What's Twigmore?
"Does anyone know anybody in Tokyo? Will anyone be in Chicago when I’m there?” it’s hard for a traveler to find trusted locals who can answer questions, show them around or just help when things come up. With Twigmore, help has finally arrived!
Twigmore is the first travel network on Facebook and we help travelers and locals connect through friends. Facebook users can now easily see where their friends know people, creating networks of local contacts in cities worldwide. We at Twigmore believe travel is all about people and we want to help you get the most out of your travels.
On Twigmore, when a user is planning a trip to Barcelona, for instance, they may discover that a friend knows someone living there. If the user likes live music, with a couple clicks, they can get introduced to this local contact for the scoop on concerts, and possibly see one together. Additionally, the user can get notified if other friends are going to be in Barcelona at the same time.
We're based in New York City and we're backed by angel investors.
Team
Stephen Smyth, Co-Founder
Stephen was born in Germany and grew up between Ireland and Indiana. While studying Math and Mechanical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, he discovered his passion for computer-aided design as an apprentice at BMW in Munich. After a stint at The Boston Consulting Group and getting his Masters in Mechanical Engineering at MIT, he moved to New York City to combine his interests in design and technology and take a job in media. Since then, Stephen has worked on brands ranging from Napster, American Idol and Price is Right to Reuters. At Thomson Reuters, he was most recently General Manager and Senior Vice President of the company's digital media business in the North and South America. When not mocking-up new designs and testing copy, Stephen enjoys other people's designs and taking pictures.
Peter Baer, Co-Founder
Prior to Twigmore, Peter was a Vice President at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, where he was responsible for the licensing of motion picture and television content as well as the company’s branded entertainment efforts. Peter has also held positions at CBS Radio as Vice President Sales & Marketing and Executive Vice President at LockStream Corporation, a copy protection, anti-piracy and digital rights management company. He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
Advisors
Geoffrey Hyatt
Geoffrey is a serial entrepreneur, and an occasional investor and advisor to other select early stage companies. Most recently he was Founder and CEO of Contact Networks, which he started in 2001 and was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2007. Contact Networks provides the leading enterprise social networking solution for large businesses. Customers include over 100 of the largest global law firms, consulting firms, investment banks and other relationship-intensive businesses. Prior to founding Contact Networks, Geoffrey was the founder and CEO of Strong Numbers, The Blue Book for Everything. Strong Numbers is now part of Intuit. Before that, he was a Manager at The Boston Consulting Group where he worked with the world’s leading technology companies, and he was an Investment Assistant with the International Finance Corporation (World Bank). Geoffrey holds a Masters of Management degree with distinction from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science from Dartmouth College.
Nisreen Shocair
Nisreen is the President of Virgin Megastore for the Middle East (VMME) and Daxar Entertainment, an independent film and music distribution company. Virgin Megastore Middle East is a leading entertainment brand and retailer in the region, synonymous with youth, trend, entertainment and culture. Nisreen has built the Virgin brand across the region by incorporating local and international consumption trends into the shopping experience. Prior to VMME, Nisreen worked in music, publishing, licensing, digital entertainment and retail. She has held positions at Blockbuster Entertainment, Sony Music, Bertelsmann AG, Hearst Entertainment and most recently VMME. Nisreen has an MBA from both London Business School and Columbia University and has a global view having lived and worked in New York, London, the Middle East and Africa.
Ty Ahmad-Taylor
Ty is the Founder and CEO of FanFeedr. He has an amazing background with 15 years of interactive experience and 20 years of information design. He started his career with the NY Times. Before founding FanFeedr, Ty served as SVP, Strategy and Product Development at Viacom, where he was product lead for MTV.com, VH1.com, CMT.com, LogoOnline.com, MTVmusic.com, MTV Video Facebook application, and MTV Content API. Previously, he was a senior director Comcast, where he provided strategic planning for the broadband portal Comcast.net, built the first Web 2.0 application for cable companies at http://www.tvplanner.net, and was responsible for interactive entertainment applications that leveraged the PC and the cable set-top box. Earlier in his career he was in Silicon Valley, as creative director, for Excite@Home where he led the company's creative efforts for broadband, interactive television and client software. For more fodder, Ty has an entertaining blog here:http://blog.fanfeedr.com/.
Matt Marsh
Matt is the Founder and Director of firsthand. He is a user needs specialist. Prior to setting up firsthand, Matt headed up the human factors and design research department at IDEO in San Francisco before becoming Marketing Director and Studio Leader of their London product development team. Matt has created award-winning, customer-centred services, products, software, systems and environments within an impressive range of sectors including transportation, healthcare, government, technology and telecommunications. Previously appointed 'user-centred design and innovation envoy' at the Design Council, he is a co-opted member of the Ergonomics Society Professional Affairs board. Most recently Matt became a visiting professor at London's Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.
Shaun Abrahamson
As founder and Social Production Engineer at Colaboratorie Mutopo, Shaun works with organizations to make much better products & services and communication using social technologies. He is also an early stage investor and advisor in companies like ZocDoc, Trialpay, Sense Networks, Jovoto and Daylife. He researched new product development at the MIT CADLAb and more recently Mass Collaboration at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. He has written for the Economist Intelligence Unit and taught at NYU and Wharton. He was born in Cape Town, South Africa and although accused of living in the future, he lives in New York with his wife Andrea and sons Max and Oli.
Jennifer Byrne
Jennifer Byrne is responsible for creating and leading key strategic partnerships, driving new revenue opportunities and product innovation such as Skype Mobile, as well as running VCAST Apps, Verizon’s mobile applications storefront. In prior roles at Verizon and Verizon Wireless, Jennifer was responsible for cross-platform content acquisition and business development across FiOSTV and mobile, managed Verizon’s social networking and location based services, and ran mobile video service, V CAST Video, for which she secured and launched a number of key exclusives for Verizon and grew the subscription base to over 3M subscribers. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience in business development and content distribution across various media platforms including cable, satellite, broadband, and wireless.
