David Stepania — Founder
I love building businesses from scratch; there's just something about spotting new opportunities and turning ideas into successes :) As a founder of ThirstySprout, I've helped many high-growth startups and enterprises like Mailchimp, Intuit, Rover.com, and even Goodwill build outstanding tech and AI product teams, addressing hiring & software development challenges I've personally faced. I'm also passionate about how AI is reshaping startups and helping them build leaner teams. Through my media brand (the AI Chopping Block), we share insights from smart founders & tech leaders that we talk with on how they hire in the AI era. As a 2x bootstrapped founder: - Generated $100M+ lifetime revenue - Ranked #247 on Inc. 5000 (2024) - Built thriving founder communities - Regularly incubate and invest in AI-driven ideas I love connecting with founders, spotting great talent, and talking about ideas that can change the world. I like to travel, I speak a few languages, and I like good food and working remotely near beaches. (I spend a lot of my time right now in Riviera Maya, MX. 🏝️) Let's talk startups, scaling teams, and/or new ideas - connect with me!
Stackforce AI infers this person is a seasoned founder and AI expert in the SaaS and tech startup ecosystem.
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Experience: 19 yrs 8 mos
Skills
- Start-up Leadership
- Artificial Intelligence (ai)
- Start-up Support
Career Highlights
- Generated $100M+ lifetime revenue as a founder.
- Ranked #247 on Inc. 5000 in 2024.
- Passionate about AI's impact on startups.
Work Experience
District
Founding Member (1 yr 1 mo)
Stealth
Founder (1 yr 4 mos)
Techstars
Startup Mentor (1 yr 4 mos)
The Homebase AI - Community, Podcast & Newsletter
Founder (2 yrs 1 mo)
Sidebar
Founding Member & Evangelist (2 yrs 1 mo)
InterviewHelp.io
Advisor (2 yrs 2 mos)
Hampton
Founding Member (1 yr)
GLG
Advisor (4 yrs 8 mos)
WeHealth
Advisor (5 yrs)
ThirstySprout
CEO & Founder (8 yrs 2 mos)
DataMicro
Managing Partner (4 yrs)
Thales Digital Identity and Security (ex Gemalto)
Business Development (1 yr)
Marcus & Millichap
Associate (1 yr)
Stepania & Associates LLC
Partner (19 yrs 7 mos)
Education
Bachelor's Degree at University of Washington
Postgraduate Degree at Texas McCombs School of Business