If you’ve ever felt the pressure to build big before you’ve even started, this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications is for you. Aaron Marchbanks sits down with Steve Powell, Co-Owner of Delta Systems, to unpack what two decades of building and scaling software have really taught him, from defining culture that lasts to shipping “stupid simple” products that actually solve problems.
Culture as a Moat
For Steve, culture has never been the ping-pong table, the beer fridge, or the company retreat.
“Culture is not the Xbox in the corner,” he says. “Culture is a moat.”
At Delta Systems, culture means surrounding yourself with people who care about their work, their teammates, and the problems they’re solving. That’s what makes people stay. That’s what makes them bring their best ideas forward.
This kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from leading with respect, giving people room to think, and valuing contribution over noise. It’s not glamorous, but it’s sustainable and that’s the real competitive edge.
From cc:Mail to the First SaaS Before SaaS
Before SaaS became a movement, Steve was solving problems with a soldering iron and a modem. One of his earliest projects was with cc:Mail, a widely used email platform that connected companies across continents through phone lines.
Each connection cost money, and for global firms, those costs added up fast.
So Steve and his team built a simple system that optimized those calls, saving large corporations millions. No marketing budget. No growth hacks. Just clear thinking and smart engineering.
That project became his first real SaaS product before the world had the language for it, a cloud-based service solving a clear business pain. And that early experience would go on to shape everything he built afterward.
Building Delta Systems from the Ground Up
When Steve joined Delta Systems in the early 2000s, it was a small computer training company. He quickly saw a bigger opportunity: helping businesses move from static spreadsheets to dynamic web applications.
He pitched the idea, built the company’s first development team, and within a few years, bought the business from its founder.
Since then, Delta has grown into a trusted software partner for hundreds of clients, building and maintaining critical web and ecommerce systems that power millions in transactions every year.
The company’s secret is to keep things “stupid simple.” Steve believes great software doesn’t need to look complicated. It needs to work beautifully.
The Glowforge Story: Simple Solutions Scale Fast
One of Delta’s standout projects came with Glowforge, the laser-cutter company that ran a record-breaking pre-order campaign, over $30 million in sales in just 30 days.
Glowforge needed a referral system that Kickstarter couldn’t support. Delta built one from scratch, a WordPress plugin with logic for referral codes and instant discounts.
Each referrer earned $500, and each buyer got $500 off. The campaign exploded.
It wasn’t the flashiest piece of software, but it solved the problem cleanly. For Steve, that project was proof of what happens when clarity and customer focus drive the work.
Right-Sizing Ambition
When a new founder walks in with a big idea, Steve often asks: “Do you know what a million users hitting a server actually looks like?”
He’s not being dismissive, he’s simply being practical.
He explains that building for a million users before you have ten is wasteful and stressful. Instead, he tells them:
“Let’s build for 1,000 first. When you get your first ten customers, we’ll know what matters and we’ll scale from there.”
It’s advice grounded in experience and it saves young founders from expensive lessons. As Steve puts it, “Your first ten customers will tell you more than your first ten thousand.”
Mentorship and the Startup Mindset
Beyond building software, Steve mentors new founders through Startup Weekend events in Missouri. He calls it his “real-world recruiting ground” not for talent, but for people with the right energy.
He looks for builders who can collaborate under pressure, who stay kind even when sleep-deprived, and who understand that startups are team sports.
He’s also candid about common founder traps:
- Falling in love with the idea instead of the customer.
- Avoiding research because it’s tedious.
- Fighting over ownership before a product even exists.
For him, mentorship is about helping founders see past the noise and focus on getting one ship out of the harbor.
Keep Sending Ships
Steve’s closing advice to founders has become one of the most quoted lines from the episode:
“Don’t expect your ship to come in if you’re never sending any ships out.”
He reminds us that most ideas won’t work. Most attempts will fail. But the act of trying again, sending out that next ship is what eventually brings success back to shore.
That mindset, more than any framework or tool, has kept Delta Systems thriving for decades in an industry where few companies last that long.
Final Thoughts
Steve Powell’s journey is a reminder that meaningful work doesn’t need noise to make impact. His approach is steady, grounded, and deeply human, solve one real problem, serve people well, and stay in motion.
He leads with patience and builds with purpose, turning every project into proof that consistency compounds.
That’s why the ships he sends out have a way of finding their way home.
Steve’s Background
Steve Powell is a software entrepreneur, investor, and co-owner of Delta Systems, a full-service software engineering consultancy known for building and maintaining high-stakes web and ecommerce systems for over 900 clients. With more than 25 years in technology and business, Steve has turned Delta from a local training outfit into a trusted national partner for SaaS and enterprise development. Before Delta, he co-founded and sold SoftCell Communications, one of the earliest email-monitoring software firms, and later built Delta’s software division from the ground up before acquiring the company in 2005. Beyond his work at Delta, Steve mentors founders through Missouri Startup Weekend, guiding them on product focus, scaling strategy, and what he calls “right-sized ambition.” Known for his sharp wit and pragmatic storytelling, Steve describes himself as an “entrepreneur, raconteur, and provocateur.” His core philosophy is simple: build what matters, stay curious, and keep sending ships out, because only the ones you launch ever come back.
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