Steven Sperry

A CHILDHOOD DREAM. From a young age, Steven Sperry had his sights set on the stars— literally. Growing up in a military family with an Air Force officer for a father, Steven dreamed of becoming an astronaut. With a natural affinity for mathematics, Steven excelled academically, skipping his senior year of high school to dive straight into college at the age of 17. He pursued dual majors in math and physics, eventually earning a master’s degree in physics from the University of Washington.

Steven’s path to the cosmos seemed set when he was hired by Boeing Aerospace to work on the space shuttle program. However, the Challenger disaster in 1986 put a halt to space projects. Unwilling to wait indefinitely, Steven pivoted, turning the software he had developed for NASA into his first entrepreneurial venture. “I realized the software had commercial potential, and I decided to try and commercialize it,” he explains.

Steven’s first startup, Primus, took off quickly, securing venture funding and eventually going public in 1999. But despite his professional success, Steven was living a double life. He was openly gay in his personal life but had yet to come out professionally.

This internal conflict came to a head when a new CEO, brought in by the board to guide the company through its public offering, threatened to out him. “I was told I could either stay at the company and be outed, or I could leave,” Steven recalls. Choosing to leave the company he had built, Steven reflects on the experience as a turning point. “After that, I was more careful about who I worked with and more open about who I was.” Steven’s next venture, Acadio, aimed to revolutionize online education by creating a hub for e-learning resources. Despite raising over $30 million, the company struggled to gain traction and ultimately fell victim to the early 2000s tech bubble collapse. The experience was humbling. “My first company was a big success, and I thought I knew what I was doing. But reality punched me in the face,” Steven recalls.

However, the lessons learned from Acadio were invaluable. He became more selective about the people he worked with, ensuring they aligned with his values. This approach paid off in his next role as CEO of Verdium. Under his leadership, Verdium developed software that helped large organizations dramatically reduce their energy footprints.

A LIFE-CHANGING JOURNEY. After years of intense entrepreneurial endeavors, Steven took a seven-year sabbatical, during which he sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, to the British Virgin Islands—a solo journey that included navigating the Bermuda Triangle. “It really put me outside of my comfort zone,” he reflects. But as fulfilling as this period of exploration was, Steven eventually felt the pull to return to the world of business. He began to ideate on his next venture, driven by a desire to tackle a new challenge: hardware.

In 2018, Steven co-founded Minnow, a food tech company that designs IoT-enabled Pickup Pods—secure, temperature-controlled lockers for food deliveries in multifamily properties, office buildings, and other communal spaces. The journey into hardware presented unique challenges, especially during the pandemic, which disrupted supply chains and forced costly redesigns. Despite these challenges, Minnow has thrived under Steven’s leadership. The product is beloved by customers, with a churn rate of less than 1%, and the company is poised for significant growth.

Steven’s experiences have shaped his belief in the importance of diversity. “Diversity is not a weakness; it’s a source of strength,” he says. At Minnow, he has made a conscious effort to build a diverse team, focusing on talent and values.

Looking ahead, Steven is excited about the potential for Minnow to scale and continue innovating in the food delivery space. His advice to LGBTQIA+ founders? “The people you surround yourself with will determine your success or failure. Be thoughtful about who you hire, partner with, and accept money from. Those decisions will define your entrepreneurial journey more than anything else.”