In this episode of The Growth Class, host Phil Masiello interviews Eric Orange, Founder and CEO of LocalWineEvents.com.

Eric shares the story behind building one of the longest-running digital platforms for wine, food, beer, and spirits events, after a poorly attended wine dinner in 2000 revealed a simple problem: people needed one place to discover local experiences.

He explains how a $1,500 startup evolved into a global event discovery platform, the importance of solving a clear market need, and how early digital advertising helped create a sustainable business model.

Eric also discusses how consumer behavior in the wine industry has shifted from traditional wine education toward experiences, connection, and smaller, more intimate events. He shares insights into building a valuable audience and data set, using customer behavior and AI to better understand consumer interests, and the opportunities to scale and improve monetization through targeted advertising, event promotion, and audience segmentation.

LocalWineEvents.com website: https://www.localwineevents.com/

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