Andrew Rubin defies his youthful 22 years in many ways, yet is a product
of his generation. He walks to the beat of his own music and belongs
to the next wave of young Internet entrepreneurs. Rubin is the creator
of VirtualSLO.com, a virtual pictorial guide of San Luis Obispo, California
and the Central Coast.
Rubin started VirtualSLO.com after seeing a Quick Time Virtual Reality
technology demonstration in a City and Regional Planning class at Cal
Poly, San Luis Obispo. He figured the technology would work highlighting
San Luis Obispo businesses. He shared his vision with classmate Jason
Gavin and, together, they drew up the business plan.
Rubin’s vision has translated into sales. Since 2001, the business
has grown by double digits. VirtualSLO.com has more than 100 customers
and plans to introduce a new version in the fall of 2003.
Rubin grew up in Malibu, California. His mother, a children’s
book author and father, a real estate broker nurtured his creativity.
Aside from VirtualSLO.com, Rubin’s passion is music. He has a
vinyl record collection, the old 33’s that exceeds 300 albums.
He spins jazz, soul, blues and rock n’ roll and Miles Davis, Art
Blakey, The Beatles and Gil Scott-Heron are among his favorite artists.
He plays the drums and tinkers with the electric keyboards and composes
on occasion.
Rubin heads sales and marketing for his company. He graduated winter
of 2003 from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelors
of Science in City and Regional Planning and a minor in Real Property
Development.
Jason Gavin
Co-founder, CEO
Director of Finance and Business Development
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Jason Gavin is an adventurous young man, having run with the bulls
in Pamplona and sky dived over the Swiss Alps. He was born in Queens
and raised on both coasts. With a passion for technology, he always
knew he wanted to be involved in an Internet business.
Gavin started tinkering with computers when he was nine years old.
His father, who worked for Xerox, brought home a company laptop that
Gavin used to email his friends in different states. His fascination
with instant communication drove Gavin to learn more about technology.
Gavin took a robotics class and learned how to code movement and actions
by punching numbers into a computer. He loved to build things and later
he learned to design houses using a CAD program. He used this experience
in his City and Regional Planning classes at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
where he was one of the few that opted to design 3D models on the computer
rather than draft on the drawing boards.
Gavin had been an acquaintance of Andrew Rubin, seeing him in classes.
It wasn’t until Rubin approached Gavin that the two found out they had
a mutual friend from high school. Rubin told Gavin his vision for VirtualSLO.com
and a light went on inside Gavin’s head. Gavin believed in the sales
potential and partnered with Rubin in developing VirtualSLO.com. He
had found his Internet business. Gavin is responsible for business development
and finances for VirtualSLO.com. He graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo Winter 2004 with a Bachelors of Science degree in City and Regional Planning and a minor in Real Property Development.
Virtual Communications, Inc.
