Erskine Williams was born and raised in Richmond, Va. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1996 with degrees in Biochemistry & Cognitive Science. After graduating, he moved to Hood River, OR for two years to windsurf. In 1998, he moved to Portland, OR and started software engineering for Intel. From 2000 -2001, he rode the dot.com bubble with a small consulting firm in San Francisco. When the bubble popped, Erskine worked for Barclays Global Investors as a software engineer in San Francisco from 2001 – 2003. In 2003, he married and moved back to Portland working with Fujitsu Biosciences to write 3D molecular modeling software. Then, in late 2005, Erskine joined a company which brings social networking software to businesses.