Richard Klein, CEO of dot429

The online organization, dot429, presented the first in a new quarterly series featuring leading LGBT entrepreneurs who share what inspires their success. Held at the Infusion Lounge, it was a benefit for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). This segment featured an intimate conversation with San Francisco chocolate baron, John Scharffenberger, who is proudly, openly gay. 

A multi-platform network connecting LGBT professionals and allies online and in person, dot429 was founded by 500 of the most successful and influential LGBT people (and their straight allies), who are entrepreneurs, business people, designers, and entertainers. It serves as a go-to destination for the LGBTA professional set and provides an opportunity for the community to connect and expand their business networks, further their careers, stay current on the latest happenings in the LGBTA professional community, and more. Online members communicate through profile pages, updates, messages, and online introductions. “429Magazine” at 429.com website provides exclusive articles written by industry insiders, politicians, and key LGBTA leaders, covering everything from finance and business to leisure and entertainment. It provides members with a fresh take on current issues: the queer professional perspective. Adding to the success of the online network, dot429 hosts sophisticated monthly social events across the country for members to connect in person. 

Scharffenberger said his passion has always been as a gardener/ farmer with a degree in agriculture. The first crop he grew – at age 16 - was marijuana.

It was just bliss to be able to provide for all my friends,” he confessed. He then thought he would work in the wine country with plans to grow grapes and pot on a field of 500 acres. He started a winery without a lot of money. He happened to meet a friend, Robert Steinberg, who offered him a lump of chocolate from France, and convinced him to develop a sweet as delicious as that sample. He joked, “We were going to call our company ‘Steinberg Scharffenberger,’ but decided that was a little too ethnic. Then we thought about calling it ‘SS,” but that was obviously even worse.” 

“We were trying to take agricultural commodities and turn them into a flavor result,” he said. “Robert had a great palate, and everybody thought he was the gay one.” He said, “The wonderful thing about being gay is you have all these tentacles out to so many parts of society, and it’s great to be able to use that in starting a business. We gays have a special relationship with a whole lot of different people.” 

He reminisced on the joys of testing chocolate, especially the time he worked with Haagen-Dazs to perfect a new chocolate ice cream with salted caramel. He also worked with Hershey’s chocolate, but was not impressed by them and “the lower tercile of their American demographic.” So he and Steinberg started their own company. Scharffenberger has started other companies as well. 

“Making money in this economy is difficult; you might as well be a gun runner – or maybe a pirate in Somalia,” he joked. “But what is important is having passion for your work.” He said, “The best thing is to make the world a better place in your own way.” 

Richard Klein is CEO of dot429. He gave Bay Times  an interview, and my very first question was what in the world did the name and numbers mean.

He explained that “4,2,9” spells out “G.A.Y.” on all telephone keypads. He said the “dot” was a way of connecting the dots between LGBT people. I venture to say it could also refer to a dot-com online company. Klein started the company about a year and a half ago, building it through members of the queer community. “We reached out to people from Miami, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago – all gay cosmopolitan cities – and identified 500 people as founding members, and we brought in people from all kinds of different categories, from architecture, design, and fashion to politics, law, and medicine; and really, everything in between,” he said. “We gathered influential people, people who are visionaries and connectors in the community.” They traveled all around Gaymerica and interviewed its inhabitants. “We asked people if this was something the community could use, and the answer was a resounding YES,” he said. “A key part of the DNA of dot429 is both online and in-person events offline.” They launched in Seattle three months ago; just launched in Silicon Valley; and will be launching in London in two months. “It is growing considerably fast and doing phenomenally well,” he said. So far there are over 56,000 members, and currently signing up is free. They have hired an editor to build a small editorial team for their online magazine. The content of “429 Magazine” changes on a daily basis with eight different columns “from business to the good life.”

The content gets picked up by everything from “The Wall Street Journal” to “Huffington Post” to gay magazines such as “Advocate” and “Out.”

Klein said he attended the GLAAD Media Awards three years ago and was so inspired by that event and the people involved, that he knew he had to get involved with GLAAD, becoming very active on the Leadership Council for two years. He wanted to link dot429 with GLAAD and the quarterly speaker series. 

Dot429 presented a huge event with Saks Fifth Avenue the next week on the fifth floor, along the lines of the “It Gets Better” campaign, which is a positive role model for troubled queer teens who are cruelly bullied. Klein said that project, “Work Open,” is about bringing your whole self – who you are and your sexuality – to the workplace. He urged, “You need to be openly comfortable with who you are, which will make your job so much more successful.”