Vince Wadhwani has traveled a lot. Over the course of many journeys he noticed that cities were becoming more and more alike; regardless of where in the world he ended up there always seemed to be a chain much like the one he left behind. Cities all over the world seemed to be losing the very things that made them worth visiting. The quest to find unique places started to become discouraging; who goes to Paris just to hang out at Starbucks?
It was not until he moved back to Washington, DC in 2001 that it struck him just how far the chains had penetrated into daily city life. Gone were the many unique places he enjoyed frequenting during his first stint in DC. Where could one find a good salad without going to a Cosi? Was the Gap the only place to get a pair of jeans without breaking the bank? Are running shoes only to be had at Foot Locker?
Inspired by these questions, he launched buyindie.net, a portal that helps catalog the good and not so good independently owned places to help people find the very things they need without relying on chains. The site enables customers to consume consciously and allows store owners a small tool to even the playing field against their larger rivals.
Vince dedicates more time than he should to finding the places that make the city a pleasure to live in and interacting with local patrons and store owners. He posts the results of these city jaunts on BuyIndie and invites all others to do the same. When he finds something particularly noteworthy, he blogs about it for the good folks over at DCist.
On the weekends, Vince spends time sipping Americano at the local coffee shops, looking for great shoes for his wife, and taking yoga classes. He has also been known to lose himself in a good book.
When Vince needs a challenge he enhances his linux servers, plays sudoku, or tries to give directions to tourists without referencing chains like "Subway" or "Burger King" (it's harder than you think!).
Vince was educated as a Mechanical Engineer at Penn State University and worked as a turbocharger application engineer for Elliot Company. After earning an MBA from Georgetown University, Vince embarked on a journey to San Francisco where he toiled endlessly for Apple Computer as an Engineering Project Manager on such projects as iMac and Airport. He now runs his own software company focusing on creating solutions for small companies. Please feel free to contact him if you need a custom software solution or want help making sense of technology.
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