Altai Ventures

Melissa Beight is a Principal at Altai Ventures. She previously served as a Senior Manager at Vivaldi, a business transformation firm, advising B2B and B2C clients in automotive software, education, and financial services on go-to-market, business, and product strategy, and also worked with early-stage startups on MVP definition and pitch decks. Earlier she led user research, UX, product strategy, and design thinking at Motivate Design, and holds a BBA in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons School of Design.

Andrei Hagiu is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at Boston University's Questrom School of Business, and previously held faculty roles at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan. He holds a PhD in economics from Princeton University. His research and teaching center on platform businesses, and he advises and angel invests in startups building platforms and marketplaces.

Bill Marcoux serves as a senior advisor to Altai Ventures on insurance-industry matters, with 40 years of experience in the insurance sector. He founded WCM Advisory, LLC, and previously led DLA Piper's Corporate Insurance Practice and co-led the global insurance sector practice at Dewey & LeBoeuf in London and New York. He also holds roles with the Insurance Development Forum, the International Insurance Society, and an advisory committee at Michigan Law School.

Chris Mattice is an executive focused on customer service and operations. He has served for over 11 years as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Zappos, overseeing areas including customer loyalty, finance, strategy and analytics, supply chain and operations, pricing, and FBA operations. Earlier he was a founding member of Acclarent, an ENT medical device company acquired by Johnson & Johnson, where he oversaw customer service, HR, IT, operations, and finance. He is a graduate of Ohio State University's College of Business.

David Ferrucci is a computer scientist and entrepreneur who advises Altai Ventures on artificial intelligence. He led the IBM and academic team that developed the Watson computer system between 2007 and 2011, and later founded Elemental Cognition, where he served as CEO and Chief Scientist. He holds a B.S. in biology from Manhattan College and a Ph.D. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and worked at IBM from 1995 to 2012 before joining Bridgewater Associates.

Domenica Garvin is a user researcher on the Altai incubation team with two decades of experience in market and design research. She has worked with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, primarily in the financial and healthcare sectors, running mixed-method research programs and collaborating with design teams on product specifications and MVP concepts.

Gonzalve Bich is a business leader and strategic advisor with over 20 years of experience in global growth and operational transformation. He previously served as CEO of BIC, where he led a modernization effort that grew revenue past €2 billion, raised the annual innovation rate to 10% of Net Sales, and executed M&A adding Personal Care, Digital Writing, and Tattoo verticals; earlier at BIC he held roles in Business Development, Marketing, Innovation, and Global Operations. He began his career as a management consultant at Deloitte and now advises and invests in early-stage consumer brands, while lecturing at business schools in the US and Europe.

Jackie Xuan previously worked at Athene in the retirement services industry, where she focused on product development and M&A, helping launch Structured Settlements and Defined Contribution guaranteed income lines and executing a block reinsurance transaction with FWD Japan. Earlier she was a Corporate Strategy and M&A analyst at MassMutual, involved in transactions including the Great American (now MassMutual Ascend) acquisition. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Wellesley College.

Mark Payne is co-founder and CEO of Electric, a strategy, innovation, and ventures firm launched in New York in 2022. He previously co-founded and served as President of Fahrenheit 212, a global innovation consultancy started in 2002 that was acquired by Capgemini in 2016. He authored the book "How to Kill a Unicorn" and has spoken at institutions including Harvard Business School, MIT, Columbia, and Wharton.

Paul Ross joined Bridgewater in 2004, where he became a Partner and most recently served as Head of the Investment Engine, overseeing the firm's investment activity across a team of around 400 people. His earlier roles there included Co-Head of Client Service and Marketing and leading Digital Strategy and Transformation, building a client-facing digital research and analytics platform. He holds a degree in Economics from Harvard University and is also a Venture Partner at Switch Ventures.

Richard Booth is a Senior Venture Partner at Altai Ventures focused on insurance, and has advised insuretech companies since 2014. He previously served as Vice Chairman of Guy Carpenter & Company, as Chairman, President and CEO of HSB Group, and as Vice Chairman of AIG, and earlier held senior roles including President and COO of the Travelers Corporation. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's from the University of Hartford Barney School and holds CPA, CLU, and ChFC credentials.

Sanjiv Sobti has worked for over 30 years at Wall Street firms with a focus on financial services and banking. He held senior roles including Senior Managing Director at Bear, Stearns & Co., Managing Director and head of M&A for Financial Institutions at J.P. Morgan, and Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, and earlier worked at Goldman Sachs; since 2007 he has run an independent consulting business and advised Credit Suisse. He holds a B.A. from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Sid Singh is a repeat entrepreneur and strategist on Altai's incubation team, with experience building products and ventures across private equity portfolio companies and financial services. He co-founded Bolder Money, a financial coaching platform focused on the mental health of money, and earlier founded Made With Joy. His prior roles include a Founder Fellowship at Primary Venture Partners, mentoring at First Round Capital, and leading venture development and growth strategy at innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212. He holds a degree in Information Systems Engineering from Imperial College London.

Todd Ruppert is the founder and CEO of Ruppert International, a firm with global interests spanning education, financial services, technology, arts and entertainment, and strategy consulting. He spent over 40 years in financial services, retiring from T. Rowe Price, where he served as CEO and president of T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services and co-president of T. Rowe Price International, and later as a venture partner at Greenspring Associates. He chairs RSR Partners and holds board roles across a range of companies and organizations.

Tony Catalfano is a Venture Partner focused on payments, with roughly 25 years of experience in the payments industry. He was CEO of Worldpay, US from 2012 to 2016, where he co-founded Georgia Tech's Fintech Incubator, and previously held division president roles at Fiserv, which he joined in 2002 via its acquisition of EDS's Consumer Network Services business. He was the founding Chairman of the ATPC and holds a CPCU designation.