Primary Job Title Chief Technology Officer Primary Organization 
PureWRX
Location Austin, Texas, United States Regions Southern US Gender Male
LinkedIn View on LinkedIn
Stephen manages and architects all of the technology desires of PureWRX, from the software platforms to the hardware lab. He has been leading best-of-breed teams for decades and knows the difference between a technology company and a business that needs enabling technology. By using modern software development methodologies in cooperation with the
business, Stephen leads teams that stay in constant communication with the business, and thus, repeatedly deliver to its needs.
An entrepreneur at heart, Stephen has focused on growth businesses in a broad spectrum of technology. Most recently, Stephen managed the software engineering department at BuildASign.com. In two short years, per developer productivity of his 13 member team increased 40%. Stephen was also VP of Technology for Coro Health offering targeted streaming media for residents in elder care communities. From 2001-2008, Stephen was Vice President of Technology with Callaway Golf Interactive. Stephen grew its technology department from the launch of Callaway Golf Pre-Owned, through the company’s purchase by Callaway Golf, and managed the technology for all of the company’s direct to consumer offerings.
Prior to Callaway Golf Interactive, as 212 Studios’ Director of Engineering, Stephen Balkum led the development of 212’s patent-pending Storekeeper System. Storekeeper’s use of Balkum algorithms employing AI technology constituted a revolution in database management and reporting systems. Previously, Stephen led the development team of the award-winning Jack Nicklaus 5 containing the most realistic 3-dimensional characters and scenery ever developed for a golf simulator.
Stephen earned a BS in Astronomy from the University of Texas. As a member of the department he focused on infrared spectroscopy research. With data from McDonald Observatory and the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, he developed algorithms to reduce 10’s of thousands of images of the same stellar object to a single, super-high resolution image. These methods were published in multiple scientific journals.
