Bio
TIMOTHY CHILDS
CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, CLEARGRAPE LLC
Timothy is a serial entrepreneur, super-taster, and award winning innovator whose brand of creative disruption champions the deployment of new systems in old industries.
From deep re-thinking of traditional marketing and distribution, to supply-side efficiencies and consumer product positioning, his work exploits disruptive, off-the-shelf solutions to modernize some of the world’s most complex business systems. A recognized leader and speaker on innovation and sustainability, he is passionate about improving efficiencies while positively impacting the lives of farmers and producers that his companies touch.
Today, Timothy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of several enterprises: ClearGrape, a spirits importation, distribution and marketing company, and Treasure Brands, a leading-edge, private-label product developer in spirits and food. He directs all R & D, helps raise investment capital, plans brand strategy, handles major contract negotiations, manages financial planning and strategy, and manages day-to-day operations with his partner, Shelley Alger. World Headquarters, housed in a 25,000 s/f hangar on Treasure Island, is a curated art / business incubator space where Timothy hand selects a set of über talented artists, entrepreneurs and fabricators with complementary skills and visions. It is the home base for both ClearGrape and Treasure Brands. This art collaborative is an expression of his passion for community building and for facilitating large-scale art movements.
As Founder and Chief Chocolate Officer at TCHO Chocolate, Timothy engaged a multidisciplinary community around the art and science of making the world’s best chocolate. He was the creative and tasting force behind the company’s vision and strategy, including TCHO’s flavor-driven approach to chocolate making as well as TCHOSource, the company’s innovative project to improve farmers’ livelihoods and generate prosperity throughout the cocoa value chain. TCHOSource has become a model for sustainably focused programs within South America and beyond.
Prior to starting TCHO, Timothy co-launched the retail brand Cabaret Chocolates, where he co-pioneered single-origin marketing with distribution through national outlets. Before embarking into the food and beverage industry, his early-stage companies and mergers and acquisitions’ work in the Internet and computer graphics industries culminated in his forming a company that made machine vision systems for NASA’s Space Shuttle program.
Timothy helped create and is currently on the board of Illuminate the Arts (pioneering The Bay Lights project) and was the co-founder of the non-profit VeRGe, an educational forum in early Internet and 3D graphics communities. He is an internationally sought-after speaker, whose work has been featured in hundreds of print, web, and TV stories. You can view some of these pieces by clicking here.
