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nown for innovation and creativity that goes beyond the scope of most cities, Seattle is beginning to catch up to Silicon Valley for being ground zero for startups. In 2011, Seattle was ranked #10 for technology startups and in 2012 was ranked #4, moving through the ranks faster than any other city according to National Venture Capital Association. MODE Magazine is the first to interview the founder of City Guru, Drew Morrison, a startup that will soon be on everyone’s radar. City Guru is an invite-only membership with instant access to experiences and incentives at the top restaurants and clubs in your City. Where in the world do you do a photo shoot with someone who is known for being a guru of one of the most amazing cities in the US? Columbia Tower Club, the tallest building in Seattle, of course! At the 75th floor of Columbia Tower Club, Drew Morrison is looking Seattle chic in a gray and white striped Nordstrom shirt, Hudson jeans, and black ZZegna overcoat while waiting patiently for his nails to dry. Yes, his nails to dry with a clear coat of nail polish by Brooklyn Francisco of Le Manicure. He jokingly glares at me, stating “Men from Nebraska don’t have their nails done”. This fun-loving businessman made a quick transformation from goofy and lively to serious and GQ-esque with the help of custom made suits by Trillium Design and MODE make-up artist Dakita Harris and hair stylist McKayla Marie. Drew clearly is able to go from quirky-fun to business-like in an instant, showing how multi-faceted entrepreneur’s need to be. Interviewing this charismatic entrepreneur, whose larger-than-life personality fills the room, is ready and willing to talk about what it takes to make a company stand out in this technology community. What is City Guru? – CityGuru is a community built for people who love [Food] [Fashion][Traveling] and [Lifestyle]. Our community focuses on the little things that make experiences unforgettable, and regardless if you [dine, shop, travel] once in a blue moon or every single night, membership is about ensuring each experience is valuable. Since we are membership based, we take careful consideration into who we accept out of respect for other members and for the partners at each establishment we work with in producing experiences that are exclusive to our community. It’s not about limiting those who we let in, just properly vetting those who would appreciate what we offer. City Guru offers experiences such as partnering with a specified Chef and having a menu created specifically for you, to af-
ter-hours shopping with your own personal shopper, to preferred pricing with travel accommodations at the Five Star hotels to sampling a menu so secret, you’d only know about it through CityGuru. We value experiences, not discounts, not deals. What are the benefits to be a CityGuru member and why would someone join? Exclusivity –we are invite only, but we approach membership through who you are as a person, we look for those members that will appreciate: VIP Access - to private and public events Wide range of experience benefits: - Guaranteed reservations, best seat in the house, secret tasting menus, greeted by Chef/Owner - Complimentary items (all in one reservation) –the secret menus are SO COOL. And the tasting menus are either preset or created on the fly after the chef meets you. - Private events – focused around members meeting members, great food, fashion etc. --- you never leave hungry or bored. - Preferred pricing for travel, cars, shopping, etc.–we will release our brand partners for these in 2014, but they’re BIG names –and the preferential treatment is first class. - Easily customize any of our experiences –having the ability to request custom experiences, or let us know about a birthday, anniversary, likes, dislikes is made easy. Just tell us what’s on your mind and we make sure your needs are met. - Save time searching and booking experiences hassle free --it really isn’t easy to locate a fun, exciting experience or event --- members know that we carefully select who we work with and what events we create or partner with --- members have confidence knowing that these are worth their time and since they’re all on one easy to access site, it makes searching simple - Socially connect with other members, since all members are vetted, there is a higher level of trust knowing that other members are like you and are not going to be awkward to you and being able to connect with other trusted members in any major city you travel too makes the experience of traveling so much better. - Not limited to one location or one city; membership can be accessed in every market we are in –though I love helping my friends, I often hate asking for favors and I believe a lot of others feel this too. CG always strives to get you the preferential treatment, the best experiences without having to ask for favors. You can literally walk into any city with connections (all through
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