I’m Steve Royster, Growth Strategist & BRAND BUILDER — with an IOU from Michael Jordan for a game of H.O.R.S.E.
(true story … ask me about it)
15 years of finding the white space, building the bridge, and delivering results.
NJ Economic Development Authority
Hired out of Business School to help launch New Jersey’s first public-private venture fund
At a time when most capital ignored Newark, New Brunswick, and Trenton, I was brought in to help shape a $50M fund aimed at the underbuilt tech ecosystems tied to NJ’s university towns.
I was fortunate to lead $10M in early-stage investments across healthtech, edtech, and enterprise software and launched Lean Startup Newark with Audible execs, Randall Pinkett, and ABF Creative to cultivate a founder-first ecosystem.
→ From here, I took the playbook into the private sector
ALCATEL-LUCENT
Bell Labs VentureS
Worked on internal venture investment strategy during Alcatel-Lucent’s innovation cycle
At Bell Labs, I sourced and led a $2M Series B investment in Desktone—a virtual desktop startup later acquired by VMWare for ~$100M. When I wasn’t sourcing strategic investments, I collaborated with Bell Labs engineers in Murray Hill, Paris, and Belgium to translate technical documentation into commercialization-ready business plans.
Bringing IP to market is no small feat—I learned how to work alongside some of the most brilliant scientists and engineers in the world.
→ My work was remembered by leaders at Bell Labs launching a startup of their own.
KISWE
Tasked with building go-to-market strategy for a brand new streaming video platform. But my work went well beyond slide decks
I executive produced early livestream channels for Jimmy Conrad and Bobbito Garcia—proving the case for our music/sports solution now used by NBA, WNBA, ESPN, Supporting product design for proof-of-concept tools with the Washington Wizards, Mystics, and NYC Cosmos was fun. And I also oversaw the logo design that still stands today.
→ I rediscovered my passion for building from the ground up—and saw how tech could scale culture.
MOCAFI
Introduced via a creative partner from Kiswe, I joined MoCaFi to help take the company from startup to scale—and lead special initiatives across government, brand, and product.
As the 5th hire, I’ve helped to lead prepaid debit card business to its first 25K cardholders; proof-of-concept product design for government payment systems that have distributed over $200M in funds; launched a $2M community engagement brand and executive produced season 3 of Streets First — personal development podcast with Adrian Walton, Fat Joe, Yandi Smith-Harris, Dave East, and Danny Green.
