The First Company Built from the Ground Up to Deliver Real-Time Identity Solutions

Ajay Gupta has served as CEO of Stirista since founding the company in 2010 at age 26. Without accepting external funding, Ajay has overseen the data-driven, marketing services company’s rapid year-to-year financial growth as it has progressed from 2 employees, working out of an apartment, to a 41-person team spanning three continents. Ajay holds a Bachelor’s degree in financial economics and creative writing with a mathematics minor from St. Lawrence University, as well as an MFA in creative writing from Texas State University. He has been named a Marketing EDGE Rising Star and was part of the San Antonio Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list. Under his leadership, Stirista has won an Ad Age Best Places to Work award, a DMA Silver ECHO award, a third-place DMN Award, and a spot on the Inc 5000 list.

David graduated from the University of Arkansas with a BA in Political Science. Since June 2013, David has worked with Stirista from Long Island, New York, leading the sales efforts. With experience in graphic design, direct mail, printing, and even acting, David is truly Stirista’s Renaissance man. He has a passion for making connections with people and brings this zeal for life to the table in everything he does.

Matthew Staudt, the Chief Strategy Officer of Stirista, is a noted visionary associated with the development, growth and sale of several organizations that have supported numerous global brands. Mr. Staudt has the unique knowledge and perspective associated with a 30-year career as an entrepreneur and C-level executive working with many FORTUNE 1000 companies in support of data monetization, custom data sourcing and strategies, lead development, omni-channel marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) and many IT innovations in the areas of AdTech and MarTech.

During that time, Mr. Staudt has developed extensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of strategy development, client management, direct and indirect channel initiatives, data innovations, operations, sales and workflow analysis. The cornerstone of his achievements was the incubation, development, evolution, and sale of a fully- integrated marketing communications firm, Interactive Marketing Group, Inc. (IMG), based in Allendale, New Jersey.

Mr. Staudt's vision and leadership during his 23-year tenure with IMG established it as leading edge one-stop service provider, offering custom application development, complete web and e-commerce services, internet and email marketing initiatives, database development, printing, mailing services, list brokerage, list management, telemarketing, and complete creative services in traditional and new media. In 2001 Staudt expanded IMG’s web and internet development capabilities, launching a Web 2.0 SaaS based strategy dubbed MarketBlox. The first licensee of the MarketBlox application, IBM, deployed the application in 43 countries with over 7,000 Business Partners.

In early 2008, he departed IMG after having successfully merged it with EBS Worldwide of Mumbai, India in March 2006 to form a global marketing resource. Joining Venture Development Center (VDC) in July 2008, Mr. Staudt was responsible for alternative data sourcing and supply to the buy-side brands of the company working in Risk and Fraud. In 2010 he became President and COO of the organization, leading the company to 20% YoY growth and expanding the offerings of the organization. In March 2021 he orchestrated the sale of VDC to Stirista, LLC.

Mr. Staudt has developed, executed and coordinated strategic activities for an impressive roster of companies across many industries. Some familiar clients include; Accenture, ADP, Apple, AT&T, Avaya, BlueCross BlueShield, Cicco, ConnectiCare Insurance, D&B, Deloitte, Hertz, IBM, KonicaMinolta, LexisNexis, Lucent Technologies, Panasonic, Ricoh, Siemens, Sharp Electronics, Sony Electronics, T-Mobile, Toshiba, TransUnion, Western Pest Control, and W.L. Gore.

Matt earned a BBA in Marketing and Management from Pace University's Lubin School of Business.

Valarie joined Stirista in April 2019, bringing over a dozen years of client service and digital agency experience. Her background includes account, project and operations management, marketing strategy, copywriting, web development and lead generation campaign execution. She’s passionate about producing positive change and solving problems for the people and organizations with whom she interacts. She has a BA in Communications from St. Mary’s University.

Outside of the office Valarie is a fan of trivia competitions, the San Antonio Spurs, working on DIY home improvement projects, as well as hiking with her husband and chocolate labrador retriever.

Hamid leads Stirista’s Product and Marketing teams. He has over 25 years of experience in advertising/media and recently led Altice’s advertising division’s (a4) strategic partnerships efforts, where he focused on sales partnerships with MVPDs, agencies, and brands. He was also responsible for forging relationships with inventory and data vendors. Prior to Altice, Hamid has had senior roles with various agencies and data/media companies focusing on partnerships and business development in both the TV and digital advertising practices.

When not working, Hamid enjoys fishing, golf, managing his fantasy football teams, and watching his favorite sports teams (Ravens and Orioles) on TV.

Erika graduated with a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio and started as Stirista’s Account Director in June of 2013. Erika keeps Stirista’s books in order and works to keep up with our clients. If you stop by our booth at a conference you probably will run into Erika, who is experienced with customer service. A lover of both animals and the outdoors, you can find Erika playing volleyball, fishing, hiking, or playing with her dogs when she’s not at work.

Matthew joined Stirista in June 2020. A direct marketing veteran with over 20 years of industry experience, he started his career in 1999 in the early days of internet advertising, eventually rising to become the Vice President of Catalog & Retail at I-Behavior, which was then acquired by KBM/Wunderman/WPP. He then transitioned to digital in 2011, working at companies throughout WPP, at eBay Enterprises, LiveIntent, Inc. and Postie. Matthew brings with him a unique perspective and is ‘all in’ on the importance of identity resolution and people-based marketing.

A 1996 graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Science, away from the office, Matthew enjoys spending quality time with his wife and daughter, taking weekend trips into NYC, watching movies, shopping, attending area festivals and watching his native Houston, Texas, teams – the Texans, Astros, and Rockets.

Will Kunkel joined Stirista as the VP of Marketing in early August, where he leads the team across multi-channel marketing efforts and brand development.

Will holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Prior to joining Stirista, he served as VP of Marketing at a4 Advertising from Altice and prior to that, he lead the creative and content practices for a number of digital and PR agencies, including Next15 and Grayling. He was the founder of NYC-based agency Magnetik, which he sold to Selligent in 2010.

Will enjoys lifting weights and cooking when he’s no working and lives on Long Island with his wife and three boys.

Vincent’s experience in the marketing industry spans 18 years, and he recently received the 2019 Marketing EDGE Rising Stars Award. Based in New York City, Vincent has been involved in business and partner development roles most of his career and enjoys helping customers achieve their sales and marketing goals. Vincent is a current board member for the Direct Marketing Club of New York. He has a BA from the State University of New York at Oswego in Communications and Mass Media.

By night, Vincent is a stand-up comedian in NYC and also one of the most sought-after corporate emcees in the business. He has most notably opened for NBA Legend Magic Johnson in San Diego for the Data & Marketing Association Conference in 2014 and emceed the 2018 Silver Apple Awards in NYC.

Candice is a founding partner at Stirista. She designed some of the very first collateral, business cards, and websites at Stirista. She majored in graphic design at Full Sail University. Conference planning is one of her favorite things to do at Stirista. When not at work, she’s usually playing with her one-year-old, Avatar, or reading a book. She’s also a fan of Japanese Chins and thinks very highly of them.

Arin has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He started at Stirista in August 2013. Arin takes on special projects and campaigns from the more demanding clients, along with overseeing the integration of Stirista’s data with other platforms, such as Salesforce. Before his time at Stirista, Arin worked as a .NET developer for a number of years. Arin loves sci-fi and his life was forever changed when Star Wars was re-released in the 90s. Can’t find Arin anywhere at the office? He’s probably outdoors playing a variety of sports or fishing in Corpus Christi. After a long day, you’ll find him playing with his goofy (and slightly spoiled) dog, Aspen.

Karl graduated from Texas A&M University in December 2010. A specialist in Information Systems by trade and PC tinkerer by hobby, Karl leverages his experience in business process analysis, coding, project management, agile software development, and technical writing. He coordinates the deployment of marketing campaigns and supports Stirista’s ongoing expansion of new customer interfaces. Born and raised in San Antonio, Karl is an avid appreciator of music, art, sushi, and the outdoors, indulging his wanderlust by swimming, hiking, and scuba diving.

Blaine graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2011 with a BBA in Corporate Finance. With a mind for making sense of data and preemptive problem-solving, Blaine joined Stirista in January of 2015 as a Data Analyst. Prior to joining Stirista, Blaine worked in marketing and sales, creating simple summaries of large quantities of purchasing and sales data. Outside of work, you can find Blaine squaring up for 3s or hitting home runs in “Rec” leagues, cheering on his fantasy teams, and chasing after his newly mobile daughter, Mackenzie.

Steve graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a BSBA in Accounting, Webster University with an MBA, and is a CPA in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has over 27 years of senior-level finance, international banking and treasury, and accounting experience in high-growth environments. During that time, he has lead numerous corporate ERP implementations, improvement initiatives, and efficiency projects. He came to Stirista in February 2021 from InterSystems Corporation, a leading provider of innovative data solutions for organizations with critical information needs. In his prior years, he worked in corporate finance with Fidelity Information Services (FIS) and Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing.