My Story
It started at the family dealership
I grew up around the automotive business in Milford, Connecticut. Stevens Ford was established in 1955, and my father ran the dealership before I did. Working in internet sales gave me an early view of how the web was changing the way people bought cars. Customers could spend weeks researching online before they ever walked into the showroom.
The businesses serving those customers were trying to catch up. The tools available to a local operator did not always match the way people were searching, comparing, and making decisions. That gap became the focus of my work: helping smaller businesses use technology in the places where it could make a practical difference.
During a summer working at the dealership while studying at Wharton, I began testing search advertising. The response suggested a business opportunity beyond automotive. Other local companies needed a way to turn online searches into customer inquiries, too.
Building Yodle from its first customers
Yodle began with local businesses in Philadelphia. Ben Rubenstein, a fellow Penn student, joined the early sales effort. Kartik Hosanagar brought the technical research that helped turn a hands-on marketing service into a product. Our early work was about finding customers, delivering results, and learning what could be repeated.
That experience shaped how I think about starting a company. A promising idea has to survive contact with a business owner’s actual needs. Selling the service and doing the work gave us feedback that a business plan alone could not provide.
Yodle grew into a national local-marketing company, and Web.com acquired it in 2016. I wrote about the company’s beginnings with Kartik for Knowledge at Wharton. The story includes the early sales work, the transition to software, and the decisions involved in bringing in outside capital and leadership.
Early recognition from BusinessWeek
In 2005, while I was a senior at Wharton, BusinessWeek named me one of its top 20 entrepreneurs under 25 for founding Natpal, the business that became Yodle. The Daily Pennsylvanian reported the recognition that November, describing our work helping local businesses connect with customers online.
Mark Zuckerberg was also recognized in BusinessWeek’s 2005 competition. Fox Business later identified him as that year’s winner.
From finding customers to running the business
Helping a business bring in a customer is one part of the job. The next part happens inside the business: booking an appointment, taking a payment, keeping a customer record, and making the next visit easier. Those everyday responsibilities are the focus of Punchey.
I founded Punchey to bring payments and business operations together for service businesses. A small team needs tools that fit its daily work. Scheduling, point of sale, customer communication, and marketing should help the person serving the customer, rather than create another set of disconnected tasks.
The same interest shapes my work at Stevens Ventures. I focus on businesses building software for particular trades and service industries. Tattoo studios, pet groomers, and auto detailers have different workflows. Understanding those differences is central to building software that becomes useful in the day-to-day operation of each business.
Coming home to Stevens Auto Group
After my father passed away, I returned to lead the family dealership as CEO and Dealer Principal. Stevens Auto Group includes Stevens Ford of Milford and Lincoln of Milford. Taking responsibility for that business meant continuing work that had been part of my family and the community for generations.
I have written about why I came back. The dealership was where I first encountered many of the problems I later worked on in technology. Returning put me back inside the daily operation, working with the customers, people, and decisions that software is supposed to support.
Today, my work spans the dealership, Punchey, and Stevens Ventures. Those responsibilities give me different perspectives on local business: operating one, building tools for others, and backing founders working on related problems. They also keep my writing grounded in the practical questions that business owners face.