Management Team

Ashwin Raj – CEO

Ashwin Raj is passionate about leading teams and scaling businesses that are built on true customer value. He is experienced in leading growth, profitability and innovation at high-growth and public companies. He led the rideshare business of Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) from 2021 to 2023, most recently as the Executive Vice President, Head of Rideshare. In this role, he oversaw the company’s core multi-billion-dollar revenue business unit and all central technology functions, and achieved adjusted EBITDA profitability. He joined Lyft in 2017 as Vice President, Payments and played a key role in Lyft becoming a public company. Following that, he was Vice President, Customer Platforms, where he led all related tech functions and managed Lyft’s variable costs.

Before Lyft, Ashwin was the Director of Amazon Pay in North America at Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and delivered more than 100% year-over-year growth and profitability of Amazon’s third-party commerce, payment, and identity services across multiple industry categories. He transformed Amazon Pay into a multi-billion-dollar business in less than two years by building a strong value proposition for online sellers and strategic partners. Prior to that, Ashwin held multiple leadership roles at Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V), specifically in emerging technologies, payments products, mobile payments, and strategic partnerships.

Ashwin holds a B.E. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Anna University, an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Briscoe Rodgers – Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer

Briscoe is a 5x entrepreneur. He founded, built, and successfully sold two software firms, Azuris Software and Lumis Studios. Briscoe co-founded Buzzpad to create real-time collaboration tools for corporate settings. In 2004, he founded PreferredTime, where he shifted his focus to collaboration between healthcare and pharma. ezCater is an off-shoot of that. Briscoe studied business and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. And, yes, along the way, he earned a few credits in IMDb.

Janine Allo – Chief People and Culture Officer

Janine is a passionate people leader with over 25 years of experience building high performance teams, leading organizational change, and inspiring employees to reach their highest potential. Most recently, Janine was VP of Global Talent for Flex International where she helped the 200,000-person global company through a critical company transformation. Prior to Flex, she was Chief People Officer at Wildflower Bread Company where she was responsible for all people functions and stewarding a fun, purpose-driven culture. Janine has a BS from Cornell University, a M.Ed from Harvard University and an Ed.D from the University of Vermont.

Josh Berg – Chief Product Officer

Josh has 15 years of experience in product management for high-growth e-commerce and marketplace leaders. Prior to ezCater, he built the consumer product organization at CarGurus and scaled it through their IPO and beyond, including leading the company’s strategic push into financing and digital retail. At Wayfair, Josh led the consumer product team across all brands, geographies, and platforms through their IPO, helping drive 3X revenue growth for the company during that time. Prior to Wayfair, Josh was a product manager at Vistaprint, managing key business lines and leading new product launches across a number of categories. Josh has a BBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan

Erin DeCesare – Chief Technology Officer

Erin has led technology portfolios for over 15 years, spending the better part of the last decade in e-commerce. As VP of Technology at Vistaprint, Erin led a large geographically distributed engineering organization through an agile transformation and transition to a microservices architecture. Her focus is connecting technology to business needs and fostering strong relationships across the organization. Erin also held roles in data and analytics, and she is experienced at leveraging data to drive a more powerful customer experience. Erin has a BA from Boston University and an MBA from Northeastern University.

David Meiselman – Chief Marketing Officer

David has spent 25 years building awareness and driving demand for innovative technology products. Most recently, he was VP of Digital Marketing and Demand Generation at Actifio, during a period of tremendous growth for the company. He has built award-winning marketing teams at four technology companies. At The Hanover, he developed web and social media strategies for the $5 billion insurance company. At Transparent Language, David built an online community of over 4 million language learners. David is a frequent participant in Boston-area marketing events and has lectured on web and social strategies at Clark University and Intelligent.ly. David has a BA and an MA from Johns Hopkins University.

Diane Musi – General Counsel

Diane has over 20 years of corporate legal experience, including over 10 years as General Counsel at both public and private companies. Prior to ezCater, Diane joined Care.com in 2011 as its first in-house counsel and GC to build out the legal function and help the business scale. As General Counsel, Diane led Care.com through its IPO in 2014, and oversaw all legal matters across the Company’s global operations. Prior to Care.com, Diane spent 11 years at Upromise, including four years as General Counsel, and four years as a corporate associate at Goodwin Procter LLP, where she specialized in M&A, VC financings, public company and general corporate law matters. Diane is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Mike O’Hanlon – Chief Partnership Officer

Mike O’Hanlon has over 20 years of experience in business development, partnerships and investment banking. At Wayfair, Mike spent 12 years as VP Corporate and Business Development where he developed key strategic partnerships with online marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, Staples and Tesco, media companies such as Hearst, Time and Conde Nast and leading consumer brands such as Sherwin-Williams and Mastercard. Mike founded and led Wayfair’s Media Solutions business, launched and served as GM of Wayfair’s European business, and led the company’s buying team where he built relationships with over 3,000 supplier/partners. Prior to Wayfair, Mike spent 11 years as an investment banker, and six years as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy. He earned an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Nihad Rahman – Chief Financial Officer

Nihad brings nearly two decades of finance and banking experience from General Electric and JP Morgan Chase. Prior to ezCater, Nihad covered emerging and established technology companies at JP Morgan’s Commercial Bank. He also led finance teams across the controllership, treasury, audit and FP&A disciplines in a series of expanding roles at General Electric. Nihad has a BS in Chemistry and Economics from Haverford College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Michelle Smart – Chief Customer Care Officer

Michelle has spent over 25 years driving improved customer experiences for technology companies. Michelle is passionate about the growth and wellbeing of her teams and the effectiveness and compassion in which customers are served. She spent 20 years of her career with R.R. Donnelley, where she created and led their Information Architecture function. Under her leadership, data and analytics became drivers of critical business decisions and insights to customer behaviors. As SVP, Global Business Solutions, Michelle implemented strategic global M&A programs, including international acquisitions, for the company. Prior to joining ezCater, as the business owner for R.R. Donnelley’s print management merchandising platform, she facilitated the increased share of wallet and improved customer experience with Fortune 1000 customers. Michelle has a BS from Southern New Hampshire University.

Diane Swint – Chief Revenue Officer

Diane brings more than 20 years of experience disrupting industries to deliver innovative customer experiences through technology. Prior to ezCater, Diane was Chief Revenue Officer at Lovepop, a digital-first consumer product company, where she led their business lines and more than doubled revenue. Prior to Lovepop, she spent eight years at Cimpress leading teams across sales, marketing, technology, manufacturing, and HR. Diane was a consultant at LEK Consulting and Monitor Deloitte, and she led teams at Gap Inc. and Procter & Gamble. Diane has degrees in economics and mathematical methods from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Board of Directors

Chris Cuddy – Chair

Chris has spent over 25 years building and growing private and public technology enabled companies with an international focus. Chris is currently Chief Commercial Officer of Fareportal. Most recently Chris was CEO of Cheapflights Media, Europe’s largest online flights search engine. Cheapflights was recognized by the Microsoft Tech Track 100 (unprecedented 7 time recipient), the PricewaterhouseCoopers Profit Track 100, and Deloitte Technology 500 EMEA. Previously, Chris was CEO of Engage (NASDAQ), a leading online advertising network. He has also held senior roles at CMGI, Computer Sciences, and Goldman Sachs. Chris earned his BS in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from George Washington University and MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. He serves as a screening committee member of Launchpad Venture Group.

Laura Born – Director

Laura has 30 years of experience in providing advice in corporate finance, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions. She spent nearly two decades in investment banking at JP Morgan, where she served as a Managing Director. She serves as the Audit Chair and a Director at Carlson Inc., a privately held company that has operated in the restaurant, hospitality, and travel industries, and currently operates a middle market private equity business. Laura is also an adjunct professor of finance at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. She holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and a BA from Duke University.

Beverly K. Carmichael – Director

Beverly has more than 25 years of leadership experience in technology, restaurants, airlines, and entertainment. She previously served as the top human resources executive at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Ticketmaster, and Southwest Airlines, and is a licensed attorney specializing in labor and employment law. Beverly currently serves on the Board of Directors for Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN), where she chairs the People, Culture and Compensation Committee and is a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee. She also is a Director and a member of the Human Resources Committee and the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee at Viad Corp (NYSE: VVI), a Director at Cotton Patch Café, and a Director at the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Beverly holds a BBA and JD from the University of Oklahoma.

Stefania Mallett – Co-Founder & Director

Stefania has spent over 25 years building and growing technology-enabled companies that solve real business problems. Stefania co-founded and successfully sold InSite Marketing Technology (now NASDAQ: KANA). Her tenure at National Logistics Management (a broker for $225M in transportation services) brought NLM to profitability for the first time in 4 years. At IntraNet (now NASDAQ:ACIW), Stefania revamped the firm and vaulted it to #1 in its market, a position it has maintained for 15+ years. At a dozen companies, she has held general management, marketing, sales, product management, support, and technical positions. Stefania also operates as a Director and advisor to many for-profit and non-profit firms. She has a BS and an MS from MIT.

Arsham Memarzadeh – Director

Arsham is a partner at Lightspeed’s growth investing practice, where he specializes in product-driven software companies. He has led the firm’s investments in companies like Personio, Axonius, Spiff, and Xentral.

Arsham previously spent five years in Boston at the expansion stage venture firm, OpenView. He’s backed companies across three continents, in unlikely geographies and led by unassuming entrepreneurs. Prior to investing, Arsham was a growth consultant, advising SaaS companies and helping analyze market and customer data to define product and GTM strategies.

Ashwin Raj – CEO & Director

Before Lyft, Ashwin was the Director of Amazon Pay in North America at Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and delivered more than 100% year-over-year growth and profitability of Amazon’s third-party commerce, payment, and identity services across multiple industry categories. He transformed Amazon Pay into a multi-billion-dollar business in less than two years by building a strong value proposition for online sellers and strategic partners. Prior to that, Ashwin held multiple leadership roles at Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V), specifically in emerging technologies, payments products, mobile payments, and strategic partnerships.

Briscoe Rodgers – Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer

Greg Stanger – Director

Greg is a General Partner within the growth equity investing platform of ICONIQ Capital, a global multi-family office and merchant bank for a group of influential families. He has been with the firm since 2015. He previously has been CFO of several companies, most notably Expedia during company’s IPO and subsequent growth to over $1 billion in revenue, and spent several years at Technology Crossover Ventures. Earlier in his career, he spent 8 years at Microsoft, most of which were in corporate development. He has served on the boards of Netflix, Kayak, Honest Company, drugstore.com, ezCater and several other companies. In addition he serves on the boards of the Yosemite Conservancy and Rocketship Education. Greg is a graduate of Williams College and holds an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Doug Suliman – Director

Doug Suliman is a private investor, merchant banker, and value creator. He currently is President of Breton Capital Management, a special situation private equity firm, and Managing Member of Breton Funding SE, which has majority control of SmartEquip, an e-commerce network service provider for global equipment manufacturers. Previously, Doug was Managing Member of NR Investments, an entity formed to invest in creditor claims. He served as Co-Chair/Executive Director of NationsRent, a construction equipment rental company. Doug has invested in and advised multiple restaurant and food companies, including Boston Market, Food Trends Acquisition Corp, Silver Diner, and Sweetgreen. Doug has served on numerous boards, and is currently on the Trust Board of Tufts Medical Center. Doug earned a BS from U Massachusetts-Amherst and an MBA at Northeastern.