Friday, December 30, 2016
Reflections on 2016: Louise Wannier, True Roses
All this holiday season, we have been sharing the reflections on 2016 from Southern California's technology ecosystem. Here, we have the thoughts of Louise Wannier of True Roses. Wannier is a longtime Southern California entrepreneur, having founded MyShape, Enfish, and co-founding Gemstar, the maker of VCR Plus. She also founded CEO Circle, a confidential forum for early-stage technology CEOs. You can see all of our holiday reflections here.
What's was biggest news from you or your firm this year?
Louise Wannier: Personally, becoming a grandma. With respect to technology, it has been having the opportunity to help a few entrepreneurs realize the next stage of their dream by working through key strategic choices together.
What's the biggest lesson you learned this year?
Louise Wannier: Reminded of the age old lesson- cash is king, don't leave too many eggs in too concentrated a basket and ensure survival first, growth second.
What's your favorite technology gadget, device, or innovation you ran across this year?
Louise Wannier: Calendly.com. Has saved me oodles of time and the aggravation of back and forth.
Finally, what do you think will have the biggest impact on the technology industry in 2017?
Louise Wannier: Continued development of AI/Deep learning networks.
An experienced Corporate Director and CEO, Ms. Wannier has chaired Boards of Directors and as CEO built companies in four different industries: Education Technology, Consumer Electronics, Information Management Software and Fashion/eCommerce. As Board chairman, she led capital raises, recruited board members and established advisory boards including bringing on independent non-financial board members to lend strategic industry experience. In 2006, Ms. Wannier founded MyShape, the first Online Personal Shopping platform. Prior, Ms. Wannier founded Enfish, and was co-founder of Gemstar(the maker of VCR Plus).