Brian Wiegand
CEO, Alice.com

overview

I am a serial entrepreneur that loves to bring new business models to market, build passionate teams, and deliver value to end consumers. In the past 12 years, I have founded and sold three different companies in the online space, generating nearly $100 million of shareholder value in the process. At work, I love to motivate and lead teams around a shared goal. I rarely sit at my desk. At home, I have a fantastic wife and two kids.

biography

I was born in Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For the past 12 years, I have used the Internet as a platform to start up and grow companies with new, disruptive value propositions. My first start-up was a company called BizFilings, which I co-founded in 1996. As the company’s President and CEO, I grew Business Filings from a business concept into the Internet’s leading Incorporation Services Company, without any outside capital investment. In 2002, I led and negotiated the private sale of the company to the global publishing company Wolters Kluwer.

I co-founded my second start up, NameProtect.com, with Mark McGuire in 1997. A vertical search engine company, NameProtect provided trademark research and digital brand protection services to a diverse and global customer base. The company was purchased by Corporation Services Company in a private transaction that was finalized in April, 2007.

My third start-up, Jellyfish.com, was also co-founded with Mark McGuire in June 2006. The Jellyfish.com shopping search engine—which introduced a new form of online advertising into the search market—was sold to Microsoft Corporation in October, 2007 to serve as the framework for the Microsoft Live Search cashback program. After the sale, I stayed on at Microsoft as General Manager of Social Commerce, but I couldn’t resist the call of the start-up world and the Alice.com opportunity.

I am currently the Chief Executive Officer of Alice.com, my newest collaboration with Mark McGuire. Alice is taking a big swing at a big market. It won’t be easy to compete against companies like Wal-Mart and Target, but I’m excited to leverage my experience, energy and passion to make Alice the company that changes how you shop online.

contact

e-mail: brian at alice.com
twitter: twitter.com/bwiegand
linkedIn: linkedin.com/in/btwiegand

Mark McGuire
President, Alice.com

overview

I am a lawyer turned entrepreneur (and no, I’m not that baseball player). After a brief stint in the legal world, I jumped into the start-up and never looked back. Over the past 12 years, I have co-founded and helped lead two high-tech start-ups from conception to successful exits, generating over $70 million of shareholder value in the process. At the office, I love to work “heads-down,” studying markets, developing product innovations and being the company’s written voice. At home, I have a wonderful wife and three children.

biography

After law school at the University of Minnesota, I served two years for a US District Court Judge before leaving to co-found NameProtect.com, a vertical search engine company for Intellectual Property professionals based in Madison, Wisconsin. During my 8-year tenure as NameProtect’s President, the company secured over $5 million in outside funding and grew from a business concept into a profitable company with a strong brand in its market and a global customer base that included Fortune 500 organizations such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Unilever, 3M, and Visa, among others.

I left my operating role at NameProtect in December, 2005, and continued to serve on the NameProtect Board of Directors up until the private sale of the Company in April 2007 to Corporation Services Company, a leading provider of corporate legal services.

My second start-up, Jellyfish.com, was also co-founded with Brian Wiegand. Working with Brian and a fantastic team, we led the company from conception to a private acquisition by Microsoft Corporation in less than two years. The Jellyfish.com search engine now serves as the framework for Microsoft’s Live Search cashback program. I spent some time working at Microsoft post-acquisition as Director of Product Management, but I missed the thrills of the start-up world, and left with Brian in June 2008 to start our latest creation, Alice.

I am currently the President of Alice.com. Alice is taking a new and innovative approach to a pretty stodgy industry—Consumer Packaged Goods. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to disrupt in such a huge market and use my experience and passion to give consumers a fun and completely different way to shop for these goods online.

I’m a member of the Wisconsin Bar, and hold degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (BA with honors) and the University of Minnesota Law School (JD magna cum laude).

contact

e-mail: mark at alice.com
twitter: twitter.com/markjmcguire
linkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markjmcguire