Philip is CEO of Penrose Hill a wine company based in Napa, California, that sells through its website Firstleaf.com and through retail.

James is also a founder of Popdust, a music focused content and commerce company backed by RRE Ventures, NEA, Lerer Ventures, Softbank, Raptor and Project A. James was named a Finalist in the 2012 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards[3] and to Business Insider’s 2011 “Silicon Alley 100” list of the most important figures in the New York tech sector.

[4] He was also invited to be in the second annual class of NYC Venture Fellows, a program from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office that recognizes the achievements of the city’s most promising entrepreneurs.

James graduated from St Hugh's College, Oxford in 1999, at age 20, with a master's degree in Chemistry and Columbia Business School in 2005 with his MBA.

[7] In 2014, James and Kevin Boyer, his business partner at CustomVine, were the faces of an internet hoax which described the invention of a "Miracle Machine", an appliance that could turn water into wine.