Breaking down barriers and making it easier to enjoy remarkable wine-centered dining, shopping and tasting experiences.
Our Purpose
By blending the knowledge of life-long wine geeks, hospitality and retail professionals with the know-how of Silicon Valley engineering, My Wine Guide aligns the interests of wine consumers, restauranteurs, hospitality groups, retailers, distributors and wine producers all in one patented, software platform. The My Wine Guide customer experience breaks down longstanding barriers, enables new discoveries, builds confidence and drives loyalty for all wine consumers from the curious millennial to the wine enthusiast and the casual consumer in between.
Leadership Team
John Kirst
John is Managing Partner of My Wine Guide and a Silicon Valley-based, Sales, Marketing and Operational executive who has had a lifelong interest in wine. As a founder and executive John has been part of the leadership teams of four successful Silicon Valley, software-based start-ups. Each of the companies of which John has been a part have realized exits in the form of IPOs and acquisitions. He and his wife have a vineyard of Pinot Noir from which they have been making wine for twenty years.
John Duffy
John is Head of Software Development and a technology Executive with over 25 years of experience leading Product Development, Product Management and Professional Services. John is a founder and executive of several successful companies which have pioneered high availability, highly scalable consumer facing mobile app and mobile web applications in the financial services sector.
Xiaowei Li
Xiaowei is Head of Technology and Lead Architect and has over 20 years of software architecture and development experience in high-availability, high-scalability customer facing transactional software products, including ten years of software R&D team management.
Jonathan Kirst
Jonathan (JC) is an advisor to My Wine Guide and built the very first prototype and beta version of the My Wine Guide platform. JC is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of BridgeCare Finance, a mission oriented financial technology company that works to eliminate gender inequality in the workplace by making childcare more affordable for young, working parents. Jonathan is a veteran of the FinTech industry, having previously co-founded Roostify, the market leader in consumer mortgage technology, where he was the very first engineer and ultimately Head of Engineering and Chief Technical Officer.
Adrien Hafezi
Driven by a passion for food and wine and equipped with nearly two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, as well as certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), Adrien leads Product Management and Customer Success for My Wine Guide. He leverages his background as an accomplished restaurant operator to inform My Wine Guide’s communications, marketing, and sector engagement.
Eric Bierbrier
Eric is an Advisor to My Wine Guide and a creative, disciplined, results oriented brand warrior, driven to making a difference for wine producers. Eric is currently US Director National Accounts for Girard Bertrand Wines and has held similar executive sales positions over the past 18 years with Hahn Family wines and Jackson Family Wines. Eric is also a 18 year past Board Member of Marketing Executive Group, a NRA sponsored education group, which helps connect restaurant professionals.