In the summer of 2008
The Godfather was at the local packie looking at the beer selection when he thought: “Well, I know I’ve had some of these – and some were better than others. I can’t remember which exactly were my favorites – and I really have no idea if I’d like any of these others beers! What I need is a way to track what I’ve had, what I think of them, and then have something tell me if I’m likely to enjoy all of these other beers.”
At that moment, The Beer Genome was born.
The Godfather realized right away that while he thought this was a great idea, he realized it was something he would not be able to do on his own. So he called up his good friend
The Business Brain and explained his vision.
For the next several months
The Business Brain spent his time learning everything he could about the beer industry. He worked to familiarize himself with the industry, who are the big players (other than the obvious answers like “Anheuser-Busch”), what role has the internet played in the beer world, and most importantly – is there a place for The Beer Genome. While it seemed like there definitely was a gap that The Beer Genome could fill, he couldn’t get past the feeling of “I need to know how we’ll make money before I want to invest more resources in this project.”
Because they weren’t feeling ready to take on the investment needed to hire someone to build their dream, the two of them realized they needed to find someone who could take over and build this thing from the ground up – in came
The Skipper.
The Godfather had known
The Skipper literally his entire life (he is in actuality his godfather) – and knew he had a business mind, understood databases, knew how to build websites, and of course – loved beer.
The Skipper was ready to come in and take over this project before he was officially asked to do so. He brought with him his long-time friend
The Social Savant – the two of them were ramping off a previous venture and realized that together they could turn The Beer Genome into a true player in the digital world of Beer.
Together they started creating The Beer Genome website, playing with different tools for interacting with the site, toying with how ratings would turn into recommendations, and overall brainstorming “what would make this the most fun and useful Beer site the world has ever seen”.
The Team (in order of appearance)
The Godfather
John “Mugg” Muggeridge graduated from MIT in 1980. Since that time he has worked at Fidelity Investments, where he has grown to the rank of Regional General Manager. Mugg always helps the team keep the big picture in mind – and makes sure everyone is pushing towards the joint big-picture goals they all share. He married his college sweetheart, Karen, and together they have raised two amazing daughters.
Mugg is an avid Red Sox fan, and always enjoys a good beer while watching the game. Some of Mugg’s favorite beers are
Newcastle,
Sam Adams Honey Porter, and
Murphy's Irish Stout.
Check out
Mugg’s profile to see what other beers he has been trying lately.
The Business Brain
Mike Kelly got a couple of degrees from MIT in 1983, and an MBA from Harvard in 1990. Mike has worked with a variety of start-ups and smaller business ventures – spending the last 10 years running private equity owned businesses. Mike pulls on his past experiences to help the team always keep the business aspects of The Beer Genome at the front of everyone’s minds, and help ensure these thoughts shape the actions they need to take. He and his wife, Sharon, have raised two wonderful daughters who are both away at college. Rah!
Mike is always looking for a new challenge, and has recently been enjoying the excitement of finding and trying new and sometimes interesting brews. A few of his favorites are
Guinness,
Chimay Première, and
Berkshire Traditional.
Check out
Mike’s profile to see what other beers he has been trying lately.
The Skipper
Connor Tyrrell graduated from Babson College in 2008, and since then has been working for Accenture. For the past five years he has been doing the occasional freelance consulting work. However, lately this has been replaced by his work on The Beer Genome. Connor applies the organization, high quality standards, and goal-oriented-planning from his full-time-job to help shape the work he does with The Beer Genome. He oversees all of the day-to-day activities of The Beer Genome, in addition to having built and maintaining the website.
Connor looks for a new beer everywhere he goes – if he sees something on the menu he’s never tried you can be darn sure that’s what he’s going to order. Some of his favorites are
Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat,
Blue Moon, and
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.
Check out
Connor’s profile to see what other beers he has been trying lately.
The Social Savant
Justin Unger graduated from Babson College in 2008. He’s now working for Market Platform Dynamics, a boutique consulting firm where he is able to exercise his entrepreneurial brain. Justin’s true online passion is in social networking, and as a result he’s always brainstorming new ways to improve the social aspects you experience here at The Beer Genome. If you see a “fun” feature on The Beer Genome, it likely spawned from Justin's creative mind.
Justin is as curious about beer as anyone can be, and enjoys the hunt of finding that special little something he hasn’t yet tried. Some of his favorites are
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA,
Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale, and
Long Trail Double Bag.
Check out
Justin’s profile to see what other beers he has been trying lately.
