Laurent Guinand

Founder - ZipWine

Laurent Guinand is a dual citizen of France and the United States. He comes from Lyon, the French food capital located between the Burgundy and Northern Rhone wine regions.

He started his career promoting French rosé wines in the US with Sopexa/Food and Wines from France. He then became a banker and worked on financing food and wine ventures in the US.

Later, as founder and CEO of GiraMondo Wine Ventures (2004-2011), Laurent consulted for governments, wine regions, wineries, distributors, and retailers on their growth strategy, marketing strategy, and international business development. He also conducted hundreds of public and private wine tastings, both large and small.

 Laurent was an Adjunct Professor of International Business at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy (Tufts University) and a guest lecturer at the Fuqua MBA (Duke University) and The Bordeaux International Wine Institute (INSEEC / Groupe OMNES), where he taught strategy and innovation in the wine and spirits industry.

 Laurent has developed and presented numerous seminars on the Business of Wine geared at professionals who want to switch careers and join the wine and spirits industry.

 In parallel, Laurent has over 25 years of experience in management consulting for large companies such as A.T. Kearney and Accenture and boutiques like Alliance Consulting Group, Metis Strategy, and North Highland. He is the founder of Aramis Advisors, LLC, a boutique consultancy focused on growth and innovation.

 Laurent holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Organization Economics from the University of Paris XIII. He is also a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University and of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He has written professionally for Wines & Vines Magazine and Meininger’s Wine Business International.