Oren Goldfinger has the distinction of being one of OGM's oldest, and youngest, employees. Let us explain: As one of OGM's first hires, (employee #16, actually) he joined the team straight out of UCLA at age 22. Four years later, his odometer is still in the mid 20's, but he impresses everyone with his old-hand expertise as a web engineer. In his downtime, just hook him up with some video games, some hoops-and stay off the brake pedal-and he's a happy man.
Interviewer: First question, of course. How many times have people sung the theme to "Goldfinger" to you?
Oren Goldfinger: More than I can count. Definitely more so when I was younger. I've had it as my cell phone ring. And I have a lot of memorabilia from the movies.
So tell us about where you grew up.
I was born in Staten Island, New York. I only lived there for eight years, before our family moved out to San Diego and then L.A.
What was the reason for the move to California?
My mother's a little bit of a health nut. And we were always sick in New York with bronchitis and asthma. We came to visit our cousins in San Diego and literally didn't go back because we were, like, cured instantly.
Wow.
It was pretty drastic, actually. Dad just packed everything and sent it. And that was it.
Tell us a little about the young Oren Goldfinger.
My favorite thing growing up was doing puzzles. And I still like doing them. My parents tell me when I was in preschool, at the end of the day the teacher would ask me to stay behind to clean up all the puzzles. Because there would be five different puzzles in one giant pile in the middle of the floor, and I was the only one who could separate all five and put them back together.
Early glimpses of genius. Has that skill with games translated to your work at OGM?
Definitely. The analytical mind and problem-solving part. Actually, when I first started, I was assigned a project (by Evelyn of all people!) to play video games. I had to research how video games were interacting with advertising, bringing real-time advertising into the game itself. That was a lot of fun.
Slick. You basically got paid to play video games. Are video games an interest outside of work?
Oh, yeah. I'm definitely very geeky in some ways. But I'm very-non geeky, too. I was captain of my high school basketball team, but I'd also hang with the programmers. I think I'm the missing link.
So what are you doing when you're not at work?
And not playing video games? I'm big into sports. I like playing basketball. In the winter, I love going snowboarding. Hanging out with friends, of course. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend.
Pets? Hobbies? Any of that kind of stuff?
No pets yet. We want to get a dog. But other hobbies, I don't know. I program as a hobby. Is that wrong?
That's wrong. (Laughter) Let's switch gears. What makes you crazy? What drives you nuts?
My parents. (Laughs) No, I'm just kidding. I love my parents!
I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that! Seriously, any pet peeves?
Oh, I have a pet peeve. First, let me say, I'm a little bit of a hectic, fast driver. But I'm a really good driver! Everyone just says that, but I really am. I mean, I've been driving for ten years. I don't have a ticket or an accident on me.
Okay....
But my pet peeve is when people brake unnecessarily. Especially on the freeway. There's almost no reason why you ever need to brake on the freeway unless there's traffic and you have to come to a stop. People don't realize that your foot doesn't have to be on a pedal at all times. You can just let go of the gas and you'll naturally slow down instead of hitting the brakes. I don't know why they're stopping so then I'll have to stop twice as hard. It drives me crazy because it causes accidents! If I had one message to tell the entire world, I believe that might have to be it.
That is one very L.A. pet peeve, my friend.
I definitely spend a lot of time driving.
You must have a super-secret back route to OGM that nobody else knows.
I know every single path. Streets and turns and alleys depending on the traffic. I'll take every one of them.
So you're the guy if someone needs the hook-up.
Oh, yeah.