Photo of Frank Gruber Frank Gruber Product Manager myAOL In the 08/09/2007 edition of ExecutiveBiz we had a chance to catch up with Frank Gruber, Product Manager of myAOL. Frank Gruber is the product manager for a recently launched a new product called myAOL. He tracks the Web 2.0 space very closely on a professional and personal level. He also is the author of Somewhat Frank. We catch up with him on his favorite blogs, the overall state of the Web 2.0 space, and the hottest Web 2.0 company out in the market today.

ExecutiveBiz: Why are you interested in Web 2.0? Frank Gruber: Web 2.0 space is very interesting. You have so many choices out there now. Web 2.0 platform encourages creativity and the power of people. It’s cutting edge. ExecutiveBiz: How does that apply to AOL? Frank Gruber: I am the product manager for a recently launched a new product called myAOL, offering a suite of personalization products designed to be all about the user. myAOL gives you the ability to personalize your Web dashboard, and find everything you want online – content, features and applications -- quickly and easily. myAOL also helps you save and manage your favorite places on the Web and offers great new tools that help you discover new content. Strategically, one of our goals at AOL is to to engage users by giving them what they want -- including both AOL and non-AOL applications and content. We want to offer users everything they want, so they don’t need to leave our service to find it, and hope to offer a compelling enough experience to keep them coming back. ExecutiveBiz: What are the Best Blogs? Frank Gruber: Aside from my own blog, Somewhat Frank some of my favorites are TechCrunch , GigaOm, Mashable, Read/WriteWeb and Go2Web2 for web related news. Of course there are many others as well in other niche content areas of the long tail. ExecutiveBiz: What is the biggest misconception about Web 2.0 space? Frank Gruber: That you’re going to make a lot of money. You may or may not, but you have to make sure you create something that users want. During the big boom, people were building things that didn’t make much sense. You will probably make money if you have a solid idea and a good business model. ExecutiveBiz: Tell us about Tech Cocktail? Frank Gruber: It came out in Chicago a year ago in July 2006. TECH cocktail is a social mixer for the local tech crowd. You get to meet so many people and befriend others in the industry. In Chicago there was nothing like it, but there were a lot of startups. The object of the idea is get people in the industry to meet up. We offer a handful of demos that are done in an expo style. We’re not putting people in front of the crowd. We’re making it comfortable for people to come out to meet each other and have some fun. We really want to amplify that signal to some of these smaller companies and connect them with the community. There have been companies that have been created at these events. We’re doing one in DC, and then we’re going to Boston and soon we hope to be International. We want to expand it and keep it going. ExecutiveBiz: Hottest Web 2.0 company in business and consumer space? Frank Gruber: Companies that I look at all the time and couldn’t live without are Facebook, Flickr, and Digg. Additionally, with myAOL. I think my own company is taking a greater role in the Web 2.0 consumer space by pulling in these and other products as a personalized dashboard for my web. I looking forward to see where we can take it. ExecutiveBiz: What is something most people don’t know about web 2.0? Frank Gruber: A lot of people don’t know what web 2.0 is. It’s about the people and user driven. For more information about myAOL, visit www.myaol.com. Interview with Frank Gruber conducted by JD Kathuria. Enjoy this interview? Digg It! Check out more Executive Spotlights ...