Get to know a founder: Craig Vermeyen

Next up in our series of interviews with company founders is chief operating officer Craig Vermeyen. While we work on coding and getting Barly to users, Craig works to keep us all working. He also looks fantastic in a bow tie. Here’s Craig:

What excites you about working on Barly?

The lack of red tape between idea and execution. I have worked at a large pharmaceutical company for several years, and it takes forever to get anything done. It’s so awesome being your own boss on a project you are passionate about and just saying “oh yeah that’s a good idea” and then releasing a new build on the Play store later that week. Very fulfilling. I love efficiency.

How did you first get interested in beer?

It’s hard to avoid good craft beer when you go to college in San Diego. I remember trying Green Flash’s West Coast IPA at the pub on the UCSD campus shortly after turning 21 and thinking “what the hell have I been drinking before this?” From there it just became something that kind of spiraled out of control with my group of friends, all trying to impress each other with the beers we were able to find at the local bottle shop.

What’s your favorite beer you’ve tried recently? How about an all time favorite?

I was lucky enough to find a bottle of Alpine Duet right as it was getting put on the shelf a couple of weeks ago, and man, that’s hard to beat. Thanks for increasing Alpine distribution, Green Flash! It’s actually in a Green Flash-molded bottle now too, which was funny.

All time, I have to stick with Sculpin. I’ll sub in some Grapefruit Sculpin sometimes on a balmy summer day, but in general you just can’t beat the citrusy/hoppy balance Ballast Point has put together in their Amarillo showcase.

What were you up to before founding this company?

Well my wife will say I was spending more time with her, but I think sadly I have seen time spent on music diminish more than time spent with the wife. I still get to jam with one of my three bands (Honest Iago, Better Looking People With Superior Ideas, and Jilly Boel) as often as I can though!

What do you do for fun?

If none of the other band mates are available to jam, you can usually find me on my super cushy couch in front of my beautiful TV re-watching episodes of The Wire or catching up on Game of Thrones.

Can you share a ridiculous story about the founders?

Probably not, but it involves one of us permanently damaging his retinas because the sun was “inviting him in.”

What are you currently working on for the company?

I am helping to pitch our company to potential VC firms and other investors in hopes that we get enough money for an iOS release soon. Keep your fingers crossed! Or if you want to volunteer your coding services, that is even better.

If you would indeed like to volunteer your native iOS coding services, or are interested in investing, we would love to hear from you! Please send us a message at info@barlyapp.com.