Who Are We?
College friends, Shamoon Siddiqui and George Burke, founded BookSwim in 2006 because they shared both a love of reading and a desire not to spend so much money on it. Prior to going online, BookSwim earned the Rutgers Business School’s 2006-2007 Business Plan Competition Finalist Award. Since launching the subscription service, BookSwim has grown rapidly, breaking all one-year projections in under six months, and tripling within three months thereafter.
Shamoon Siddiqui
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
In the summer of 2003, while attending New Jersey Institute of Technology, Shamoon found himself at UCF, Orlando, FL, experimenting with nanotechnology for the conceptual Space Elevator project. Upon completing his BS in Computer Engineering, with a specialization in Computer Communication Systems, Shamoon traveled to the University of North Dakota, where he spent the summer working on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle project for the National Science Foundation.
Soon, Shamoon caught wind of the DARPA Grand Challenge, an open call to scientists across the country to create an autonomous car. Returning to NJIT to pursue his MS in Computer Engineering, specializing in Intelligent Systems, he founded Highlander Racing, a team of 25 students, with the singular goal of winning the DARPA Grand Challenge: build a car that can drive 140 desert miles by itself.
After receiving his MS, Shamoon delved into software and technology for government contractors, ITT Avionics and BAE Systems. He could tell you more about his work there, but then he’d have to kill you.
Shamoon recently completed his M.B.A. at Rutgers University, with dual specializations in Global Business and Management. Around the BookSwim office, Shamoon is never without a deck of cards, frequently astounding the staff with Oh-my-God-that-is-my-card tricks.
George Burke
Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer
George got his start as lead web designer for the Aviation Department of the Port Authority of NY & NJ, charged with the maintenance of websites for John F. Kennedy Int’l Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty Int’l Airport. In addition to developing websites for Teterboro Airport and Downtown Manhattan Heliport, George developed and maintained an Air Cargo website. You can thank him for that time your luggage didn’t end up on the other side of the country.
He later utilized his web experience as the Director of Internet Marketing for online graphic design school, Sessions.edu. There, George developed his passion for search engine optimization, managing advertising accounts and developing new market initiatives.
Before co-founding BookSwim, George started the new media design company, Circular Orb, LLC, becoming a leader in the growing market of Artisan e-commerce. Under Circular Orb, he personally managed projects for over 40 of clients before selling the company in 2006.
George holds a BS in Information Technology, with a Multimedia Concentration, and a Minor in Management from New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he spent many an evening reading at his local bookstore due to the utterly inequitable lack of girls on campus. An avid musician and songwriter, George brings his guitar to work every day.
