About Frank Gruber

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Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber) is an entrepreneur and new media journalist focused on sharing his Web product expertise and analysis on Web 2.0, social media and emerging technologies in articles and videos online. His works have been featured in TechCrunch, iMediaConnection, ReadWriteWeb Network and on his popular personal tech blog, Somewhat Frank, which he kept religiously from June 2005 till December 2009 when he redirected energies towards building the Tech Cocktail digital media business, which he co-founded in 2006.

Frank has been dubbed by the Washingtpost Post and LATimes as a “digital nomad” for his on the go work anywhere and everywhere lifestyle. Frank has been listed as a blogger every Isreali startup should know by the Isreali publication, The Marker. Frank was named one of 100 DC Tech Titans by Washingtonian Magazine in May 2009 and May 2011. Frank is also one of Forbes Top 20 Most Media Connected in Tech.

Frank co-founded Tech Cocktail in Chicago (Frank’s hometown – Go Cubs!) in 2006 to help better connect and amplify the local technology signal and have some fun doing it. Since 2006, Tech Cocktail has grown to become a media company offering technology news, events and community-powered projects open to technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs & professionals interested in the latest technology innovations.

Frank has experience bootstrapping on a variety of start-up endeavors. Frank is a co-founder of Shiny Heart Ventures, a technology start-up focused on building community driven products that remind people of the joys of life. Shiny Heart Ventures first product, Thankfulfor.com is an online gratitude journaling community that has been praised by CNN, TechCrunch and CBS News among others. Shiny Heart Ventures is also co-producer of Digital Capital Week (@DCWEEK), a 10 day festival in Washington DC focused on technology, innovation and all things digital in our nation’s capital.

Frank was formerly a product strategist and evangelist for the Aol social networking group, which included such products as AIM, SocialThing, Goowy, Bebo and ICQ with a focus on communications and lifestreaming products. Frank was instrumental in connecting Aol with a number of industry experts, media and start-ups (some of which were acquired by Aol). Frank’s previous team was also responsible for the launch of the widget driven myAOL personalized homepage/startpage product in 2007. Frank departed Aol right before the Aol spinoff January 1, 2010 (as covered by TechCrunch).

Frank currently lives in Washington, D.C. but travels a lot as he circles the globe speaking, hosting events and helping entrepreneurs, startups and technology communities amplify their local technology signal.

Recent Post by this Author

Inspired By DCWEEK To Help Build Community

Through the years, Tech Cocktail has inspired a number of people to take action in different ways, whether it’s to start a company, get involved in local events or share their entrepreneurial experiences right here on TechCocktail.com. So we’re excited to share this story from one of our new writers, who was so inspired by…

Entrepreneurs and Innovators Take Center Stage In Super Bowl Ads

We already covered a couple times (here and here) how this years Super Bowl would be different as it offered more social and mobile interactivity than ever. Now I want to focus on the fact that a few of the Super Bowl advertisements put technology, innovation and entrepreneurship as their focal point. Best Buy’s Super…

Look For Super Bowl Advertising To Go Mobile & Interactive

On the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, even if you don’t like the teams playing this year (Go Bears!), you can still plan on enjoying the Super Bowl commercials and the variety of interactivity and entertainment that will fill tomorrow night, especially the spots that involve technology companies and entrepreneurs. Now at an all time…

Facebook Files For IPO, Exposes ‘The Hacker Way’ Among Other Juicy Details

Facebook filed it’s form S-1 with the SEC today to raise $5 billion in an initial public offering. It’s likely to be the largest by a web company since Google in 2004 and could place the social network’s value as high as $75 billion to $100 billion. The 209 page document was filled with loads of interesting…

An Interview With Alex Bard of Salesforce’s Desk.com Built By Assistly

Yesterday, Salesforce announced the launch of Desk.com, a new social help desk product built by the Assistly team, which was acquired last September. We have been following the progress of San Francisco-based Assistly, syncing up every few months with founder and CEO Alex Bard since their creation and participation as a San Diego startup showcase…

Sign Up For Startup America And Help Us Become The Next Startup Master

Tech Cocktail has been a supporter of the Startup America Partnership since its inception early last year, and now the organization is getting ready to celebrates its first anniversary (next week)!  How time flies. It’s been exciting to watch the organization blossom and roll out various programs for entrepreneurs, from Startup Illinois, the first state to launch a program…

Groupon Founder & CEO Andrew Mason’s Interview on 60 Minutes

In case you missed it last night, Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason was on CBS’s 60 Minutes for an almost 13 minute interview about Groupon and i’s successes and failures. In just three years, the Chicago-based company has grown from an idea to 10,000 employees worldwide and recently IPOed. Of those 10,000 employees, they…

The Best of CES 2012

This past week was a blur for anyone who attended this year’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. CES means lots of oxygen-infused hotel lobbies, jostling crowds, gadgets galore and late nights rubbing shoulders with folks in the vast electronics industry that now encompasses, well, everything. If you attended this year as a CES virgin you…

Sony Tablet S: Unique Design and Performance With A Focus On Entertainment

There were already a number of tablet options out in the marketplace when Sony entered the market with the Sony Table S earlier this year. Focused on creating a compelling device that would attract new users to the tablet market, the team at Sony looked to offer a superior Android experience with better design, performance…

Tech Cocktail’s SXSW #StartupLife Celebration 2012

Tech Cocktail’s SXSW #StartupLife Celebration 2012 presented by .CO is a very special all day extravaganza. Working with our partners and sponsors, we will create a day long platform on Saturday, March 10th that will include entrepreneurial interviews similar to last year’s Tech Cocktail Delivering Happiness interview series and some private events (lunchtime event, meetups, etc) – all culminating…

Brisk Dives Into App Development With Star Wars Game App

Who thought ice tea could be so technologically advanced? PepsiCo, the makers of Brisk Ice Tea, are banking on a couple things that any tech enthusiast, geek or entrepreneur can relate to: Star Wars and mobile gaming. In a key promotion for the company, they have partnered with Lucasfilm, getting behind the February release of Star Wars: Episode…

Code Year: Is This The Year You Learn To Code?

Is 2012 the year you take on learning to code? I hung up my coding shoes in 2006, but that hasn’t stopped me from hacking on a project here and there over the last few years. But over time, my skills for specific programming languages have become outdated with the slew of new technologies available….

2011 Trends: Tech Year In Review

Editor’s Note: This is article is a revised version of an article written by Jen Consalvo and Frank Gruber that appears in the January 2012 issue of The Social Media Monthly. If you like this article you might want to download the The Social Media Monthly iPad app or iPhone app and subscribe to get the scoop in 2012….

TechStars Launches Accelerato.rs Unified Application Form

We have covered, sliced, diced and analyzed the startup accelerators for awhile now and even produced the first startup accelerator rankings this past year. Yesterday, TechStars, a Boulder-based startup accelerator program, took a step to help simplify the process by offering a unified application form for startup accelerators at accelerato.rs. The website gives startup founders…

Webs.com Not So Free: Sold To Vistaprint For $117.5 Million

Today Webs.com was acquired by the Dutch printing company Vistaprint for a reported $117.5 million ($100 million in cash and $17.5 in stock). Webs.com was started in 2001 in Silver Spring, Maryland by then-college students Haroon Mokhtarzada and his brother Zeki. Previously called Freewebs, the product helps people create simple websites. The company raised $11 million in funding from…

Kairos Society On A Search For Top 50 Student Led Startups

With the struggling economy and lack of jobs around the country, we are seeing a rise in student entrepreneurship. Apparently students today are not content with just trusting their luck at getting a job after graduation day. And as students take matters into their own hands, they are also organizing, forming clubs where they can…