ANTHONYRUGGERI.COM

Welcome to the personal section of my web site, where you get to learn all about me, or at least as much as I'd care to share on the Internet. Hopefully this short bio will allow you to get to know me a little better.

Vital Statistics: I am 33, 5'11", around 175 lbs, with brown hair and laser-corrected hazel eyes, of mixed European descent, and missing an appendix. I went to Princeton, work as a technology executive, drive an Acura and a Porsche, live in a very nice townhouse with a wonderful wife named Kim, and spend a lot of my free time lusting after expensive Nikon camera lenses. I also play volleyball, lift weights, go hiking and cycling when possible, write my own electronic music on occasion, read quite a bit, and enjoy traveling to tropical destinations. I'm a pretty smart guy by most measures. For those familiar with Myers-Briggs personality classifications, I am an INTJ. At heart I'm a creative, analytical generalist.

Abridged Curriculum Vitae: I was valedictorian at Upper Dublin High School, and I have an A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University (class of '95). After I graduated I worked as a technical consultant at Formal Systems, Inc. (now Pedagogue Solutions), then I was a consultant with Coretech Consulting Group, Inc., which evolved into a stint in the MIS department at Comcast Cellular, which company was then acquired by Southwestern Bell and has since been spun off as part of Cingular. That unpleasant experience led to my joining PlanSponsorExchange.com when it had less than 10 employees. We are now Investor Force, Inc. and had more than 180 employees at our peak (as of late 2006 we're down to around 35, which to me seems a much more manageable size). I've been with this company since 1999 and have been the Chief Technology Officer since mid-2005. In mid-2006 we spun off a large part of our business to Morningstar, allowing us to focus on a new product line.

My undergraduate thesis at Princeton was on the origin of evolutionary constraints, an examination and rebuke of the more extreme theories put forth by proponents of structuralism in biology -- like anyone cares at this point. My background in evolutionary biology has given me a lot of insights on the future of technology and organizational dynamics. I used to do basically everything associated with interactive media, whether that was low-level programming, content authoring, soundtrack composition, interface design, project administration or client liason work. Now I hardly do any coding at all and manage a good-sized team of technical personnel. The next phases in my plan for Total World Domination are happening without me even really noticing (I don't have time to notice). Think Michael Corleone, without all the literal blood. Sonny already got fired. Of course I also think about my Plan for Total Karmic Enlightenment and wonder if these two plans will conflict at some point.

Random Pursuits I watch various TV shows (none regularly), including sports, mostly the NFL and sometimes NHL, although Bull Riding is surprisingly interesting to watch (ouch). I do play my share of mind-numbing PC games (more on that elsewhere), although not so much lately, and read up on philosophy, particle physics, or whatever else I happen to want at the moment. I also like to travel to warm, sunny places with palm trees, beaches, and rainforests, and take pictures of them. Once in a while I wonder what life would be like if I had stuck to my original plan of collecting large exotic beetles in the Amazon basin. Maybe I will make my millions and go back to it. It is also possible that some of those big beetles will spontaneously turn into pigs with wings, although I do enjoy taking pictures of bugs, and when they're big and tropical they just make it easier to fill a frame well.

In case you've detected some kind of pattern here--volleyball, convertible, computer expertise, sunny climes--it's true, it would be nice to eventually end up in a tropical location where the trade winds blow gently all year, preferably with a beachfront house, several cars in the driveway and a very expensive high-bandwidth connection to the global network. That comes with the caveat that I've become a bit more laid-back over the years. I'm no longer single, which eliminates at least one good reason to send me some email!