WeaKnees in the Press
WEAKNEES
EXECUTIVE BIOS
MICHAEL ADBERG, CO-FOUNDER |
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The first time WeaKnees co-founder Michael Adberg laid eyes on a TiVo,
at around the turn of the millennium, he knew instantly, the device
would revolutionize television.
“I was blown away,” Adberg says. “Immediately, I
raced out to buy one.”
Having been a computer consultant at that point for nine years, Adberg
found that TiVo’s software was not too much different from computers
and before even using his TiVo for the first time, he found a way to
install a memory upgrade.
“I just thought it could be fun,” he says
What started out as a fun and interesting thing to do soon became a
full-blown business when Adberg showed his friend and UC Berkeley classmate,
Jeff Shapiro, his finished product.
With Adberg’s background in computers, and using Shapiro’s
law degree and business experience, the two began to sell complete TiVos
with upgraded hard drives on eBay in 2001.
The WeaKnees TiVo upgrade kits are like auto after-market accessories
but for the DVR, giving audiences as much as 20 times more storage space
to record and store programming.
After a few years of juggling full-time jobs with selling TiVo upgrade
kits, first on eBay then on WeaKnees’ own web site, Adberg and
Shapiro decided there was enough demand to concentrate full-time on
WeaKnees.
Today, the duo operates WeaKnees out of Culver City, California, along
with a staff of 10.
In his role as co-founder, Adberg said naturally, most of the technical
issues fall to him.
“I handle the nitty-gritty technical stuff,” he says. “Especially
the in-house database which was my own creation. But Jeff and I like
to split the duties 50-50 and sometimes we overlap. Basically, if one
of us is out of town, the other can do the job.”
Shapiro, also WeaKnees’ co-founder, says his close work relationship
and friendship with Adberg is largely what has helped WeaKnees keep
running.
“It is amazing to have a business partner that you trust implicitly,”
he says. “No way could we have been successful without our level
of trust and ability to work together.”
Their hard work has paid off with WeaKnees being featured in such mainstream
press as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time, WIRED and PC magazines.
Shapiro and Adberg also served as the technical editors for the book,
Leo Laporte’s Guide to TiVo and as contributors
to the book TiVo Hacks by Raffi Krikorian.
Aside from customer demand and media recognition, Adberg says one of
WeaKnees’ biggest accomplishments is the high level of customer
support.
“We take a tremendous amount of orders and these are products
that could have potential technical problems,” Adberg says. “But
we work extremely hard to address any types of problems. We even help
people who didn’t buy from us, so I know that we have earned our
stellar reputation for customer service.”
Adberg received a Bachelors degree in History from the University of
California, Berkeley. He is a native of Maryland who now lives in Los
Angeles with his wife and son and daughter.
CONTACT:
WeaKnees
310-842-4700
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