Q1. Michael, for those who might not know you, can you give a brief overview of your background?

I spent most of my career in Silicon Valley as an entrepreneur, starting and building companies, including big-data pioneer Splunk (Nasdaq: SPLK). Through my foundation, FOUNDER.org, I helped more than 100 young innovators tackle some of the world’s most challenging problems.

In 2014, my family and I became the stewards of a story-book domain in Burgundy, France: Château de Pommard. We’ve fallen in love with nature, winemaking, and the sensorial aspects of life. Along the way, I discovered how out of step the wine industry is with the future, and this is how VIVANT, our newest venture, was born.

Q2. Where did your love of technology come from?

I’ve always been a creative person with an itch to scratch. I wasn’t talented enough to be an artist or musician, but my curiosity helps. Even as a child! I loved to disassemble and reassemble appliances, audio HiFi systems, and eventually computers to understand how things work. This curiosity still drives me today. I am curious by nature. But it wasn’t really until I got to university that I fell in love with math and algorithms. Fortunately, the world of software was in its infancy at the time, and I was able to get involved at the ground floor of an industry about to grow massively.

Q3. What was the tipping point when you knew technology was your career path?

It was in college when the original Apple Macintosh arrived on campus. Steve Jobs convinced our school to become the first one to adopt the Mac for all entering students. As soon as I saw MacPaint and MacDraw, I knew I had to figure out how this worked. Love at first byte. This inquisitive nature continues to drive me today. It provides me purpose, joy, and excitement.

Q4. I understand you have launched VIVANT, the world’s first wine experience platform. Can you tell me more?

Today the wine industry isn’t sustainable at all. We’re putting all these chemicals in the ground and our bodies. That’s not good at all! The problem is winemakers who produce responsible wines are in the minority, and their voices aren’t heard. With VIVANT, we recreate the magic of wine experiences without the carbon footprint of physical travel. We brought together an international team of wine educators, product designers, software engineers, and media producers to create a new platform where people can meet responsible winemakers and taste their wines alongside expert wine advisors, no matter where they are.
Through digital wine experiences, we let these responsible winemakers reach a global audience in an entertaining way. For the consumer, we have created a way to distribute smaller tasting tubes of wine so it can now be cost-effective to taste a producer’s wine, no matter where you are in the world, during a digital experience.

Q5. Have you always been interested in wine?

Ummm, not always. I grew up in Philadelphia, drinking beer and eating cheese steaks. When my wife and I honeymooned in France I discovered the magic of old world wine. Since then my interest in wine has piqued significantly. It seems the more I learn, the more I want to learn and the more I enjoy wine. It is really such a fascinating field. We started our own wine school, École V, where consumers and professionals can train. I never tire of exploring new regions, new winemakers and new wines.

The more I learn, the bigger my appreciation grows for responsible winemaking. I do my primary research by tasting. We’ve done lots of experiments in the winery, over the past five years, with different sulfur levels, for example, and the difference was clear. I also started to appreciate some of the cosmology involved in biodynamics. Today, we’re applying these principles to our 20-hectare vineyard at the Château.
Today, I’m also a Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 professional, but studying for my Level 4 Diploma. .

Q6. What do you look for when approaching producers who want to be a part of Vivant?

We take great care in selecting our responsible winemaking partners. Our wine advisors and VIVANT partner management team members reach out to winemakers whom they find particularly interesting and whom they feel might be a good fit with our values. Since our launch, many winemakers have approached us about becoming involved in the VIVANT movement.
Before onboarding, all winemakers sign the VIVANT pledge, promising to grow grapes and make wine with respect for consumers and the environment. This means no synthetic chemicals in the vineyard, no additives in the winemaking process, and complete traceability of the grapes, winemaking, and aging process. The pledge also includes a commitment to workplace equality and diversity, something fundamental to our values.

Q7. I have seen on the website “1% For Wine” can you give the readers some insight into this great initiative?

At VIVANT, we believe that our collective future strongly depends on giving back to the living systems that sustain us. Companies are in the best position to effect a change in mindset, to set an example. One percent of all membership fees and wine purchases go to fund innovative new research and ideas building a sustainable future for wine through our 1% for Wine initiative.
Together with our team of leaders and some of our key partner producers, we regroup every year to award the most relevant projects. We established criteria like the values, purpose, and achievements of the project until now, short-term and long-term objectives, and the profiles of the people involved.  I love wine and I want to continue to drink great wine. But, I also want future generations to be able to drink great wine, breathe fresh air, drink clean water, and live healthy, productive lives. If we don’t take on this challenge, who will?

Q8. Where do you see VIVANT in the next 5 years?

Our overarching mission at VIVANT is to accelerate the wine world’s transition to a sustainable future by amplifying responsible winemakers’ voices. Our goals are not for VIVANT, per se, but the industry and the planet as a whole. By 2030, we hope that at least 10% of the world’s wine is being produced responsibly. On the VIVANT level, this means we will continue to reach out to winemakers around the world to share more about what they do and ask them to take the VIVANT pledge. We also hope to continue to grow our community of responsible wine drinkers, who can use the platform to further their knowledge and make more informed choices when selecting wines. In the shorter term, we will continue to innovate and already have plenty in store for expanding our platform in 2021, which will see us transport members to wine regions in France, Italy, Spain, and beyond.

Q9. Château de Pommard has been a Burgundy winery since 1726, what made it the perfect choice for you to buy?

Burgundy is the best place to learn about terroir. There are precisely 1,247 different Climats (terroirs) across the region, and our vineyard, the Clos Marey-Monge, is one of them. Château de Pommard has always been a place where people come and learn about Burgundy wines in history. Over the past few years, we’ve focused on this educational aspect and developed seasonal tasting experiences for our customers visiting from around the world -90+ countries!-. Additionally, we opened our first wine school, Ecole V, in 2018. We now offer classes in Pommard and Paris.

Q10. What advice would you give to those who are just starting up in the Tech space?

Find great co-founders. Nobody can start a company without great teammates. Building companies is a team sport. It takes collaboration, perseverance, and community. The next disaster is always just around the corner and it is only the power of the team that enables companies to stay on the right course.

Learn more about VIVANT: https://vivant.eco