Pictured above from left to right: Andrew Jaffe, Account Executive; Josh Bradbury, VP of Sales; Greg Jizmagian, VP of Operations, Leo Rocco, Founder & CEO; Mona Kharazmi, Community Sales Manager; Chris Lavery, Director of Finance and Inside Counsel; Vincenzo Di Nicola, Chief Architect; Carina Ost, Community Manager, Irina Lozhkina, Financial Analyst/Accountant; and Jeanne Hwang, Business Development Manager.
Thursday night, we attended the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce‘s Excellence in Business Awards (the Ebbies), where we were presented with the Comcast Innovation through Technology Award. The award recognizes technology-led business that solves a problem to increase efficiency and we were honored to be up against such reputable companies as Pinterest and Desk.com.
All of the 1,200 attendees were brought together on this special night by our commitment and enthusiasm for San Francisco, local business, innovation and in rooting for the San Francisco Giants who were simultaneously playing in Game 2 of the World Series. Trust us, there were many score updates in the speeches and smartphone checking.
When our CEO and Founder, Leo Rocco, went up to receive the award he reflected on the growth of our own team and our company’s very own special ties to the Giants. We’re sure you remember when we partnered with Tim Lincecum in July, but did you know that our roots with the Giants go even further back?
The “Aha Moment” and impetus for GoPago began when Leo was at a very special Giants game in 2007, when Barry Bonds beat Hank Aaron’s home run record. Leo missed this historical event because he was waiting in line for food and drinks. He wondered why the concessionaires couldn’t know that he was coming, or if there could be a way for him to pay in advance? If this technology existed lines could be eliminated and no one would ever again miss another record-breaking home run.
We are very proud to be recognized by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce for our commitment to using innovation to solve problems for our merchants and our consumers. Somehow our win last night was made sweeter by the fact that our beloved Giants won; let’s take this series!
For a full list of all the Ebbies winners, please click here.
