John Hayes / LinkedIn · Jan 2026
John Hayes announced that he had joined Upstart 13 as Director of Software Engineering and would lead engineering across multiple teams building software and AI-driven platforms.
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Aug 16, 2026
Upstart 13 is a privately held technology and consultative software-development partner that helps organizations modernize software, unify data, implement AI, and build or integrate engineering teams. Its positioning has evolved from general custom software development and team augmentation toward enterprise data, AI governance, and production AI implementation.
Primary product
Custom technology and software-development services, including AI implementation, data engineering and modernization, software modernization, engineering-team integration, and technology assessments.
Founded
2019
Headquarters
Austin, Texas, United States
Team size
100-200
Work style
Remote
Industry
IT Services and IT Consulting
Sub-industry
Custom software development, AI and data engineering, technology consulting, nearshore software teams
Offices
Business model
Stage
bootstrapped/private; no independently verified institutional funding found
Leadership
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Co-founder
Nathan Winegardner
Co-founder; Growth & Innovation
Ryan Merlet
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Revenue Officer
Mitch Comardo
Chief Technology Officer
Nicolas Dorotte
Head of Engineering
John Hayes
Director of Software Engineering
Sylvain Doré
Head of Delivery
Alejandro Coy Abondano
Head of Accountability & Leadership Operations
Gonzalo Mendez Filleul
Chief People Officer
Flávia Barbosa
Culture and People Ambassador Lead
Megan Cadena
Head of Marketing
Juan Salazar
Head of Business Development
The company emphasizes distributed work, global talent, accountability, learning, and measurable customer outcomes. Its public messaging stresses curiosity, capability, commitment, investment in people, and building technology that produces operational or financial impact rather than isolated pilots.
Work style
Remote
Compensation
Public job listings describe USD-competitive salary but generally do not publish ranges. A 2026 company LinkedIn post referenced a fixed $130,000-$180,000 price for a 90-day AI implementation engagement; this is a customer project price, not employee compensation.
Benefits
Pricing
Primarily custom-quoted consulting and software-development engagements. Public positioning includes assessments, roadmaps, builds, team integration, and full execution. A company LinkedIn post described a fixed-scope 90-day AI implementation priced at $130,000-$180,000.
Differentiators
Technology
Customers
Estimated revenue
$5 million-$10 million annually; third-party estimates include approximately $6.3 million, but no company-reported revenue was found
John Hayes / LinkedIn · Jan 2026
John Hayes announced that he had joined Upstart 13 as Director of Software Engineering and would lead engineering across multiple teams building software and AI-driven platforms.
Upstart 13 · Jan 2026
Upstart 13 CEO Steve Russell discussed enterprise AI implementation with James Whitaker of Microsoft. The discussion covered data consolidation, Microsoft Fabric, governance, AI agents, monitoring, and the operational barriers that prevent AI pilots from scaling.
HR Today · Jan 2025
Gonzalo Mendez Filleul was reported as joining the executive team as Chief People Officer, with responsibility for employee experience, talent development, culture, diversity, inclusion, and HR strategy.
Red Direction · Dec 2024
A podcast/interview with Steve Russell discussed Upstart 13's origin, its intention to bootstrap rather than raise capital, its services-company foundation, global outsourcing model, culture, and growth plans.
PR Newswire / Upstart 13 · Aug 2024
Upstart 13 announced Mitch Comardo as CTO. The company said he would focus on scalable technology, high-performing teams, infrastructure, and solutions supporting customer success.
89 jobs at Upstart 13