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Who We Are
Marc Smookler
Founder
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SakeSocial is my fourth start-up, and my first foray into what I refer to as a "lifestyle business"—suffice it to say, it is a welcome change. While I do not know where my passion for sake will take me, I do know that for once in my life, I am not in a rush to get there.
After graduating from college as a trained finance "ninja", I entered the legions of investment banking where i toiled away for nearly a quarter of my life in Minnesota and NYC.. Thankfully, a couple of my friends awakened my inner desire to create something and, on a whim, I dropped everything and forced myself into becoming a webpreneur.
I now reside in Los Angeles, CA with my wife who longs to go back home to her motherland: Austin, TX.
Most nights, when my fingers finally revolt and refuse to type any more emails, you can usually find me happily engrossed in a PC game, including the most awesome Total War series.
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Jason Laskowski
CTO
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My first encounter with sake was in Las Vegas many years ago during the opening rounds of March Madness. Unfortunately it was Futsushu, and in the form of sake bombs. That experience didn’t entice me into exploring sake until Marc couldn't stop talking to me about his idea....SakeSocial.
As we discussed the concept of a community-based e-commerce site, I had my first sip of Junmai Dai Ginjo. I was immediately hooked and soon thereafter began my self-taught, crash course in all things related to sake.
We have spent many months vetting the technical needs and challenges of bringing sake to the masses, and we are proud to bring you SakeSocial!
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Beau Timken
Director of Marketing
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I used to work as a sake brewery in Kobe Japan 400 years ago. Don’t let this white boy’s body fool you—I am all Japanese on the inside. And I came back in this current—abused—package to preach the gospel of sake to any and all who will listen. My sake soapbox has taken many forms from a book about sake to a monthly newsletter; from hosting countless professional sake tastings to reviewing over 1,000 sakes professionally; from creating sake menus for restaurants across the country and staff training sessions to opening the first dedicated sake store in the US six years ago. In a word there is sake in my blood...perhaps too much.
The question that I have been asked the most in my last decade of sake searching is “What is your favorite sake?” To which I always reply, “It doesn’t matter!” What matters is that each person is the champion oftheir own palate and one person’s favorite sake rarely translates into another person’s favorite. With this principal in mind I travel (usually by donkey-back) across the US trying to champion sake by having it put on every wine menu in the country. I firmly believe that sake will follow in the Japanese food footprints—more and more Americans are opening sushi restaurants and selling miso, tofu, edamame, and all these strange worded items that now have become common place. In that vein, I strive to have sake become just as commonplace as sushi, tempura, and teriyaki. And to further this goal and do it well, we have created this very “uncommon” sake website!
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Marc Smookler
Founder
|
SakeSocial is my fourth start-up, and my first foray into what I refer to as a "lifestyle business"—suffice it to say, it is a welcome change. While I do not know where my passion for sake will take me, I do know that for once in my life, I am not in a rush to get there.
After graduating from college as a trained finance "ninja", I entered the legions of investment banking where i toiled away for nearly a quarter of my life in Minnesota and NYC.. Thankfully, a couple of my friends awakened my inner desire to create something and, on a whim, I dropped everything and forced myself into becoming a webpreneur.
I now reside in Los Angeles, CA with my wife who longs to go back home to her motherland: Austin, TX.
Most nights, when my fingers finally revolt and refuse to type any more emails, you can usually find me happily engrossed in a PC game, including the most awesome Total War series.
|
Jason Laskowski
CTO
|
My first encounter with sake was in Las Vegas many years ago during the opening rounds of March Madness. Unfortunately it was Futsushu, and in the form of sake bombs. That experience didn’t entice me into exploring sake until Marc couldn't stop talking to me about his idea....SakeSocial.
As we discussed the concept of a community-based e-commerce site, I had my first sip of Junmai Dai Ginjo. I was immediately hooked and soon thereafter began my self-taught, crash course in all things related to sake.
We have spent many months vetting the technical needs and challenges of bringing sake to the masses, and we are proud to bring you SakeSocial!
|
Beau Timken
Director of Marketing
|
I used to work as a sake brewery in Kobe Japan 400 years ago. Don’t let this white boy’s body fool you—I am all Japanese on the inside. And I came back in this current—abused—package to preach the gospel of sake to any and all who will listen. My sake soapbox has taken many forms from a book about sake to a monthly newsletter; from hosting countless professional sake tastings to reviewing over 1,000 sakes professionally; from creating sake menus for restaurants across the country and staff training sessions to opening the first dedicated sake store in the US six years ago. In a word there is sake in my blood...perhaps too much.
The question that I have been asked the most in my last decade of sake searching is “What is your favorite sake?” To which I always reply, “It doesn’t matter!” What matters is that each person is the champion oftheir own palate and one person’s favorite sake rarely translates into another person’s favorite. With this principal in mind I travel (usually by donkey-back) across the US trying to champion sake by having it put on every wine menu in the country. I firmly believe that sake will follow in the Japanese food footprints—more and more Americans are opening sushi restaurants and selling miso, tofu, edamame, and all these strange worded items that now have become common place. In that vein, I strive to have sake become just as commonplace as sushi, tempura, and teriyaki. And to further this goal and do it well, we have created this very “uncommon” sake website!
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