Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Cycling in the small village of Damme, outside of Bruges, Belgium
University of Tuebingen where I studied in Germany
Visiting with the beautiful couple Professor Stanley and Judy Hallet in Paris
testing
- Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
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Starbucks
companies
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Intel Capital
companies
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American Express
companies
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CashStar
companies
WHAT I DO
I start and build great companies and sometimes I help others do the same.
On occasion I also help large companies innovate and launch new products.
How I do this:
- I am a natural-born intuitive. I see things well before others do (opportunities, patterns, early market formations or just plain market gaps).
- From here, I relentlessly focus on the end-user or customer: without them, there would be no business. I walk around, I listen, I look, I perceive, and then, much of the time, aha!
- Next, I conceptualize the product OR set out to significantly rethink and redesign it.
- Then I find great and passionate people to help me achieve my vision. Or I assist others who are open-minded innovators.
- Finally I focus on two things:
- An unabashed intensive quest for building great products
- Introducing these products to the customers and channels who will consume them.
I believe in just a few axioms:
- Hire great people and then enable them to do what the love and love what they do. My last company, CashStar, was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Maine 3 years in a row and has won countless awards.
- Be kind and generous in spirt and approach to the people you hire and your customers.
- Never give up innovating and redesigning your products — if you are forced to stop, it’s time to move on.
Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Cycling in the small village of Damme, outside of Bruges, Belgium
University of Tuebingen where I studied in Germany
Visiting with the beautiful couple Professor Stanley and Judy Hallet in Paris
testing
INSPIRATION
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain
Relentless focus on end user and consumer – this is my passion
- Steve Jobs (in spite of his lack of kindness) “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and has made all the difference in my life.”
- Elan Musk “My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.”
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau “To live is not to breathe but to act. It is to make use of our organs, our senses, our faculties, of all the parts of ourselves which give us the sentiment of our existence. The man who has lived the most is not he who has counted the most years but he who has most felt life.”
Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Cycling in the small village of Damme, outside of Bruges, Belgium
University of Tuebingen where I studied in Germany
Visiting with the beautiful couple Professor Stanley and Judy Hallet in Paris
testing
ABOUT ME
My passion is to create and build innovative companies that take advantage of emerging market shifts and to find great people and talent to help me realize my vision. As the former CEO and Co-founder of CashStar, our team of 80 engineers, payments executives and digital enthusiasts have changed the world of gifting from physical to digital. CashStar is now recognized as the leading digital gifting company as evidenced by its impressive customers including four of the top ten retailers in North America, including The Home Depot, Gap, Walmart and BestBuy and several of the largest restaurant/casual dinning chains, including Chili’s, Pizza Hut and Starbucks. CashStar was also named one of the best companies to work for in Maine (two years in a row) reflecting the open, innovative and entrepreneurial culture I created with our team.
I have more than 20 years of executive management experience in Fortune 500 and emerging growth technology companies with a strong emphasis on innovative payment systems and loyalty solutions. I was named one of the top five prepaid entrepreneurs and was also selected as Mass High Tech’s “eCommerce All-Star”. I have served as a senior executive in several financial services firms, including American Express, where I pioneered the first universal prepaid product, the American Express Gift Cheque, which quickly grew to sales in excess of $300M. Just prior to CashStar, I worked with Intel Capital’s Mobile Commerce team in identifying new applications for mobile and digital couponing. I also assisted Waste Management with the development of the company’s new social media venture, Greenopolis, which focuses on incenting and rewarding consumer green behaviors.
Awards and Recognition
Mass High Tech All-Star and Innovator
Mass High Tech All-Stars — October 2012
Selected as one of the top 10 New England tech innovators.
Top 5 Prepaid Executive
Prepaid Press — March 2011
Selected as one of the Top 5 Prepaid Executives and Entrepreneurs
Maine Business Leader of the Year
Maine Biz — March 2012
Selected as Top Business Leader of the Year for creating CashStar as best places to work and most innovative company in ME
CashStar Ranked Inc.com’s Top 6 Software Company 2013
Inc. 5000 — August 2013
Ranked by Inc.com as #6 top software company and #103 among 5,000 fastest-growing private companies
Patents
Systems and methods for implementing and managing gift cards
United States PCT/US2010/035764 — Filed May 21, 2010
Systems and methods for implementing and managing virtual gift cards
United States 8,442,866— Issued May 14, 2013
Board and Board Advisory Services
Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Cycling in the small village of Damme, outside of Bruges, Belgium
University of Tuebingen where I studied in Germany
Visiting with the beautiful couple Professor Stanley and Judy Hallet in Paris
testing
WHERE I’VE BEEN
Hover over the cities that I’ve visited to learn more.
Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Cycling in the small village of Damme, outside of Bruges, Belgium
University of Tuebingen where I studied in Germany
Visiting with the beautiful couple Professor Stanley and Judy Hallet in Paris
testing
CONTACT ME
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, or if you’re interested in learning more about me and what I do.
dstone@payments-207.com
david.douglas.stone@gmail.com
(207)749-6590
Portland, Maine - where I live and co-founded CashStar
Cycling in the small village of Damme, outside of Bruges, Belgium
University of Tuebingen where I studied in Germany
Visiting with the beautiful couple Professor Stanley and Judy Hallet in Paris
testing