Key Management & Advisors
Ahin Thomas – Co-founder, President
What he does for VA: As co-founder and President, Ahin oversees all corporate activities.
Background: Prior to Vintners’ Alliance, Ahin was the Director, eCommerce for Sears Holdings. He holds his MBA from Wharton, BS from Georgetown University (Government). A Bay Area native, Ahin is also an experienced musician and songwriter. He has editorial control over the company bios and has, accordingly, declined to include a more colorful fact (aside from being wildly entertained by writing in the third person. Ahin enjoys that).
Anthony Severo – Chief Technology Officer
What he does for VA: Tony lays the foundation on all things technical — from the database build to our security measures, Tony is our tech ninja.
Background: As a partner at Vertical Spin, Tony has provided technical services to Fortune 500 companies and startups. Recent clients include Williams-Sonoma Inc., and Macy’s. In his free time, you can find him playing soccer or basketball.
Daniel Lopez – Technical Lead
What he does for VA: Daniel ensures that our day to day operations and technical implementations happen. He’s our power grid.
Background: Daniel has been in and around Business Intelligence for many years, including time at Yahoo!, Gap, and Hotwire. Daniel has been running away with the lead on our quote board. While you may not see a ‘when life gives you lemons, reach for the tequila’ inspiration poster anytime soon, we very much appreciated it.
Susan Quintana – Segmentation Architect
What she does for VA: Susan designed our segmentation engine, our methodologies, and how we’ve adapted our technology insights into the context of our wineries’ needs. She knows how marketing works.
Background: Susan is an accomplished Marketing executive. Prior to Vintners’ Alliance, she served at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. as Vice President, Marketing. There she was responsible for developing the direct marketing strategies that built four of Williams-Sonoma’s brands. Perhaps more impressive is her use of emoticons in day to day communications.
Sean Holcomb – Strategic Partnerships
What he does for VA: Sean is our point person for strategic accounts. That means he figures out what our partners’ actual needs are, how we can help today, and how those needs ought to inform the new products that we are bringing to market. He builds and sustains our industry relationships.
Background: Sean has spent the last decade helping wineries expand their direct to consumer businesses. He’s worked at Etude, Benziger, and his own consulting firm with clients like Frank Family Vineyards, Soter Vineyards, and Ehlers Estate. Sean stays in shape by running the Dipsea trail…. some people just get a gym membership.
Eddie Trask – Sales & Marketing
What he does for VA: Eddie is responsible for bringing new wineries into our company… and then making sure that they get the most out of our services. We like happy clients, and Eddie ensures that they stay that way.
Background: Eddie has worked his way through many facets of the industry with time at Wine Leverage, Wine By Design, and V. Sattui. We cannot confirm or deny reports that he was also recruited to guard Tony during pickup basketball games.