Hi, I’m Steve Rude.

I took an interest in technology when I was very young. I was taking apart electronics and writing my first code at only 8 years old. Much to the chagrin of my parents, sometimes I couldn’t put them back together (sorry mom!). At 16, two friends and I started a web development company during the early Internet 1.0 days.

Along the way, I’ve been a part of amazing teams and helped build companies big and small. From unicorns like Riot Games and Bird Scooters, to startups like Atlas, MagicSchool AI, and Zwift, I’ve been able to see the various phases of building successful companies and to study and learn from them.

Another part of the journey was failure. After my own failed startups, I’ve learned that resiliency is more important than luck. The 2020 pandemic derailed a lot of things in progress, but it was ultimately just a redirection to work that helped me develop into the person I am today.

In 2024, I started Rude Company to use this experience and help others with things I believe in: building great products, keeping a human touch on everything I do, and working with amazing brands in a full-service boutique agency to handle just about anything you can throw at me. I have amazing partners I work with and a deep network to connect with that allow the work to shine.

The best work starts when you deeply understand what a brand needs. So let’s discuss what your needs are and see how I can help.

So, what are you working on?