J.R. Johnson

Empirical is a flavor company. We make free-form and uncategorized spirits, meaning experiments outside the traditional categories of the spirits industry. It is ok to want special and delicious things. Empirical is a platform to investigate flavor, traditions, technologies, and techniques from across the globe. It’s a springboard to re-examine why and how we produce things, launch dialogues and create a whole bunch of novel libations along the way.

PeerStreet is a first-of-its-kind online platform for investing in real estate debt. The platform represents a two-sided marketplace that, on one side, provides hassle-free access to an asset class that was previously inaccessible to individual investors: short-term, real estate backed loans. On the other side of the marketplace, PeerStreet connects a vetted network of private lenders with diverse sources of capital to help fuel their growth and bring lending back to their local communities. The company’s vision is to align the interests of this ecosystem—from lenders and investors to borrowers and the local communities they represent.

Empirical is a flavor company. We make free-form and uncategorized spirits, meaning experiments outside the traditional categories of the spirits industry. It is ok to want special and delicious things. Empirical is a platform to investigate flavor, traditions, technologies, and techniques from across the globe. It’s a springboard to re-examine why and how we produce things, launch dialogues and create a whole bunch of novel libations along the way.

PeerStreet is a first-of-its-kind online platform for investing in real estate debt. The platform represents a two-sided marketplace that, on one side, provides hassle-free access to an asset class that was previously inaccessible to individual investors: short-term, real estate backed loans. On the other side of the marketplace, PeerStreet connects a vetted network of private lenders with diverse sources of capital to help fuel their growth and bring lending back to their local communities. The company’s vision is to align the interests of this ecosystem—from lenders and investors to borrowers and the local communities they represent.

Trippy is a community of travelers helping each other travel better. We exist to encourage more people to travel. Experiencing new places, cultures, and people leads to tolerance, understanding and empathy.

Lunch (http://lunch.com) is a social media website where people share and discover genuinely useful information, connecting to others with common interests while uncovering common ground with those who may appear to be their total opposites. Fueled by curiosity, Lunch features reviews, lists and ratings created by members of the community, on almost any imaginable topic. From the latest TV show, to a politician, a charity, a baby stroller, or universal healthcare, it's a place for all interests. Launched in April 2009 by J.R. Johnson (former founder and CEO of VirtualTourist.com, which was acquired by Expedia in July 2008), Lunch's proprietary Similarity Network engine calculates commonalities in taste and opinions among the site's members. In 2009, Lunch began hosting 'Lunch for Good,' an event series bringing together innovators and thought-leaders in the tech and Internet space to discuss how to evolve the way people participate and interact online. For more information, please visit http://www.Lunch.com or send an email to press@lunch.com.

VirtualTourist.com®, part of the TripAdvisor Media Group, is one of the largest online travel communities in the world and a premier resource for travelers seeking an insider perspective. Boasting close to 2 million travel reviews and over 4 million photos of 61,000 destinations worldwide from 1.3 million members, VirtualTourist (http://www.virtualtourist.com) attracts millions of unique visitors per month. Unbiased, respected, insider advice on Things to Do, Hotels, Transportation, Favorites and more is posted entirely by VirtualTourist’s membership from more than 220 countries and territories. It’s why VirtualTourist is known as, The People Behind the Places®.