Andrew Preble is a Louisianian at heart. He grew up on the northshore in Abita Springs and only lived out of state for the last six years. He moved back to New Orleans last July to finish his undergraduate degree at UNO.
Rewinding a bit, Andrew started Above Underground in high school, which was the unofficial newspaper circulated to every high school in St. Tammany Parish for two years. After graduating, he went on to LSU and wrestled with the idea of studying architecture, business, international studies, or languages. Instead, he decided on travel. Andrew lived in Sydney (worked in the movie biz), Buenos Aires (online marketing), Oslo (went back to school), Innsbruck (school again), and then Berlin (worked for the Berlin International Film Festival for a year, and then started a restaurant/bar). Read this profile written about him and his time in Berlin, he says it might help fill in some blanks!
Once back in New Orleans, he had already thought about what cities he would move to next. By chance, Andrew attended a 3 day startup event hosted at UNO and realized that there were, “so many interesting people doing interesting things,” here and that New Orleans was the city for him, after all.
Andrew is a fan of the NOLAbound program and many similar programs that encourage people to move here and start businesses. He is doing his part by convincing old friends and expats to rediscover New Orleans.
Andrew is an avid sailor and tries to get on the water a few times a week. On a more surprising note, he is an amateur falconer (see photo below) and loves to collect fortune cookies with words inside like, “either way you are right!”
See how he answered our questions below:
What is the most exciting thing you are working on right now?
I’m trying to re-imagine how we consume news (specifically local news), and how to make the user experience better. If Ted Turner was starting CNN today, what would it look like?
If you wrote a regular column for Silicon Bayou News what would it be about and what would you name it?
World peace and other hilarities: the ramblings of a drunken sailor. (Or is this supposed to be serious? I might have a few serious ideas.)
If you recently moved here, what brought you here?
I moved back to New Orleans to finish my undergraduate degree at UNO. My original plan was to finish everything in one semester, and then head right back out of town. Then I slowly started to discover all of the really exciting things going on here, and I decided to stick around a little longer.
If you could win any award in the world, which would you be most proud to possess?
Anything but the Darwin award.
If you were stuck on an elevator for two hours, what one person (dead or alive) would you choose to be stuck with?
The child of Ted Turner and Oprah
IYO, which institution is most due for disruption?
News.
If you had to pick a drink to describe yourself (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) what would it be?
Moscow mule: foreign and stubborn (this also describes my ideal mate)
Tell us about your biggest failure.
It’s hard to admit failure, and I have very few regrets. That being said–I was trying to start a student travel magazine when Katrina came through, and my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly after. I wish I could say that I rose to the challenge and despite all the odds, blah, blah, blah. But in reality, I stopped working on the magazine, and I fought or didn’t speak with my mom until the day she passed away. The failure is that I’m not sure what I learned from the whole ordeal–except maybe how to smile and nod.
What’s your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?
Go sailing.
If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Ice cream or blueberries, but not blueberry ice cream.
If you could live in any other time period, which would you choose?
The year 3000.
What are you most excited about happening on the Silicon Bayou that you aren’t directly involved in?
I’m really excited by all of the guys and gals that took part in the LaunchPad Ignition program. I’ve gotten to meet most of them over the last few months, and it will be fun to watch them grow.
The standard superpower dichotomy:
Go without sleep (teleport is a close second).