This profile has not been claimed and data may not be accurate.
Founder457
83rd percentile
Investor33
70th percentile
YC W16First-Time FounderRaised $200M+1,000+ EmployeesAngel Investor
Founder Matrix
Most Like You
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Credibility
this founder typical founder (50th pct)
Operator · 97th percentile
- Current Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Podium, active since October 2013.
- Y Combinator W16 alum — Dennis Steele and Eric Rea were admitted into Y Combinator Winter 2016 with Podium.
- Podium (podium.com) is a YC-backed company backed by Accel, GV, and Summit Partners with over 100,000 business customers.
- Podium was co-founded with Eric Rea, who co-created the initial MVP alongside Dennis Steele.
Founder score
- 97%Probability of being accurate (97%)Current Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Podium, active since October 2013.
- 97%Probability of being accurate (97%)Y Combinator W16 alum — Dennis Steele and Eric Rea were admitted into Y Combinator Winter 2016 with Podium.
- 95%Probability of being accurate (95%)Podium was co-founded with Eric Rea, who co-created the initial MVP alongside Dennis Steele.
- 92%Probability of being accurate (92%)Podium has raised $422.6M in total funding across 8 funding rounds.
- 55%Probability of being accurate (55%)Podium (podium.com) is a YC-backed company backed by Accel, GV, and Summit Partners with over 100,000 business customers.
Investor score
- 88%Probability of being accurate (88%)Publicly identified as an angel investor on NFX Signal with a check size range of $100K–$5M.
- 80%Probability of being accurate (80%)Has made at least 2 confirmed investments, including Swipe (Seed, February 2022) and one prior deal.
- 75%Probability of being accurate (75%)Invested $2M in Swipe as part of a Seed VC round in February 2022.
- 72%Probability of being accurate (72%)Has been investing since at least 2019, representing approximately 6 years of investing experience.
- 35%Probability of being accurate (35%)Stack Overflow account identified for Dennis Steele with 46 reputation.
What you likely need
Dennis, you're a high-signal founder with a large-scale YC-backed company that has raised $422M — your profile is already compelling to institutional investors and operators. Your angel investing activity is nascent (2 known deals), and there's an opportunity to formalize that side of your work. Leaning into your operator credibility at Podium's scale could unlock LP relationships, board seats, and a more structured investing practice.
Are these your current priorities?
We will tune and customize your Founder Festival experience to make sure you get invited to the events that would be most valuable to you.
- fundraisingConsider formalizing your angel activity into a small syndicate or micro-fund — your Podium operator credibility and YC W16 network are strong LP magnets.
- introsRe-engage the YC W16 alumni network to source deal flow and co-invest with other YC founders who are now writing checks.
- positioningExpand your NFX Signal profile with more portfolio companies and a stated thesis — your current profile lists sector rankings but no public portfolio, which limits inbound deal flow.
- positioningPublish content around Podium's AI-powered local business communication strategy — you're operating at 100K+ customers and $123M ARR, which is a rare vantage point worth sharing publicly.
- introsPursue 1–2 board observer or advisory seats at seed-stage SaaS companies in your sector focus (HRTech, FinTech, Wellness) to build governance experience alongside your angel checks.
- tacticalEstablish or surface a public GitHub presence — your background includes software engineering and co-creating Podium's MVP, but no public code footprint is currently visible.
- positioningPopulate your steele.vc portfolio page with deal details and a clear investment thesis to attract founders seeking operator-angels with SaaS and local business expertise.