Story In A Bottle Podcast
Rex Sorgatz

Rex Sorgatz is a jack-of-all-trades; self-described as a media collector, product strategist, creative technologist, culture hacker, writer, designer, advisor, and consultant, but who is currently spending his time as the Founder & Partner of Kinda Sorta Media.

 

He joined us for homemade cider, which he made and provided (a SIAB first), and told us about his very fascinating path; from starting as a Pultizer-prize winning journalist in North Dakota to working at a print magazine ABOUT the internet (yes, this is a thing), and how he became @fimoculous. From there, he’s made his way through different parts of the digital industry, with “view source and hack it backwards” beginnings, and offers a unique point of view because of it. At the end of the day, Rex is fighting the good fight to find the balance between being an expert or generalist (and probably both).

Rex’s musings can be found here and he also contributes to a Medium group dubbed the Message.

Direct download: Story_In_A_Bottle_-_Rex_Sorgatz_-_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Christina Mercando

Christina Mercando is the founder of Ringly, a wearable technology company based in Brooklyn, New York which launched in June of this year. However, with 10+ years in the technology industry, Christina has taken quite the interesting path to get here.

 

She joined us for sparkling wine and shared her early experiences in tech; helping her dad manufacture medical CD roms in their home in Irving, New York and her days working through video projects at HCI at Carnegie Mellon. Christina ultimately found her way into the professional realm working in the music marketing industry and finally doing user experience and design at Hunch, which was later acquired by Ebay.

 

However, Christina always had the ambition to do her own thing. Now, with Ringly, she’s able to take the lessons she’s learned in working in both large- and small-scale companies and continue to evolve with the future of technology. To other entrepreneurs: “take a risk if you can.”


To hear more from Christina, follow @jetpea on Twitter.

Direct download: SIAB_ChristinaMercando_final_20141119.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Tom Clifton

Tom Clifton is co-founder and head of B2B at Animoto, a subscription-based web and mobile platform that enables businesses and consumers to create dynamic, professional videos. Launched in 2007, Animoto has grown through several rounds of funding to over 10 million users and has won every major industry award, including two Webbys, a Crunchie, and a SXSW Interactive Award, as well as being chosen as Crain's Top 25 Best Places to Work in New York City.

 

However, getting to this point has not been without its many steps; Tom joined us for Negronis and told his story -- his tech beginnings as a 12 year old in Seattle pitching & building websites with his brother, an academic career including bible, computer science & music schools, and ultimately co-founding Animoto with a group of entrepreneur friends. All the while learning that building and working with a great team in order to make a great product is one of the keys to finding balance as an innovator.

For more on what Tom’s up to, check out @Animoto.

Direct download: SIAB_TomClifton_final_20141112.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Amanda Payton

Amanda Peyton is the co-founder of Grand St., a marketplace for creative technology that was recently acquired by Etsy. Peyton is a technologist at heart and has worked at the intersection of technology and design for her entire career. She is an alum of MIT Sloan, Northwestern & Y Combinator and currently lives in New York City. But that’s just scratching the surface.

 

Amanda “classed it up” with Bulleit Rye on the rocks and shared her beginnings as the “5th grader with the side hustle,” living in China, becoming the “queen of the geeks” in Texas, and ultimately her three-startup-strong experience. All the while maintaining a DIY, entrepreneurial spirit and embracing the mess of the startup world by seizing the opportunities it has to offer. Her story is certainly as bold and strong as her drink of choice - cheers!


You can check out more of her musings on the internet via @amandapey.

Direct download: SIAB_AmandaPayton.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:03pm EDT

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