(INC) - As a software engineer at Apple and as an investment strategist at Goldman Sachs, Alex Fishman made very good money, which he spent at some of the world's nicest restaurants. But one moment reliably brought dread.

"Being handed the wine list is the worst moment," Fishman says. "Most of the time I hope there's a sommelier, and they can pick the wine. But there are times when I have to--though I usually try to refuse."

A crippling lack of knowledge about vintages, tannins, and terroir is absolutely a first-world problem, and Fishman is the first to admit it. But upon leaving his next job, at government contractor Palantir--which uses data-fusion platforms to assist government and private companies in fighting crime, terror, and fraud--Fishman knew he wanted to start a company aimed at consumers. He also knew he wanted to take some of Palantir's principles with him.

"Part of what makes Palantir so successful and such a special company is that it's comprised of all these smart people only motivated by the success of the mission," says Fishman, who is pictured above. "If we could keep our borders safe and we could make our big institutions function better, we can also make it easier to enjoy life."

Fishman turned to the tech-averse wine industry, deciding that, as he says, "we want to make the world a more delicious place."

Fishman started building his wine app, which he called Delectable, in September of 2012, initially crafting it as a personal journal tool for wines that aficionados had tasted and wanted to remember. Soon, he built in social layers, hired top programming talent, and raised roughly $6 million in venture capital investment from an esteemed panel of entrepreneurs--including Joe Lonsdale of Palantir, David Sacks of Yammer, Max Levchin of Slide, and Gary Vaynerchuk, whose motormouthed tasting videos for Wine Library first made him famous--to expand the app's scope and audience.