In this Podcast Episode

Rob McNealy takes time out at Defrag Conference 2008 to interview George Athannassov of WordFrame about how he got his start in enterprise social media software, as well as technology outsourcing to Bulgaria.

George Athannassov’s Bio

George started his first private company in 1993 and since then he is constantly involved in the IT sector. One of his companies - ConsultCommerce has been nominated by ZDNet as the developer of one of the best financial applications on the planet - LoanAmortizer. ConsultCommerce and ITBrix, companies where George is a managing partner have over 20 applications and online services that have over 25,000 customers spread all over the world. Almost all major banks and financial institutions are clients of LoanAmortizer while major government security organizations use TalkSpread.

The applications and services developed by the companies George is involved with include but are not limited to working time management and payroll solutions with ManuPlus and AutoPayRoll Applications, Online communication and collaboration - TalkSpread, NewzSpread and iNetMail, business process and revenue management with Cash Control Manager and PMA - Project Management App, financial applications with LoanManager, FloorPlan and LoanAmortizer, QView and QStat for Cisco’s Unified Contact Center, Freight Expert Software and Mobile devices software solutions and many others…

George and ITBrix funded Blogtronix in 2005 and was an active COO of the company till December 2007 when he sold his shares.

George’s and ITBrix’ latest endeavor is WordFrame Community Platform. WordFrame Community provides an out-of-the-box solution that allows teams to create Web communities for information sharing and document collaboration, benefits that help increase individual and team productivity. WordFrame Community is based on Microsoft asp.net 2.0 Framework. It includes IT resources such as community workspaces, blogs, user profiles, e-mail, document management, wiki, audio and video publishing, all secure and easily managed via a feature-rich administration shell. WordFrame Community enables users to locate distributed information quickly and efficiently, as well as connect to and work with others more productively.

George holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Business from the University of Plovdiv and have been managing software development companies since 1995.

In this Podcast Episode

Rob McNealy interviews Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV about the wine business, and the success of his fantastically popular webcast, The Thunder Show.

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Bio

Gary Vaynerchuk (VAY NER CHUK) is a 32 year old self-trained wine expert who is revolutionizing the wine industry. His webcast, “The Thunder Show”, on www.winelibrarytv.com, attracts over 80,000 viewers each day and his email queue typically holds 1,000 messages from obsessed fans, self-named “Vayniacs”. Gary’s cult-like following is the result of his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine. In the name of “expanding one’s palate”, Gary convinced Conan O’Brien to lick salted rocks and shared samples of dirt and grass with Ellen Degeneres. He routinely pans popular wines (even ones he sells at his 3-story New Jersey store, Wine Library). He even interrupts his webcasts with rants about his beloved New York Jets. This is not your typical wine expert.

His roots in wine tasting come honestly – his Russian immigrant parents owned a liquor store when he was growing up. Bored at the cash register, Gary began reading The Wine Spectator and books about wine and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. As a teenager, tasting wine was legally impossible, so Gary set out to train his palate “backwards”. To study various flavors associated with wine, Gary tasted obscure fruits and vegetables, along with earthly influences, including grass, dirt, rocks, tobacco and wood. “I probably consumed more New Jersey grass in my teens than any lawn mower.” By familiarizing himself with the numerous tastes that contributed to a specific wine, Gary was able to detect subtleties that an ordinary palate wouldn’t recognize.

With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ store, rebranding the family business as Wine Library and establishing himself as a respected expert. As the store’s only wine buyer, he sampled every wine that entered the store. Customers depended on Gary for his advice and within a four year time period, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $40 million business.

The Thunder Show has taken on a life of its own, attracting fans from 12 to 90 years old and reaching the maximum limit of 4,999 Facebook friends. Gary’s key goals (after owning the New York Jets) are twofold. “First, I want people to try different wines. How can you have a favorite if you only know a few? Second, I tell people to trust their palates. If a wine appeals to your palate, then it’s a good choice. Don’t feel pressured to like popular brands or what experts recommend. Buy what ‘brings the thunder’ for you.” Comical expressions used on the show, such as “Sniffy sniff” and “The Oakmonster” add to Gary’s identity as “the wine guy for the Average Joe.” In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Gary educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavors, and how to buy wine. Debunking myths — red vs. white, big name brands vs. independent growers — is another feature in Gary’s webcasts.

As the youngest winner of Marketwatch’s Business Award, Market Watch Leader at 27 and his recently launched first book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, Gary Vaynerchuk is an icon in his industry. In addition to stellar “street cred” among his fans, Gary is also highly respected in the wine industry and the corporate world. “Wine is a dynamic category that offers a new set of flavors and standards each year. There is so much to learn and appreciate regardless of price.” Gary’s unique identity as both a wine expert and a “real person” has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation.

In this Podcast Episode

Rob McNealy takes time out at Defrag Conference 2008 to interview Puneet Gupta about enterprise social networking software and his company, Connectbeam.

Puneet Gupta’s Bio

Puneet brings over 16 years of enterprise software experience to Connectbeam. Prior to founding Connectbeam, Puneet served as CEO of CourseCafe, an online social collaboration application company for researchers around the world to collaborate around academic and coursework related research. Prior to CourseCafe, Puneet was Director of Product Marketing at Selectica (NASDAQ: SLTC) - an enterprise sales and solutions pricing software company. During Puneet’s tenure the company grew from 70 employees to over 900, and had one of the top ten IPOs in Nasdaq’s history. Prior to Selectica, Puneet spent several years at Peoplesoft and Oracle Corporation in engineering and product marketing roles where he brought several new products to market. He received the Best Innovative Product of the Year award at Oracle.

Puneet holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from Ohio State University, Management of Technology from UC Berkeley, and MBA from Columbia University in New York.