Varsha Rao – Tech Startup Guru
COUNTRY OF BIRTH
United StatesINDUSTRY
Startups, Technology, and HospitalityTOP ACHIEVEMENTS
Passionate About Technology
Varsha Rao is passionate about how the Internet and ecommerce can enhance the lives of people around the world. Her broad consumer tech experience spans co-founding a successful ecommerce cosmetics company to helping companies expand internationally and scaling marketplaces globally. Over her tenure as Head of Global Operations at Airbnb, the global community travel marketplace, she focused on a broad range of responsibilities, but in particular, geographical expansion, especially in Asia. Today, besides operating as an executive and entrepreneur, Rao is also an angel investor and startup mentor.
Launching a Career in the Online Industry
Varsha Rao was raised outside of Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating with degrees in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, she worked for two years at Wasserstein Perella, an investment bank in New York City. She then moved back to Boston where she completed an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. After completing her studies, Varsha joined McKinsey & Co as an Associate and eventually was promoted to Engagement Manager. Her passion for online businesses was sparked while she was consulting and developing digital strategies for her clients from consumer technology, new media and the telecommunications industries. During her tenure at McKinsey, she co-authored an article that appeared in the McKinsey Quarterly titled, ‘Internet Advertising – New Medium or Marketing Paradigm’.
Founding One of the First Internet Startups
Varsha Rao left McKinsey to found Eve.com, the first online cosmetics company with Mariam Naficy her business partner and former roommate. As Co-Founder of one of the earliest companies that traded online, Varsha was part of the digital movement that shaped the future of ecommerce.Growth at Scale
Between 2004 and 2008, Varsha Rao worked at Gap Inc, most notably as Vice President and General Manager of OldNavy.com, the online division of Old Navy. At Oldnavy.com she was responsible for coordinating several strategies to drive significant growth of the business. Varsha also gained experience on the content side when she worked as CEO of SingTel Digital Media, the leading telecoms company in Singapore. She was responsible for launching the lifestyle guide, inSing.com. Additionally, Varsha served as Senior Vice President at LivingSocial, where she had overall responsibility for international operations in Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America and led a global team of more than 2,000 employees.
Joining Airbnb
In 2013, Varsha Rao was appointed Head of Global Operations at Airbnb, where she worked until 2016. During her tenure there, she applied her scaling and international growth experience to support the company’s expansion initiatives. Varsha worked in several departments at the global community travel platform, including Trust and Safety, Customer Services, and International Markets. One of her main areas of focus was expanding Airbnb in Asian markets.Entrepreneurship Runs in the Family
Varsha Rao’s son, James Poetzscher, has been following in his mother’s footsteps. Like Rao, Poetzscher loves technology and seems to have shown a natural aptitude for it. He became a tech-focused entrepreneur while still in his teens and attending high school. Having developed a passion both for satellites and about the issue of climate change, Poetzscher sought to conduct his own research to gain a deeper understanding of the driving forces behind global warming. In the summer of 2019, Poetzscher interned at a satellite startup company where he helped program its iOS mobile app. After completing his internship, James Poetzscher continued his research and soon realized that it was nearly impossible to find software online to track the global concentration of methane. This inspired him on to look for a suitable software vendor that would work with him on building a website to track and clearly display the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants around the world. In March 2020, a representative of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) contacted Poetzscher to collaborate on creating maps of greenhouse gases with the goal of tracking changes during the lockdowns that resulted from the global pandemic. As a result, James Poetzscher’s work and maps featured in Greenhousempas.com have been featured in several notable articles.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Varsha Rao’s first company, Eve.com, sold for US$110 million in 2000.
- Named by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the ‘Most Influential Business Women’ in 2014.
- Lives with her husband, Cameron Poetzscher, and their children in the Bay Area of San Francisco.
