| Jeffrey A. Bertelsen |
Jeffrey A. Bertelsen is currently the Chief Financial Officer at Rigetti Computing, Inc. He previously worked as the Treasurer, Vice President-Finance & Controller at Computer Network Technology Corp. from 1995 to 2005. From 2005 to 2022, he served as the Secretary, Chief Operating & Financial Officer at CyberOptics Corp. Mr. Bertelsen completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota. |
| Rick Danis |
Rick Danis is currently the President, CEO & General Counsel at Rigetti & Co., Inc. He is also currently serving as the Secretary & General Counsel at Rigetti Computing, Inc. In the past, he worked as the Director at F3 Nation, Inc. from 2020 to 2022. He has also held positions as the Secretary & General Counsel at Rightside Group Ltd., Senior Vice President at Leaf Group Ltd., Assistant General Counsel at Funko LLC from 2017 to 2018, and Secretary & Chief Legal Officer at Kymeta Corp. from 2018 to 2019. Mr. Danis completed his undergraduate degree at The Ohio University and his graduate degree at DePaul University College of Law. |
| David Rivas |
David Rivas is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Rigetti Computing, Inc. He previously held positions at Nokia Oyj as VP-Emerging Products, Product & Technology, Sun Microsystems, Inc. as Chief Technology Officer, a la Mobile, Inc. as Chief Technology Officer, and Bolt Threads, Inc. as Vice President-Engineering. From 2013 to 2015, he served as the President & Chief Operating Officer at Stage 3 Systems, Inc. Mr. Rivas completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of California San Diego. |
| Cathy L. McCarthy |
Cathy L. McCarthy is the founder and currently holds the position of Chairman at Recros Medica, Inc. which was founded in 2014. She is also currently the President & Chief Executive Officer at CrossTrack, Inc. since 2011, Chairman at Srg Instruments, Inc. since 2014, Chairman at Pixcell, Inc. since 2017, Independent Director at The Middleby Corp. since 2015, Director at Rigetti & Co., Inc., Director at Rigetti Computing, Inc. since 2022, Member-Governors Board at Aerospace Industries Association since 2011, and Partner at SRGI Holdings LLC since 2013. Ms. McCarthy's former positions include President & Chief Executive Officer at SM&A, Inc. from 2008 to 2011, Chairman at PixCell Medical Technologies Ltd., Director at Thermage, Inc. from 2007 to 2009, Director at Project Planning, Inc., Director at Operation Homefront, Inc., Director at Cardno EM-Assist, Inc., Director at Goodwill Industries of Orange County, California, Independent Director at Solta Medical, Inc. from 2007 to 2014, Chief Financial Officer at Giant Group Ltd., Vice President-High Leveraged Transaction Group at Mellon Bank, NA, Chief Financial Officer at Wherehouse Entertainment, Inc., and Chief Financial Officer, Secretary & Executive VP at PIA Merchandising Services, Inc. |
| Taryn Jogi Naidu |
Taryn Jogi Naidu is currently the Director at System1, Inc. and the President at eNom, Inc. Additionally, Mr. Naidu is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Arrington Capital Management LLC. Previously, Mr. Naidu served as the Chief Executive Officer & Director at Rightside Group Ltd. from 2006 to 2017. Mr. Naidu also held the position of Chief Executive Officer at Momentous Corp. in 2006. Mr. Naidu was the President & Chief Executive Officer at Pool.com, Inc. Mr. Naidu served as the Executive Vice President-Domain Services at Leaf Group Ltd. from 2013 to 2014. Mr. Naidu was also the Chief Operating Officer at Rigetti & Co., Inc. Furthermore, Mr. Naidu briefly served as the Chief Operating Officer at Rigetti Computing, Inc. in 2022. Mr. Naidu obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Regina. |
| Thomas J. Iannotti |
Thomas J. Iannotti is currently the Independent Chairman at Applied Materials, Inc. since 2017 and the Non-Executive Chairman at Rigetti Computing, Inc. since 2023. Previously, he served as an Independent Director at Atento SA from 2014 to 2019. He also held the position of Vice President & GM-EMEA Customer Services at Compaq Computer Corp. Additionally, he worked at Digital Equipment Corp. as a Principal from 1978 to 2002. From 2002 to 2011, he was the Senior VP & General Manager-Enterprise Services at HP, Inc. Mr. Iannotti completed his undergraduate degree at Rhode Island College. |
| Subodh K. Kulkarni |
Subodh K. Kulkarni is currently the President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Rigetti Computing, Inc. He is also the Chairman at Prism Computational Sciences, Inc. and an Independent Director at Key Tronic Corp. Additionally, he serves as a Director at the Minnesota High Tech Association. Previously, Dr. Kulkarni held the positions of President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at CyberOptics Corp. from 2009 to 2022. He was a Senior Engineer at International Business Machines Corp. from 1990 to 1992 and a Senior Research Engineer at 3M Co. from 1992 to 1996. From 1996 to 2012, he worked at GlassBridge Enterprises, Inc. as the CTO & Senior VP-Emerging Business. Dr. Kulkarni obtained his graduate and doctorate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1989, respectively. He also holds an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, which he received in 1985. |
| David Jordan Cowan |
David Cowan is one of the world’s leading investors, having funded Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds that led to over 30 IPOs. David was ranked sixth on the Midas List and tied for fourth in the Midas List of Hall of Fame.
Based in our Silicon Valley office, David launched Bessemer's practices in cloud, cybersecurity, consumer internet, gaming, space, and quantum computing. Known for taking chances on the unorthodox, David’s early stage bets include Twitch (acquired by Amazon), Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), and Skybox Imaging (acquired by Google).
David has co-founded three cybersecurity companies incubated within Bessemer’s offices: VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN), serving as initial Chairman and CFO; Good Technology (fka Visto, acquired by Blackberry) serving as CEO; and Defense.net (acquired by F5).
He earned an AB in computer science / mathematics and an MBA, both from Harvard University. Today he serves on several non-profit boards including the Center for Inquiry and the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is the co-writer of the Silicon Valley mockumentary series “Bubbleproof,†and producer of the award-winning MTV Documentary film “Afghan Dreamers.†|
| Alissa M. Fitzgerald |
Alissa M. Fitzgerald is currently the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Member at A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates LLC. She is also a Director at Rigetti & Co., Inc. and an Independent Director at Rigetti Computing, Inc. Additionally, she serves as a Director at Transducer Research Foundation, Inc. Dr. Fitzgerald previously worked as a Director at MEMS & Sensors Industry Group from 2008 to 2014. She holds a doctorate degree from Stanford University and has completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
| Michael S. Clifton |
Michael S. Clifton is the founder of Supernova Partners Acquisition Co., Inc. (founded in 2020) and Supernova Partners Acquisition Co. II Ltd. (founded in 2020). He is currently the Chief Financial Officer & Director at Supernova Partners Acquisition Co III Ltd. (founded in 2020). In his current roles, Mr. Clifton is a Director at Syniverse Technologies LLC (since 2019), Rigetti & Co., Inc., Ancient Management LP, Rigetti Computing, Inc. (starting in 2022), Supernova Merger Sub, Inc., Rigetti Intermediate LLC, and Falfurrias Capital Partners (starting in 2022) where he holds the position of Independent Director, Managing Director, and Partner respectively. He is also the Chief Financial Officer at Supernova Partners II LLC. Previously, Mr. Clifton worked as a Director at ProKarma, Inc. and held the position of Vice President at The Carlyle Group LP (Corporate Private Equity). He also worked as a Principal at Banc of America Securities LLC, a Senior Associate at Brazos Private Equity Partners LLC, and an Associate at Arcapita Corporate Investment. Mr. Clifton completed his undergraduate studies at Davidson College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
| H. Gail Sandford |
H. Gail Sandford is currently the Principal Director-Business Transformation Office at The Aerospace Corp., the Director at Rigetti & Co., Inc., and the Independent Director at Rigetti Computing, Inc. Previously, she held positions as the Director-Proprietary Programs at Boeing Defense, Space & Security, the Vice President-Acquisitions & Partnerships at SM&A, Inc., the Chief Operating Officer at Recros Medica, Inc., and the Chief Operating Officer at Luminace. Ms. Sandford has a graduate degree from George Washington University, an MBA from the University of Southern California, and an undergraduate degree from North Georgia College & State University. |
| Ray O. Johnson |
Ray Johnson is an operating partner, living in Washington, DC. He joined Bessemer in 2015.
As the senior vice president for engineering, technology, and operations and CTO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation for nine years, Ray led more than 70,000 people, working on more than 4,000 programs that provided some of the nation’s most vital security systems. As an Air Force officer, Ray’s career included assignments in system and platform survivability, communications and electronics, laser systems design and analysis, electro-optic systems research and development, and command and control.
For seven consecutive years, Ray participated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings in Davos, Switzerland. During his tenure, he served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Space Security.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Ray holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University. He’s recognized in the Hall of Fame from the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology, and holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he received the Distinguished Alumni award. |
