Company Background

Book Pig is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2009 by the Witchel and Pigoski Families. Book Pig was created to provide a convenient and inexpensive method for busy working parents to get kids the books they need, but along the way transformed into a service to get kids excited about reading. With parents reporting back that not only was the service a great idea, but that they never knew how much their kids liked reading, a new mission was born.

Our Mission:

Get kids excited about reading by helping parents surround kids with books they love.

Our Team:

• Tom Pigoski, President & CEO. Tom is responsible for strategic direction, performance, and team management at Book Pig. Prior to co-founding Book Pig, Tom was an executive for several successful internet services companies including Proper Marketplace and Ecast, Inc. where he oversaw a diverse set of activities including technology, development, technical operations, information security, and customer service. In addition, Tom was founder and served as COO/CFO for View Interactive Entertainment (acquired by Rowe International in 2006). Tom holds a BS in Engineering from Stanford University and MS from University of Florida.
• John Witchel, Technical & Strategic Advisor. Prior to founding Book Pig, John co-founded, served as CTO and sat on the board for Prosper Marketplace, the first people-to-people lending marketplace and the company that launched the P2P lending industry. An active software designer, Mr. Witchel was the architect and lead developer of Prosper. Prosper raised over $40M from such top venture firms as Benchmark, Accel, and Fidelity Ventures. Prior to Prosper, Mr Witchel founded and led Browsercam (acquired by Gomex in 2007), EmailReach, and XCOM (acquired by USWEB/CKS). He holds an MS in Computer Science from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. from Stanford University
• Gabby Chapman (Aunt Gay), Librarian. Gabby is a middle and high school English teacher specializing in getting kids to love reading. She implemented a program at a charter school teaching kids to become skilled, passionate, habitual, and critical readers. As a result of her innovative program, the school raised its test scores nearly 20% in the first year and remained one of the top two schools in reading in the county during her 7 year tenure. The secret to her success is making sure that books that her students actually want to read are always available while giving the kids the time and space to read. She knows she succeeded when she catches a child sneaking reading in class.
• Jessica Wheeler, Librarian
• Charlotte Pigoski, Customer Service & Finance
• Sara Leask, Marketing Manager
• Tamara Rivera, Operations

Our Board:

• John Witchel, Founder
• Tom Pigoski, Founder
• Brian Elliot, President and CEO of Alibris Books. Alibris Books is the premier online marketplace for independent sellers of new and used books, music, and movies, as well as rare and collectible titles.