Stephen Smith Bio

Steve Smith joined Dunn Rush & Co. in 2010 and serves as Managing Director in the area of Technology, Software and Data Services. Mr. Smith’s specific areas of expertise include internet, enterprise IT, and telecommunications and networking. Prior to Dunn Rush he served in a variety of technical and executive positions with internet, software, and information technology companies both in New England and globally. Mr. Smith most recently served as Chairman and CEO of Fonative, Inc., a developer of VoIP software for enterprise call centers that was acquired by FINVI in 2021. Fonative was originally founded by Mr. Smith as Ampersand, Inc., a software development and IT services firm that served the Department of Defense and national intelligence communities. Ampersand worked for a variety of prime contractors, including PRC, Sterling Software, Lockheed Martin, BTG, SAIC, Sanders, Sun Federal, TRW, and Titan Aerospace. Previously, Mr. Smith was CTO and Chief Scientist for Lavalife, a North American leader in the area of internet, voice, and mobile dating products. In this role he was instrumental in the firm’s sale to a public company and performed the technology assessments for smaller scale acquisitions in the areas of social networking, mobile gaming, interactive television, and virtual worlds that the firm made or investigated post-acquisition.