The Phanfare Story
We love photography. We started Phanfare back in 2004 because there was no internet service where we wanted to store all our photos and videos. Existing solutions were too print-focused and gave us no sense of ownership over our media. We wanted our own online presence with our own destination URL. Early on, we decided we wanted to store archival originals so that Phanfare would also serve as reliable storage for our media.
Building a subscription-based service made sense to us so that we could focus on the needs of the customer without having to please advertisers. And we liked the straightforward relationship of customers paying for what they were getting, rather than giving away mediocre hosting in exchange for the purchase of prints, like the online photo finishers.
Our first solution combined the power of network connected desktop clients with synchronized per-family websites. We have evolved the system over the years, adding the features that we believe enthusiasts want and need. At the same time, we have tried to keep Phanfare simple.
We aim to serve people who value their personal media, want a better experience and will pay to preserve it. Our customer support is amazing, backed up by real people who are always ready to solve your problems and go the extra mile to help.
Phanfare will never hold your photos and videos hostage. You can get back the full-size originals and display your photos wherever you want and upload from a variety of systems; we offer API access to other companies, even competitors, so that you can take your photos and videos with you if you ever decide to leave.
We have always been focused on creating a sustainable company that takes its responsibility to preserve the media seriously and follows the golden rule of treating others as we ourselves would like to be treated. All our friends and family use Phanfare and we hope you will too.
About the Founders
Andrew Erlichson and Mark Heinrich
Andrew Erlichson (andrew@phanfare.com),
CEO, member of the Board
Prior to Phanfare, Andrew Erlichson was CEO & co-founder of Flashbase, which
was acquired by DoubleClick in 2000. At DoubleClick, he was Vice President of
Technology for the Research and Development Group. He has worked at Mips
Computer Systems, Silicon Graphics and BlackRock Financial Management. Andrew
Erlichson received his AB from Dartmouth College and his M.S. and Ph.D. in
Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Mark Heinrich (mark@phanfare.com),
CTO, member of the Board
Mark Heinrich is an Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of
Central Florida (UCF), and a founder of its Computer Systems Laboratory. He
received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1998
and was a principal designer of the FLASH multiprocessor under his advisor,
John Hennessy. Dr. Heinrich also received his MS from Stanford in 1993, and his
BSE in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Duke University in
1991. His research interests include parallel computer architecture,
high-throughput computing, scalable cache coherence protocols, and active
memory and I/O subsystems. Dr. Heinrich was also the co-founder and Chief
Architect of Flashbase, Inc. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, an IBM
Faculty Award, and is a member of the ACM and a Senior Member of the IEEE.
Outside Board Members
Dwight Merriman
Dwight Merriman is an Internet entrepreneur in New York City. He is
cofounder of DoubleClick and served as the company's Chief Technology Officer
for approximately ten years. Mr. Merriman was architect of the
DoubleClick ad serving infrastructure known as DART. Previously, Merriman
served as a software developer in the R&D group at DCA/Attachmate in
Atlanta, Georgia. He received his B.S. with honors in Systems Analysis from
Miami University of Ohio.
Fabrice Grinda
Mr. Grinda is a serial entrepreneur who has successfully transposed and adapted
business ideas between the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. Most recently,
Mr. Grinda was the Founder & CEO of Zingy Inc. Zingy is the largest mobile
media company in the Americas, selling ringtones, wallpapers and games to
carriers, media companies and consumers. The New York-based company has 130
employees and generates over $130 million in yearly content sales. Prior to
founding Zingy, Mr. Grinda was the founder and CEO of Aucland, one of the
largest auction sites in Europe and co-founder of Deremate, the largest auction
site in Latin America. Until founding Aucland in 1998, Mr. Grinda served as a
consultant in the New York office of McKinsey & Company, where he worked
for large financial institutions. Mr. Grinda received his B.A. in economics
from Princeton University.
Jeff Samberg
Jeff Samberg is the Managing Member of Acadia Woods Partners, LLC, a New York
based investment partnership that focuses primarily on early stage technology
companies. Jeff lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years where he held
a number of high-tech management roles, including Vice President of Corporate
Strategy for PeopleSoft Inc., Vice President of Business Development for Wily
Technology, and Entrepreneur in Residence for Greylock Partners. Jeff received
his MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and his B.A.
with high honors in Economics from Princeton University.
Paul Ferris
Paul Ferris is a founding General Partner with Azure Capital Partners,
an early stage venture capital firm with over $650 million under
management and focused on communications, consumer, enterprise and
Internet technology segments. Prior to Azure, Paul worked at several
investment banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was the
Global Head of the Communications Investment Banking Group, and at
Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley. Over the course of his
career, Paul has provided strategic and investment advice to numerous
leading technology companies. Paul received his B.A. degrees in Computer
Science and English from Amherst College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Contact Information
Phanfare is a Delaware Corporation.
Phanfare, Inc.
84 Nassau Street
Princeton, NJ 08542
By Email:
By Phone:
| Main Number: |
732-494-9449 |
On The Web: