. There, she supported the web development, SEO, online advertising, and content marketing teams in executing strategies which elevated organizations to stand out and be seen amongst the chaos of the online marketplace. Now, as the COO at rasa.io, she gets to blend her love of digital marketing technology and email in order to support the incredible community of rasa.io customers.
Paul Christmann
Chief Innovation Officer
Building teams and building products. Paul Christmann started down the path of software development nearly 30 years ago, delivering solutions for the scheduling of aircraft maintenance for one of the largest US Airlines. He has since brought that same passion for solving problems to many different platforms and industries. Over the years, he has discovered an equally important passion: building software teams by creating environments that foster collaboration, and innovation. At rasa.io, Paul is blessed to work with a great group of developers who consistently challenge each other to never rest on our laurels, and always find new paths to further develop our skills and improve our ability to solve the problems of our users.
Chandra Bhushan
Director of Engineering
Software and Technology are the heart and blood of Chandra’s life. After working in Educational Services for 5 Years, he started down the path of software development. And that was nearly 20 years ago. Building new products and learning new technologies are two of his favorite hobbies. Over the years, he has built several products and led numerous teams. At rasa.io, Chandra is blessed to work with a truly fantastic group of developers. They consistently challenge each other to never rest on their laurels, always find new paths to develop their skills and consistently improve their ability to solve our users’ problems.
Vishal Sidhwani
Senior Software Developer
With a rich background spanning 15 years, Vishal Sidhwani is an expert in crafting robust and scalable software solutions. Throughout his career, he has excelled in leading development teams, driving innovation, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality software products. His passion for staying up-to-date on emerging technologies has enabled me to adapt quickly to industry trends, contributing to the success of numerous projects. Known for his quick thinking and problem-solving skills, he has dedicated himself to delivering excellence in software development and fostering collaborative environments for success.
Molly Phayer
Director of Customer Success & Product
Molly is originally from New Orleans, LA. She went to the University of Georgia in Athens and majored in Art History. After college, she worked for a furniture company as a Sales Manager and Showroom Coordinator. In that position, she learned many transferable skills that she was able to bring to rasa.io. Her favorite parts of managing customer success at rasa.io include setting goals with clients and seeing those goals be exceeded. She loves when a client is even more surprised with what rasa.io can do for them than they originally thought. She is also a key player on the product development team. She loves to vacation in Chicago (especially in the summer!) and North Carolina.
Elizabeth Crosby
Senior Manager, Partnerships
Elizabeth Crosby grew up in New Orleans, LA. She studied Communications Sciences at the University of Mississippi. She loves working with organizations that have a profound impact on the world, hence her role at rasa.io. She also loves helping clients to improve their workflow, she’s a master of efficiency and multi-tasking. Her love of client work has previously had her working with law firms. But she found her way into the startup world by co-founding a social media based coupon app with now patented technology. There are many things to love about New Orleans, but one of Elizabeth’s favorites is the food, particularly, the deep fried food.
Ali Tanenbaum
Customer Success Manager
Ali grew up in New Orleans and attended the University of Texas in Austin before earning a master’s degree in Communication Science and Disorders from LSUHSC in New Orleans. After nearly four years of practicing as a speech therapist, she shifted careers into marketing and technology. No matter where her career has led her, making a positive impact on people’s lives has always been a central passion of hers. As a Customer Success Manager at rasa.io, she continues this mission by helping clients learn how to use AI to simplify and improve their everyday tasks, empowering them to reach their goals and surpass expectations.
Harrison Galante
Account Executive
Harrison attended college at Tulane in New Orleans. He has extensive experience in technology partnerships and sales, and loves bridging the gap between emerging, disruptive, technologies and customers in need. His favorite part of rasa.io is learning about how AI can continue to help organizations around the world improve their workflows and deliver superior member engagement. In his free time he enjoys cooking, baking, and attempting to cultivate a green thumb, though he hasn’t too much luck just yet.
Ariana Sunjura
Junior Account Executive
Ariana grew up in San Pedro, California. She studied Experience Industry Management and Marketing at Cal Poly, SLO. During her time in school, she gained practical experience as an Events Assistant, executing successful events both locally and abroad. After graduation, Ariana joined rasa.io, driven by her love for travel and building new connections. She is energized by the fast-paced and dynamic environment of startups, where she has the opportunity to connect with clients and help them improve their workforce efficiency.
Kolton Xie
Senior Marketing Associate
Kolton grew up in Hawaii on the Big Island. He studied Marketing at the University of San Francisco. After college, he landed his first role here at rasa.io and got right into the nitty-gritty of everything rasa.io had to offer. He has a passion for trying new things and is always on the lookout for unique experiences. In his free time, Kolton can be found trying new foods, traveling to different destinations (when he can), and pushing himself out of his comfort zone. With a curious mind, he is always seeking to broaden his horizons and create new memories.
Jared Loftus
Strategic Advisor
Jared has been an entrepreneur his entire life. Whether in the world of artificial intelligence, education, or apparel, he’s always had an eye out for what’s coming next. He disrupted his own brick and mortar business in 2010 by selling it to focus on e-commerce. A year later, Forbes named him College Football’s Biggest Entrepreneur. In 2014, states around the country made a massive shift in secondary education accountability by making the ACT mandatory for all juniors. Three years later, he was helping lead the fastest growing ACT test prep company, and the organization was on the Inc 500 list twice. Today, Jared brings that same level of disruption to newsletters by applying artificial intelligence to the content curation process and delivering a truly unique newsletter to each subscriber.
rasa.io was developed with support from Louisiana Economic Development’s Office of Entertainment Industry Development.