Show Notes
"Every business owner takes all this advice from bigger companies to grow, but when it comes to technology, they suddenly think they know better and try to do it themselves." - David Robinson, Founder of Stratos
David’s career started as a lighting technician for concerts featuring Katy Perry, Tiesto, Jay-Z and others.
Then unexpected fatherhood pushed him into "a real job."
A family connection brought him into healthcare technology, where he helped build one of the first electronic medical record systems for reproductive endocrinology.
The catch?
He’d never done anything like it before.
So he figured it out through weeks of sleepless nights.
Then came a chance conversation at a pool bar in Palm Springs. David approached WebMD’s former CFO and somehow knew enough about his struggling company to get his attention.
That conversation led to a job offer in New York, and eventually to working alongside the Big Four consulting firms.
That experience became the blueprint for Stratos:
Take the technology, expertise, and infrastructure that Fortune 500 companies spend millions on, and make it accessible to the mid-market businesses that are often overlooked.
David has a pretty blunt take on those businesses.
They'll follow proven advice from bigger companies when it comes to banking, sales, hiring, and structure.
Then they get to technology and think:
“This is the one area I can figure out myself.”
So they hand it to a nephew.
So they hand it to a nephew, a freelancer, someone "good with computers." A few years later, they're paying for that decision.
David’s filter for business is simple:
“If we’re not helping you make money or save money, it’s probably not a good thing to be involved in.”
His view on AI is just as pragmatic.
Vibe coding isn’t going away.
But it can’t vibe-code compliance.
Deploying an AI-built tool without a technical partner behind it is rolling the dice, and for most regulated companies, that’s a bet they can’t afford to make.
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