About Riff
What’s In A Name?
The name Riff comes from music… when you “riff” with another musician, you use subtle cues to learn how to come into harmony and balance with other members of the band. Riff uses this same idea to help small groups learn how to work better together online.
Why did we start Riff?
Riff Analytics arose from two pursuits — social science and social learning — that came together to form one big idea: using technologies and AI to enable better experiences when teams learn and work together. The Riff mission is to optimize team performance by helping people become more conscious of how they interact in small group settings and drive better outcomes.
Our team has over a century of experience between us, as educators, researchers, executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators. And, we’re all passionate about the Riff mission to work better together.
OUR TEAM
(Co-founder) Former VP at Pearson Education and edX; researcher and lecturer at MIT and BU Questrom School of Business
Beth Porter
CEO
(Co-founder) World-renowned data scientist and professor at MIT Media Lab
Alex "Sandy" Pentland
Senior Advisor
Entrepreneur, investor and fellow at MIT Media Lab and the Connection Science Institute
Douglas Kim
Board Member
(Co-founder) Fintech entrepreneur, author, and speaker; associate fellow Oxford University Said and lecturer at MIT
David Shrier
Board Observer
(Co-founder) Research associate and PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab
Dan Calacci
Scientific Advisor
Early stage investor, strategic advisor, and board member, EIR, Techstars Boston
Jennifer Jordan
Advisor
Technology ventures consultant, government contracts specialist, and senior executive
Steve Derezinski
Advisor
Founder at SendFriend, Global Justice Fellow at Yale.