alastair-rampell

Is Alastair Rampell the paranoid entrepreneur?

Chris Mohney ยท 02/27/07 02:00PM

Last week, we wondered at the paranoid startup entrepreneur who didn't want anything โ€” not his name, not his company's name, or any other identifying info โ€” mentioned in a Mercury News piece on Battery Ventures' Roger Lee. No one stepped up to the plate, so we'll make our own guess-hay. And we're looking at young Alastair Rampell of Trialpay.

In the Merc article, all we know about the mystery man is that he is 25 years old and has close-cropped hair. His company is six months old, has an office in downtown Mountain View, and has in fact taken money from Battery Ventures.

As you can see from the photo above (or from this one), Rampell certainly favors the close-cropped hair. Rampell is listed as being 19 years old in this September 2000 article in BusinessWeek, which would put him at or about the right age. Trialpay went beta in July 2006 (making it about six months old, in those terms) and is indeed located in Mountain View. And TrialPay got $3.1 million from Battery Ventures in December.

A circumstantial case, but a case nonetheless. Got a better clue? Say so.