Founder Insights: How Perdix Software CEO Steven Smith Is Digitizing Manufacturing from Rochester
- Connected Know
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Long before he was building software for manufacturers, Steven Smith was already experimenting with entrepreneurship. As a child growing up in Greece, New York, he built haunted houses and arcade-style attractions in his grandmother’s basement and charged family members admission.
“It was probably the first time I realized you could build something and people would actually pay for it,” Smith said.
Today, Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Perdix Software, a Rochester-based company focused on helping manufacturers modernize operations through digital tools. Founded in 2015, Perdix developed The MOLI System, a platform designed to help manufacturers manage production processes, labeling, traceability, and operational data more efficiently.
Smith’s path to building enterprise software was unconventional. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a minor in Communications from Nazareth University, but his technical skills developed alongside his creative interests. While still in school, he built websites for local businesses and explored audio production.
After graduating, Nazareth hired him as its Web Developer, giving Smith a professional environment to refine his software skills. Around the same time, he began working with early-stage startups, including BookDecay, where he met future co-founder Jake Weidert.
Another startup, Mykonos Software, proved particularly formative. The company was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2012 for $83 million, bringing Smith into a global technology organization. When Juniper later restructured and eliminated the Rochester team in 2015, the timing created an unexpected opportunity.
“It freed me up to work on MOLI full time,” Smith said.
The origins of Perdix Software were rooted in real-world manufacturing challenges. Weidert had recently purchased Otex Protective, a manufacturing business, and was searching for ways to improve internal processes.
“He needed a way to structure product codes and generate labels,” Smith said. “So we built some software to do that.”
What began as a tactical solution for one business quickly expanded. As Smith and Weidert spoke with other manufacturers in the Rochester region, they realized the same problems were widespread.
“Our label-making software kept growing,” Smith said. “Eventually it evolved into what we now call The MOLI System.”
Today, Perdix focuses on helping manufacturers navigate the complexities of digital transformation, an increasingly critical challenge for small and mid-sized industrial companies that must compete in a technology-driven supply chain.
For Smith, one of the company’s most meaningful milestones had little to do with revenue or product launches. “The first time we released a new version of our software where I wasn’t the primary coder,” he said. “The major features were written by the team.”
Seeing engineers fully understand and expand the platform’s architecture signaled something deeper than product progress, it meant the organization itself was maturing.
“That was the moment I knew the team was truly owning the technology,” Smith said.
Perdix has benefited from several regional entrepreneurship programs along the way. Early on, the company participated in HTR LaunchPad in 2015, which helped the founders focus on customer discovery and refine their initial business model. Later, the Technology Entrepreneurship Network (TEN) program in 2017 helped Smith strengthen his understanding of B2B sales.
Most recently, Perdix completed the GrowthX Revenue Accelerator at the Golisano Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship, where the team sharpened its ideal customer profile and messaging strategy.
“GrowthX helped us get very clear about who our customers are and how we communicate value,” Smith said.
Despite running a software company, Smith says the hardest problems in entrepreneurship are rarely technical.
“The biggest challenges are never the technology,” he said. “Building a business involves building yourself and building others.”
That mindset reflects advice Smith has carried with him for years: “Take all the wooden nickels they’ll give you.” The phrase, he explained, is a reminder to gather experience and lessons wherever they appear. “Opportunities come in unexpected forms,” he said.
Smith believes Rochester is uniquely positioned to support companies like Perdix. The region’s history of precision manufacturing, engineering talent, and community investment provides fertile ground for industrial innovation.
“All the pieces the business needs for success are here,” he said. “We have deep manufacturing roots, supportive government programs, and a culture where people reinvest in the community.”
He also points to quality of life as a key advantage.
“Rochester consistently ranks among the most livable cities in the country,” Smith said. “We have a vibrant arts scene, affordable housing, and incredible access to nature.”
Outside the office, Smith enjoys exploring the region’s extensive parks system. Monroe County alone has more than 125 parks, offering trails, waterways, and recreation opportunities year-round.
His go-to lunch spot is Ciaccia’s Delicatessen on Lee Road, where the Ciaccia Special, a chicken and eggplant parm sandwich, has become a personal favorite. For coffee meetings, he rotates between RoCoCo, Boulder Coffee, and Java’s, where the combination of caffeine and conversation often leads to new ideas.
As Perdix Software continues to grow, Smith remains focused on the same principle that shaped the company from the beginning: solving practical problems for real businesses.
“It all started with helping one manufacturer,” he said. “Everything since then has been about building tools that make their work easier.”
Fast Facts
Category | Detail |
Founder | Steven Smith |
Company | |
Founded | 2015 |
Headquarters | Rochester, NY |
Industry | Manufacturing Digitalization |
Position | Co-Founder & CEO |
Education | Nazareth University (BA Music, minor in Communications) |
Hometown | Greece, NY |
Favorite Restaurant | |
Favorite Local Business | |
Favorite Activity | Exploring Monroe County parks |
Coffee / Founder Meetups | |
Company LinkedIn |
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The Connected Know Founder Spotlight is a weekly feature highlighting the entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders shaping Rochester’s startup and business ecosystem. Each profile offers insight into the people behind local companies driving growth, creativity, and long-term economic momentum.
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