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IE Grad Turns Love Of Wine Into Social Media

Seeds of Shari Carlson's enterprise were sown during MBA research project

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Shari Carlson is a wine lover who sharpened her business teeth at Madrid's IE Business School. The idea for her wine lovers' networking site, RaisinRed, came to her following market research conducted for a class project during her program.

We met Shari when she was in London a couple of weeks back to speak at an IE event titled: "Who Wants To Be An Entrepreneur? Ten Common Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs And How To Avoid Them."

RaisinRed, said Carlson, is "A place to store your memories about wine, learn more about wine, and be entertained".

IE Business School was a great launch pad for the business, she said. The school provided office space, a network of business students to test the product, access to entrepreneurship experts. And presumably plenty of Spanish Riojas to taste.

Also on hand to advise wannabe entrepreneurs were Professor Pablo de Holan, Chairman of Entrepreneurial Management at IE Business School, and Bruce Macfarlane, CEO of MMC Venture Capital and former MD of Merrill Lynch. Watch out for interviews with them here in the coming weeks.