We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephan Walters and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart. I’ve been working in the software engineering industry with corporate America for about 13 years now and although work has been fun and enjoyable, I’ve always had the passion to create. My passion has always been to create solutions that solve human problems (and I like to do them with apps).

Streets came about as a idea for a use case that I wanted to solve. Traveling abroad a few years back I attended a festival in Europe and not being from there I found it hard to find the venues (not familiar with the city), keeping up with event changes and updates, and finding a common way to communicate with the promoters and vendors. There was no centralized system and it caused my experience to be very fragmented. And in a sense the live event experience is very segmented in how we experience it and how to transact. We buy tickets on one platform, buy food and merchandise on another, and communicate with the host usually on a popular social network.

I wanted to create a platform where consumers, curators, and vendors could inquiry, communicate, and exchange with each other before, during, and after events take place while being cost effective for everyone.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my career 13 years ago as a Java Developer who had prior internship experience in developing mobile apps. This was around the time of iPhone 3G to give context. Apps were new and it was something i was able to get a taste of during an unexpected software engineering internship with Vanguard in Pennsylvania. I was selected to be on the iPhone Vanguard flagship app team and the rest was history.

After graduation, i worked 3 years in consulting and did not like it at all. At one point i contemplating quitting engineering to bartend, because it was that unbearable (though i was 23 and being dramatic). I made a change to a startup product company as an iOS developer and from there moved into senior engineering and finally engineering management where i am today.

Currently I lead a team of software developers for a Fortune 40 Telecommunications company.

But over the course of my career I’ve always wanted to created my own apps. I released 8 throughout my tenure of all different types and Streets is the latest one. It had a cool use case and turned out to be one of the first that could actually turn into a business.

I think what sets me apart from other’s is my industry experience the technical ability to build. Working for product based companies Ive had experience working with product and design teams who work to reach millions of customers. I pair that experience my ability to create allows me to, create what i want and have the industry knowledge to scale it, while being as cost effective as possible. Not only am I the founder of Streets, but I am the sole developer. I created the mobile app, website, and backend.

What I am most proud about are the apps, I released that make it to production. Although, none of my previous apps were a major hit. They each taught me how to go about building the next. (GreaseMonkey, Chatter, JetSet, Views, and Mako).

My journey wasn’t easy. Entrepreneurship takes a lot of time outside of work and I believe my dating and social life suffered the most. I always joke and say my apps are the reason I went bald early lol. But I over came this challenge by prioritizing work life balance.

I think my biggest lessons learned over the past 10 years are:
– Don’t chase money, because money is perfectly capable of chasing you
– Learn to pivot if necessary, don’t stay attached to something if it’s not working. And if you need to fail, fail fast.
– Success is small burst of effort over time. If you work today to get closer to your dreams. Over time you will eventually get there.

If there’s one thing I want the world to know, it’s that I just want to make it better and be ultimately happy. My goal for Streets is to get it to a point where I can maintain my lifestyle and work on it full time. If I get there, I know I can make Streets the next big thing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was visiting the first place we would go is to the happy hour to catch up over. We both love tequila so probably a place where we could get some chips, dips, and margaritas. Though im not sure how applicable this is for me.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shoutout to my best friend Ryan and my line brother Bradly. I met Ryan when I first moved away from home through mutual friends and quickly we became friends, but it wasn’t too long after we became brothers. Both leaving home to experience adulthood after college and we looked after each other and watched and motivated each other to succeed through our life experiences. Throughout this entrepreneurial journey, Ryan has always been willing to test my apps, give my feedback, and even help me grow my ideas. He’s been my most supportive friend.

Bradly, is a sense has been the same, but he’s been apart of every major decision I’ve experienced as an adult. Whether financial, personal, spiritual, or just life experience, he’s been someone whose always had my best interest at heart. We come from similar backgrounds and both studied STEM fields in undergrad (Florida State University), so he’s someone I’ve been able to relate to the most through the journey with Streets and my other past apps.

Website: https://thestreetsapp.com

Instagram: thestreetsapp

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestreetsapp

Twitter: thestreetsapp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestreetsapp

Image Credits
– Ryan Coterell

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutHTX is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.