Rodrigo Carvalho, Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Rodrigo brings expertise in IT systems, eCommerce, Project Management, Client Relationship Management and previous entrepreneurial experience. Rodrigo holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business, where he was a Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow. Previously, Rodrigo worked as a process improvement engineer and as an IT consultant at IBM. While working for IBM he started two companies, one of which, is an eCommerce store that he still manages. Rodrigo was born in Brazil and moved to New York at the age of 16. He is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. With a commitment to integrity, Rodrigo ensures we're building the company with the right values in mind.

Lukas Bouvrie, Founder & Chief Customer Officer

Lukas brings expertise in Sales, Client Engagement, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology and an MBA at Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business where he was a Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows. Prior to joining Tepper, Lukas founded and managed an arts promotion company in Alaska, and was a Guide on the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal. In his free time, he seeks adventure in nature, climbing intimidating ice mountains, skiing the most dangerous virgin slopes, and flying bush planes. Always with a positive attitude, Lukas ensures our customers have a positive experience.

Francisco Uribe, Founder & Chief Technology Officer (and Orator)

Francisco brings with him expertise in Computer Programming (all languages), Project Management, and Entrepreneurship. He holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Chile, and a Masters of Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Francisco started programming at the age of 10 and has never let up. Before moving to the United States, Francisco founded Loudwords, an online social networking tool with a philanthropic platform. With a deep passion for technology, Francisco ensures our products are smart, fast and easy to use.

Rob Taylor, President & Chief Operating Officer

Rob brings two decades of entrepreneurial experience from numerous successful venture and IPO-funded startups. Previously, Rob was the founding COO and GM of now profitable TrueCar, Inc., where he helped raise over $200M in venture and strategic capital and earn customers like AAA, Consumer Reports, USAA, and American Express. Rob holds a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech and his MBA and MS from Northwestern University. When not working, Rob cycles in Texas Hill Country and enjoys the company of his family. With laser-like strategy and a wealth of experience, Rob ensures we are operating in a smart, efficient and scalable way.

Trebor Carpentor, Director of Engineering

Trebor has over 13 years of experience in Software Development and Engineering, leading teams at NetSpend, Lombardi Software (IBM), Apple and Tangoe. In addition to leading our engineering, he’s our in-house foodie with discriminating taste and an adventurous palate. We ask Trebor where to eat lunch and what his opinions are of the newest, hottest restaurants in town.

Hajin Choi, User Experience Designer

Hajin is a secret weapon. With her background in graphic design and her Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon, Hajin was BlackLocus’ first full-time hire. Hajin browses eye candy on the web for inspiration, though, we find her designs inspiring in and of themselves. When not focused on design and UX, she spends her time trying her hand at baking and cooking Korean cuisine for her little, growing family.

Matt Ferenbacher, Software Engineer

Working extensively with Java, C++, jquery and GWT, Matt has written code for IBM, the Advisory Company and Uplogix, to name a few. When not working, he’s probably recording voice overs for our videos. And if not doing that, our resident Eagle Scout is probably off camping somewhere remote, writing music for guitar or piano, or reading some classics, new modern fiction, Haruki Murakami, Kate Beaton, or David Foster Wallace.

Amanda McGuckin Hager, Director of Marketing

Amanda is fascinated and inspired by Marketing. Through her 20 years in Austin, she’s contributed to Dell, SolarWinds, NetQoS (CA), Pervasive Software, Product Camp, Celis Brewery, SXSW and a number of seed-stage start-ups. When she’s not doing yoga, she’s probably driving her boys all over Austin, tending to her home or trying to finish one of many books, like David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. We think Amanda knows everybody in town, but she insists she doesn’t.

Will Kim, Software Engineer

This Korean native and Madison, WI high school graduate knows multiple languages, and codes in JAVA, C, C++, ML, HTML, javascript, PHP, SQL, Matlab, Minitab and R, whew! Maybe he was influenced by Dooli, the Korean cartoon character, a green dinosaur frozen for over several million years at Antarctica. For, just like Dooli, Will can also speak and has the gift of magic! When not working, Will is a watching movies, playing his PlayStation3, or perhaps ingesting some technology and economic news from American and Korean sources.

Pavan Mallapragada, Researcher in Machine Learning

Meet Pavan, our MIT grad school alum and researcher in machine learning. Pavan happens to be a classically trained musician who is passionate about designing scalable algorithms to analyze various data modalities. (True Story.) An avid reader of philosophy, non-fiction and popular science, this University National Chess Champion and vegetarian is always looking for musicians interested in a jam session.

Anthony McCloskey, Software Engineer

Python, Django and Crossfit fan, Anthony also knows Java, Javascript, (reluctantly) Ruby and will gladly demonstrate the proper way to do a pull-up. He helped build health.walmart.com and The Baylor Information Network referred to in the movie Social Network. Anthony is a voracious reader of non-fiction books, social media, blogs and news sites. He’s also the 1st to hear about all hot happenings in town. We go to him for all the scene deets.

Raj Patel, Director of Sales

Our sales machine, Raj has over 15 years of technical sales experience with companies like the Pittsburgh Technology Council, Sun Microsystems and Eastern Systems. Raj is a big fan of technology - be it corporate network technology or home/audio technology. When he’s not working, he’s probably at the gym, playing drums, tending to his children, or reading non-fiction. We love that we have a resident Boston sports fan in Raj. Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins and Patriots = wicked awesome. (Don’t hold it against him.)

Silverton’s people-driven investment strategy leads them to collaborate with exceptional entrepreneurs who are committed to attacking growth markets with cutting-edge products or services. They have over three decades of venture experience, having been the start-up investors in market-leading companies such as Motive Communications, Silicon Labs, SMART Technologies, Tivoli Systems, and Waveset.

DFJ Mercury venture capital firm focuses on compelling and novel start-up opportunities, especially those with the ability to address large markets with a disruptive performance increase or cost decrease. With over $100 million under management, DFJ Mercury partners with founders with extraordinary technical talent to build globally competitive businesses.

“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people…”