Paul Mabray

I’ve been around the block when it comes to the intersection between wine and tech. Here’s the boilerplate about me. This Tumblr account is meant for me to be able to share some of that experience and my thoughts on the current state and future of wine online. The chops: Chief Strategy Officer - VinTank I have been in the wine and spirits industry for over seventeen years. I worked for Napa Ale Works, Niebaum~Coppola, WineShopper/Wine.com and also was the North American Beverage Consultant for Sumitomo Corporation of America from 2002 through 2005. I founded Inertia (now called IBG) in 2002 as one of the first major companies established to bridge the barrier between wineries and their customers. I was CEO from 2002 until 2008 creating the largest and most powerful e-commerce platform for the wine industry, the Rethink Engine. Under my leadership, Inertia created incredible new products for the wine industry to help open up the ability to sell and market direct including the innovative Direct to Trade, ReThink Compliance, Brix Open Source CMS, Marketplace Enablement, and many more. For my last six months at Inertia, I was Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Business Development in charge of creating key strategic direction, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. VinTank is a continuation of my desire to help revolutionize the wine industry through e-business and innovative digital products and marketing. I was a key contributor to the Inertia blog, a two time American Wine Blog Awards finalist, and I have also been a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, UC Davis and many other symposiums, seminars, blogs, and periodicals for some of the kooky thoughts I have regarding the wine industry. Formerly I sat on the Board of Directors for the leading wine business social network, Openwineconsortium.org, and the Board of Advisors for Snooth.com. I am currently on the Board of Directors for Cruvee.com and the Board of Advisors of Taste.com. I live in Napa with my son Finn. Find me on LinkedIn Follow me on Twitter! www.openwineconsortium.org/profile/PaulMabray