YOUR DESTINATION FOR LOCAL ADVENTURES Rush49 is your online marketplace for unique experiences, adrenaline-pumping adventures, and exciting activities that suit any lifestyle. We offer competitive deals active in cities across the U.S. and Canada, all at an affordable price.
Vamsi "Kumar" Kotla
CEO/CO-FOUNDER
A serial Entrepreneur, Kumar excels in starting businesses in adverse conditions, making them successful by combining his technology and business education background with real world experiences. Established Teams in 4 different countries. Studied Computer Science @ USC Viterbi School of Engineering (Grad school) and completed his MBA from LMU with an emphasis on Information Science/Business Intelligence. He is also an aspiring amateur beach volleyball player.
Babak Mozaffari
PLATFORM ENGINEERING
Has two decades of experience in enterprise architecture, integration and application security.Authored multiple reference architectures with Engineering team at RedHat. Babak is responsible for near perfect uptime of Rush49 platform and is currently involved in scaling the platform to make it ready for a multiple fold increase in adoption and features.
Daniel Casale
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SALES
Proven leader in Sales and Management with 7 years in venture backed startups in the experience e-commerce space. Dan is responsible for many strategic partnerships at Rush49 and has developed and implemented a large portion of our current procedure in terms of direction and marketing. Studied Psychology @ Villanova University. Outside of work, Daniel is heavily involved in the eSports industry.
Brandon Byrne
ADVISOR CFO
Was VP of Finance and Administration at Curse which was acquired by Twitch. He then became CFO for Team Liquid, the largest eSports team in the world. He is now the CEO and co-founder of Opera Event a venture backed eSports marketing company. Brandon advises Rush49 on capital funding and on building synergies with eSports world.
Caroline Raffi
NATIONAL SALES EXECUTIVE
Caroline Raffi is a highly experienced and accomplished business professional and an entrepreneur with a proven successful track record in sales, business development, consumer behavior and marketing. Since earning her MBA from University of California Irvine, she has been a pillar of success for numerous startup companies through her channels of marketing, client relations, engagement, and revenue growth.
Lance Wawer
DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR
With over 25 years of experience, Lance has been involved with Digital Marketing since its inception. While working within a traditional media agency, he built a Internet division from scratch, managing accounts like CBS Television, Pfizer, Jack in The Box, Mercedes-Benz Dealers, and Samsung. Lance has since turned his talents to start-ups and small businesses, bringing the best practices of large budget accounts to help them build a strong foundation. Lance is also a sports enthusiast, musician, and Oxford comma advocate.
Murali Tammineni
DIRECTOR/CO-FOUNDER
Handled technology tasks and challenges from initial set up to launch of the products in SOA environment. He is currently employed at Verizon Wireless. Expert in architecting and managing technology products and services for diverse industries.
Loknath Benarjee
ENGINEERING MANAGER
Holds 13+ years of IT experience that spans across multiple technologies and projects. Successfully implements highly effective technology solutions for crucial front-end and back-end products for the Rush49 website and platform, using a wide range of hands-on skills. He has previously consulted for Northwestern Mutual, Sears, Bell Aliant and others on various IT projects.
Ben Cahan
LEAD DEVELOPER
Primary LAMP programmer and responsible for various designing and maintaining various back-end applications. Creator and co-founder of screenwriting s/w Final Draft which he sold to his partner for high 6 figures. He is a Computer Science Major from University of Maryland. Ben is also an avid biker and in the past has biked through Rocky Mountains twice with his dog in tow.
Jillian Lore
MARKETING EXECUTIVE
Leads Conventional and Unconventional Creative Marketing. Develops the implementation of affiliate, native, influencer, CPC, and guerrilla marketing. Well versed in ethnography, Jillian uses her knowledge of audiences for brand building, lead consultation, and guidance to customer targeting and acquisition. Graduated Pace University. Masters @ FIT NY.
Krishna Prasad
MARKETING EXECUTIVE
An 8-year veteran of Google India, with rich experience in diverse digital marketing areas. Successfully manages web marketing efforts and in the past has significantly increased quality lead conversions, traffic, ROI, brand awareness, from all sources, including organic search, paid search, and social media marketing.
Dave Bud
NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER
Drawing on years of winning experience, Dave flawlessly navigates the world of digital marketing, always seeking and finding new and better ways to add value to clients. One of Rush49's first employees, Dave knows our subscribers inside and out. Using that knowledge, he helps clients put their deals together.
Elizabeth Mallery
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Oversees client, customer, and company-facing projects, acting as liaison to Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and Account Management. Supervises the day to day operations for content and digital production. Graduated with a BFA in Printmedia @ School of The Art Institute, Chicago. Outside of Rush49, she is an illustrator, home cook, and comic con enthusiast.
Pawan Thapa
PRODUCTION ARTIST
A maverick Graphic Designer and pro video production technician. Pawan is responsible for keeping Rush49's creatives fresh and sharp, from bringing website creatives and marketing campaigns to life, to finding new solutions in UX Design and logistics. He is also an avid gamer and expert on guitar.
Hector Felix
CUSTOMER SERVICE & OFFICE MANAGER
Over 4 years Managerial experience in the Taxation Industry. Oversees customer care team. Office Manager and Customer Satisfaction Specialist. Studied Computer Science at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Avid traveler. Recently been to Iceland and hopes to plan another Europe trip to catch a Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge.
Emilie Arnau
SALES EXECUTIVE
Emilie Arnau is a Los Angeles native with over 5 years of sales experience in various industries. As a distinguished humanities graduate from Occidental College, Emilie believes understanding a client's vision and mission is a requisite to formulating a business plan that adds value to both parties. Emilie is inspired by her family, Grace Lee Boggs and Bell Hooks.
Adam Reichental
INVESTOR
An 8 year veteran in the 3D Printing and Esports industry, both of which are the core of his investment career. He spent 4 years at 3D Systems, the largest 3D Printing Company in the world at the time, developing their consumer division's marketing team and training resellers internationally. He then parlayed his love of 3D Printing with Esports, building out merchandising with Riot Games. Adam now sits on the Board of Directors for 3 companies to advise on capital fundraising, streamline organizational scaling, and optimize business models.
Annie Tenwick
NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Experienced sales professional who has earned multiple "Elite" awards for sales performance at Experian. Responsible for signing up the top racing companies in the country such as Spartan Racing, OC Marathon, and Others. She is a running fanatic and proud parent of Tommy the awesome dog!
Helen Queen Sulzer
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Highly skilled with a wide range of experience in Customer Service for over 6 years. Bachelor's degree holder majoring in Business Management and also received a diploma in Medical Transcription and Editing. Her favorite deal on Rush49 is the driving experience! She has been to Texas Motor Speedway many times to watch the races. She would love to take the wheel in a driving experience one day!
