Fundraising Fox

Ash Rust

Investor

Managing Partner at Sterling Road

San Francisco, California

Writes $150K checks · typically $150K

About

Ash Rust is a founder-turned-first-check investor and Managing Partner of Sterling Road, focused on helping founders at the earliest stages; his investments include Serve Robotics, Hydra Host, and Starcloud. He previously co-founded and led SendHub, worked at Klout and OneRiot, advised Bullpen Capital, and was an EIR at Trinity Ventures, with a Masters in Computer Science from Oxford.

LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗
Latest on 𝕏

Ash Rust @ashrust

A Sterling Road founder was doing some testing in Northern Michigan and they were pretty surprised to see one of our signs. But it’s true, we are everywhere. https://t.co/S52JFYcfBT

Jul 31, 2026 · ♥ 4

Ash Rust @ashrust

The Dangers of a Hot Fundraising Market AI mega rounds have created a very founder friendly VC market at present. Some investors are starting to sound the alarm of a bubble. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the concerns, but these are the core arguments. 1. Worse https://t.co/pK645S4roV

Jul 30, 2026 · ♥ 2

Ash Rust @ashrust

How do you keep salespeople as salespeople for your company? No cap on commission. Having a cap can give companies more control, but then you can lose sales team members. It’s ok to let the sales team win if they win for the company. 🎧 Listen to The Startup Help Desk Podcast https://t.co/j3dN8xplAn

Jul 29, 2026 · ♥ 1

Experience

  1. Sterling RoadManaging Partnercurrent2017 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  2. Bullpen CapitalAdvisor2016 — 2019San Francisco Bay Area
  3. Trinity VenturesEIR2016 — 2017
  4. SendHubCofounder & CEO2011 — 2016Menlo Park, CA
  5. Klout (Acquired by Lithium)Product, Director of Ranking2010 — 2011San Francisco Bay Area
  6. OneRiot (Acquired by Walmart)Lead Relevance Engineer2009 — 2010
  7. CuilEngineer2008 — 2009
  8. BeforeDawnFounder & Managing Director2003 — 2008
  9. British Army2nd Lieutenant, Troop Commander2001 — 2002

Education

  1. Y Combinator2012
  2. University of OxfordDual MSc, Computer Science2005 — 2008
  3. Durham UniversityBSc, Artificial Intelligence2002 — 2005

Skills & more

Python57Staying Low, Moving Fast10Data Extraction6Text Mining4Algorithms20User Experience8Analysis3MySQL14Data Mining50Entrepreneurship69Machine Learning13Linux9
+5 moreJavaScriptHTMLHadoopProject ManagementSQL

From Ash's professional profile.

Same school

Also attended Y Combinator186

Akshat GoenkaInvestor at Moonfire VenturesJon XuGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorTed ChaiAssociate at Scale Venture PartnersLeo LuInvestor at Foundation CapitalMaroof AhmedFounder at Octopus VenturesYusuf SherwaniCo-Founder and CEO at Pelago; a Londoner living in New York City

+ 180 more

Also attended University of Oxford687

Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockMichael MoritzFormer Partner at Sequoia Capital; Senior Adviser at Sequoia HeritageBrad GerstnerFounder & CEO of Altimeter CapitalDominic JacquessonInvestor at Index VenturesErin Price-WrightInvestor at Index VenturesJan HammerInvestor at Index Ventures

+ 681 more

Also attended Durham University132

Bertie AykroydPartner at Mayfair Equity PartnersMaria DrobotInvestor at DN CapitalNaseem MoumeneVice President at NorthzoneJeppe ZinkPartner at NorthzoneHugo AdamsInvestor at Pembroke VCTChandar LalPartner at Mosaic Ventures

+ 126 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Bullpen Capital11

Wenz XingPrincipal at Permanent Capital VenturesPaul MartinoGeneral Partner, Co-Founder at Bullpen CapitalDuncan DavidsonGeneral Partner, Co-Founder at Bullpen CapitalEric WiesenGeneral Partner at Bullpen CapitalDillon LiangInvestor at BoxGroupJames ConlonPartner at Bullpen Capital

+ 5 more

Also worked at Trinity Ventures35

Lyle McCullochSVP of Finance at Trinity VenturesSally BlumenfeldVP, Controller at Trinity VenturesMelody MaExecutive Assistant and Lead Receptionist at Trinity VenturesKaran MehandruManaging Director at Madrona Venture GroupAmy ErrettInvestor at True VenturesAshu GargInvestor at Foundation Capital

+ 29 more

Also worked at Cuil1

Anna PattersonFounder and Managing Partner at Gradient Ventures

Also worked at British Army13

Mimi YagoubHead of Operations and Communications at One Way VenturesAlexander StevensVenture Partner at Planet A VenturesMartin RigbyManaging Director at ETCapitalPeter HorsburghFounder and Venture Partner Emeritus at ETF PartnersDan HynesPartner at AtomicoNigel SmithBusiness Development Executive - Jersey at Oakglen

+ 7 more

Colleagues at Sterling Road

Ben Chelf
General Partner at Sterling Road
Gus Tai
Partner at Sterling Road
Ho Nam
Managing Director at Sterling Road
Kat Mañalac
Partner at Sterling Road
Laura Sydell JD
Journalist & Writer at Sterling Road
Noel Fenton
Founding General Partner at Sterling Road
Rachel Gillum
Head of Policy at Sterling Road
Renske Lynde
General Partner at Sterling Road

Network8

Harry StebbingsScout
Founder at Stride VC
James J BesharaScout
Founder at James Beshara Fund
Mandeep SinghScout
Scout at Andreessen Horowitz
Anna Barber
Venture Partner at Everywhere Ventures
Brian Dixon
Managing Partner at Kapor Capital
Monique Woodard
Founder and Managing Director at Cake Ventures
Ooshma Garg
Co-Founder & CEO, Gobble at xfactor ventures
Rodney Appiah
Managing Partner at Cornerstone VC

Investors connected to Ash in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.