Greg Snell
GREGORY SNELL IS a career marketing and business development professional who’s held various executive management roles in public semiconductor companies. He holds a degree in Japanese language from UC Santa Barbara, has lived in Japan and worked as the Asia–Pacific manager liaison for a US–based semiconductor company. His high–tech career spans 15 years with several leading Silicon Valley companies.
While working in the semiconductor industry, Greg became curious about all things wine–related. He poured over anything he could find about wine, started a small collection, and during his many trips to Napa, he and his wife dreamed of someday starting a winery of their own.
It was during a long business trip, amidst his work in the semiconductor industry, that Greg had an “aha!” moment. He was reading a book about winemaking when he realized he could use many of the same high–tech solutions he was working with in semiconductors, apply them to traditional winemaking and adapt large–scale production methods to be used in a smaller, personal winemaking system. He drew up his initial designs for the world’s first wireless personal winery, the WinePod®, on the back of a Harlan Estate mailing. It was 1999. He still has that paper, and those first concepts are incredibly similar to the current design of the WinePod® today.
Greg founded ProVina, Inc. in 2005 with Dr. Vlad Firer. Their vision was to manufacture the world’s first personal winery, turning wine consumers into skilled winemakers, and serve the $80 billion wine industry.
The first WinePod® prototype, “the beast,” was a partial success but had many flaws. Greg and Dr. Firer found they were lacking the skills needed to make a truly consumer–worthy design.
That year, they by chance met the legendary T.J. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor. T.J. and his wife Valeta Massey are co-owners of Clos De La Tech winery, which produces Pinot Noir. With the help of T.J., a team of professional designers and highly skilled winemakers, such as John Kelly from Westwood Winery, Greg and Dr. Firer were able to develop the next, successful prototype of the WinePod®. In addition, they received initial investments for their company from angel investors, family, and friends. Still, the team lacked proof of consumer interest in their product.
In December 2005 Provina ran out of money. Greg and Dr. Firer continued to develop WinePod®’s design, and in an effort to get more feedback about the product, they leaked word of WinePod® to a popular blog. The very next day Provina was inundated by requests from reporters for press interviews and individuals interested in purchasing a WinePod®.
In April of 2007, Greg and his team raised an additional $4 million from VantagePoint Venture Partners, and today they are shipping the WinePod® throughout the US, with plans to expand overseas and create new, innovative products that enhance the wine experience for everyone.
Greg lives in San Jose with his wife, Bonnie Snell, and their three daughters. When he’s not working on WinePod®, he enjoys coaching his girl’s soccer teams, exercise, “inventing,” and sharing a good bottle of wine with friends.