“Sure, it’s coffee in this mug.”

Justin was born and raised right here in Richmond. He has lived here all his life, met his wife here, is raising his son here – and quite frankly, will probably push up daisies here. Justin’s love of computers started early with the same thing that gets every young boy excited about computers: video games. Fortunately, the obsession has matured – where once he dreamed of beating the final boss in “Contra,” he now dwells on how customers will use Simple Thread’s products. Justin hasn’t lost all of his boyish charms, though. In his spare time, he reads copious amounts of science fiction and watches too much Netflix. But he also likes to cook, partake in some craft beers, and play soccer with his son. In true grown-up form, Justin dreams of one day buying a house out in the country … so that his wife will stop bugging him about it.

• Favorite Book: “Foundation”
• Favorite Activity: Spending time with family and friends

“Ninja skills! Ninja skills!”

Forgive Al if he’s staring into the distance, remembering technology’s glorious past. He might see visions of “Space Invaders,” recalling the inspiration he found in his brother’s Atari 2600 – so much joy in such a little box! Or perhaps he’s reflecting on his embrace of the Internet just before the Web took off – oh, the welcoming ethos of early BBS and Usenet! But firmly in the present, Al has a passion for improving lives through software – whether a simple tool to automate a tedious back-office process or a product that helps a client launch a business. Al grew up on the Gulf Coast near Mobile, Ala., and made his way to U.Va. He settled in Charlottesville, and when away from the computer, he loves cooking for family, hiking in the Appalachians … and secretly enjoying British detective shows that his wife forces him to watch. He also buys more books than one man could ever read (see below).

• Favorite Book: Dune… no wait… Jitterbug Perfume… uh… The Jamais Vu Papers? Too many …
• Favorite Activity: Making his daughter laugh

“This is my smile – and my golf face.”

Kevin believes in giving back – which explains why he has donated a gazillion golf balls to various ponds. Fortunately, though a novice on the golf course, he’s a pro when it comes to full-stack web development. In addition to more than five years of experience, Kevin earned a master’s degree in data mining from Central Connecticut State University. He also holds certifications from Amazon Web Services, the Project Management Institute, and CompTIA. Kevin enjoys the challenge of creating and implementing all the different technical parts of an idea to bring it to life: It’s no surprise that he continues to refine his collection of smart-home-connected gadgets (20-plus, thank you). Kevin loves binge-watching TV series, though he often struggles to dig himself out of post-series show holes. To help ease the pain, he leans on his wife, daughter, dachshund and, of course, one of the primary food groups: cupcakes.

• Favorite Book: Wool
• Favorite Activity: Spending time with family

“You like the beard, right?”

Alex has spent most of his life here in the Richmond area – and loving computers (he has been coding since age 13). With experience in databasing, middleware and user interfaces, he is a real tech enthusiast who loves to build the engines that drive beautiful, robust web applications. Alex relishes the challenge of solving problems, though he has yet to figure out how to outdo his wife and their three kids when playing water war outside during the summer. You can find him at the Kings Dominion theme park on summertime Saturdays… and, when he can fit it in, at the gym (a guy’s gotta work off all those funnel cakes, after all).

• Favorite Book: 1984
• Favorite Activity: Riding rollercoasters

“The lightsaber attracts birds.”

When Stephen isn’t busy coding, his favorite pastime is bird watching – no word, though, on whether the birds like watching him, too. He routinely travels to find and photograph birds, and we wonder if this passion for tracking things might have something to do with his experience in RFID solutions. Closer to home, Stephen enjoys exploring the parks of Charlottesville with his wife, Holly. He’s also a soccer fan, and his house actually resembles a sports bar – there is always at least one game on in the background. So if Barca goes to the birds, you can bet Stephen is already there.

• Favorite Book: Harry Potter
• Favorite Activity: Bird watching

“T-shirts ARE business casual!”

David grew up in rural Iowa and spent half his life in east Tennessee before moving to the “Big City” (Richmond, that is – and it’s an accurate description next to Johnson City). David worked at East Tennessee State University as a software engineer for eight years and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees there. Though he has spent most of his professional life working with .Net, he does enjoy branching out into the open-source world. David also loves games of all kinds – be they sports, video, or board games. His interest in the latter was particularly rekindled when he first played “The Settlers of Catan” and learned about the realm of Eurogames. It wasn’t long before “Agricola” and “Puerto Rico” took over his dining room table. But he tries to leave enough room there for dinner: David likes to cook, exploring new dishes or better ways of cooking old dishes to the delight (usually) of his wife.

• Favorite Books: Moneyball and A Storm of Swords
• Favorite Activity: Canoeing

“This is my Clark Kent disguise.”

Paul has owned and operated a successful comedy club, so if the glasses trick in his second photo above make you snicker, just say you’re laughing with him, not at him. Paul really loves the people part of his job – talking with them, helping them make their jobs easier – so new business really is his sweet spot. And it’s a natural extension of his 20-plus-year background in broadcast media, where he served as a radio on-air talent, digital content director, and digital sales manager. He also serves as VP of programming for the Richmond chapter of the American Marketing Association. Paul is an avid sports fan and still cheers for his hometown Baltimore Orioles and Ravens, but he is now head over heels in love with Richmond – the Flying Squirrels, VCU basketball and UR football are his teams, too. But his real passion and greatest accomplishment? His son, Robbie.

• Favorite Book: The Norton Anthology of English Literature
• Favorite Activity: Doing anything with Robbie