Meet The Team

Our Story

To some, it may come as a shock that Mount started out as a bike lock company. Our CEO, Madison Rifkin started developing locks when she was 12 years old and patented her lock when she was just 15 years old. While at Northeastern University, she continued to work on her bike lock concept, which eventually developed into what we know as Mount. With her background in locks, she steered Mount toward the emerging micro-mobility industry, where she advised companies on locking solutions for electric bikes and scooters. It was through her consulting work, the present concept of Mount was born. Through consulting, Rifkin learned about travelers' usage of personal mobility solutions and the unit economics issues the micro-mobility industry faced.

Nearby at Boston University, Madison met and brought on Rishab Nayak as CTO and Co-founder to help build the Mount vision. Nayak brought his extensive background with designing cloud solutions and building enterprise applications to Mount. After numerous pivots, in 2020, Rifkin made the strategic decision to move away from locks and started offering scooters at Airbnb properties. During strategic conversations, Madison was also able to recruit short-term rental experts - Margot Lee Schmorak, the Co-founder and CEO of Hostfully, and Daniel Dubois, the Co-founder and President of Key, as advisors.

Our People

​Madison Rifkin CEO and Co-founder Why you chose to work at Mount: I love to travel and have stayed at countless Airbnbs. The thing all those Airbnbs were lacking, amenities. I wanted to rent a bike or scooter to get around town. The moment when everything clicked was when I was at an Airbnb in Amsterdam. They offered us bikes that came with our Airbnb rental. We used them to get around town and had a great experience. That’s when I looked into why all Airbnbs don't offer this and found out there was no real solution to help them offer these amenities. - Mount was born. Favorite vacay destination: Bergen, Norway	Rishab Nayak CTO and Co-founder Why you chose to work at Mount: As an avid biker and traveler, the very first thing I notice when traveling to a new destination is the lack of shared amenities, specifically personal mobility. As a technologist, I always thought of solutions to this problem - when Madi reached out to me to help her build Mount, I jumped on board to build out a team that creates an end-to-end solution for my fellow travelers! Go Mount! Favorite vacay destination: Biking through New Zealand
​Shonari Smith Director of Operations Why you chose to work at Mount: I joined Mount because I believe in our vision of improving travel experiences and making amenities readily available during stays. Favorite vacay destination: Barbados	Kennedy Williams Marketing Manager Why you chose to work at Mount: As an avid traveler, I have been yearning for something like Mount for years, so Mount's mission, is a mission that is personal to me! It’s such a surreal and unique experience working with a company that is on the cusp of something industry-changing. Favorite vacay destination: drop me off anywhere in the South of Spain and I'll be happy as a clam.
​Brett Laws Software Engineer Why you chose to work at Mount: I wanted to work with awesome people and make something that impacts the world! Favorite vacay destination: Literally anywhere secluded, peaceful and new.	Travis Moret Software Engineer Why you chose to work at Mount: Mount resonated with me because I saw an opportunity to work on a shared economy with like – minded teammates and fellow travel enthusiasts. I think the ideas behind Mount will help improve people’s lives and finances, and also have a larger environmental impact, which is very important to me. Favorite vacay destination: The Island of Kauai! I really enjoy the laid-back atmosphere, the beauty and the raw nature of the island.
Nicolas Rabow Software Engineer Why you chose to work at Mount: Some time ago, I was looking to invest in the STR market and had an idea that I thought would be too difficult to accomplish. The property we were looking at had a dock that could easily access the ocean. We wanted to buy a boat and let our guests use it. It proved problematic to do so for tons of reasons. Fast forward a few years and I discovered Mount while searching for a new career. I immediately reached out and was super excited to see that they were hiring. Mount solves an issue that all travelers would love to have solved. Favorite vacay destination: Chile (especially the south). This is arguably the most beautiful place on the planet.	​​Michael Steiner Design & Brand Advisor Why you chose to work at Mount: I met Madi after working for 7 years at Social Bicycles (employee #10) --> JUMP --> Uber as an Industrial Designer and Product Manager, and was excited to use my past experience to help Mount grow into an awesome product and platform! Favorite vacay destination: Tokyo, Japan (So far!)
Kaya Dlouchy UX/UI Designer Why you chose to work at Mount: I’ve always wanted to work for a start-up company and to work in UI/UX outside of small scale school projects–Mount gave me the perfect opportunity to do both for the next six months. I also feel that the overall goals of the company align with mine, so I know the work I will do can make a real impact! Favorite vacay destination: Any place with gorgeous views and delicious food is a winner to me–I’m happy to travel almost anywhere!	​Michael Fraser Strategic Finance Associate Why you chose to work at Mount: For as long as I can remember, I have always had an undying urge to travel. Every adventure I have ever been on included a bike, surfboard, ATV, ski, scooter, or kayak rental, allowing me to take full advantage of the surrounding area. I loved Mount’s vision and its ability to offer travelers new experiences that positively affect the quality of their trip. Favorite vacay destination: Peru
​Jesus Gonzalez Head of Sales Strategy Advisor Why you chose to work at Mount: The change and vision that the Mount platform can offer for property managers and hosts all over the globe. It's a solution the property managers and hosts wanted and needed. I absolutely love what Mount stands for! Favorite vacay destination: Anything that has wineries and beaches; you can go to the beach during the day and the winery at night. The occasional safari doesn’t hurt either!