The Only Decision | Bob Stewart

Episdode 3 – The Only Decision. Bob Stewart is a serial CTO and founder of Apex Velocity Catalyst. He served as CTO at Dell EMC’s Global Security Group and at Motorola’s Internet & Networking Group, where he built the cable modem business from the ground up — climbing from contractor to CTO in four years. He ran tech due diligence at CMGI during the dot-com boom, including the acquisition of Elon Musk’s first company Zip2. He led biometric security at Sonavation through ultrasonic fingerprint technology, was elected Chairman of the Board at ACRES (Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety) overseeing $140M in clinical research technology, and built the world’s first blockchain-based online voting platform at Votem — used by the American Bar Association, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the military for overseas voting.

But the crucible that defines Bob’s leadership story happened in his blockchain startup. He’d spent nearly two decades building a platform called ExoChain, designed to give people control over their own medical records and ensure clinical trials met every regulatory standard with full transparency. The vision: use blockchain’s immutability to create an auditable record that any regulator could inspect, ending the black-box nature of clinical trial data.

It was working. He’d signed a 10-year agreement with ACRES, onboarded a credentialing company with over a million healthcare professionals, and attracted serious people — decorated special operations veterans, Gold Star families, and top figures in academic medicine — who believed in what he was building.

Then an activist investor made his move. He’d loaned the company money, and now he wanted control. He refused to honor the co-founding partner agreement. Bob offered to sign whatever terms the investor’s own counsel approved. The response: that was then, this is now.

When Bob convened an emergency meeting to protect his team, the threats escalated to his family. Bob recorded the conversation.

He shut the company down. Not because it was easy, but because it was the only move that protected the people who’d trusted him. As Bob puts it: it wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the only decision.

Bob talks openly about what came after — a period he compares to PTSD. Losing something you’ve poured that much of yourself into creates real trauma. He rebuilt by teaching himself Rust, diving deep into AI, and rewriting his 1,800-page systems development lifecycle for the age of agentic AI (available at github.com/AISDLC). That path led to founding Apex Velocity Catalyst, where he’s assembled a team of senior CTOs to tackle larger opportunities together.

His advice for leaders: if you don’t absolutely need someone to move forward, don’t give them control over your vision. And when someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Full disclosure: Mark Alcazar is a member of Apex Velocity Catalyst and works closely with Bob.

About Bob Stewart

Bob Stewart is CTO and founder of Apex Velocity Catalyst. He previously served as CTO at Dell EMC’s Global Security Group and Motorola’s Internet & Networking Group, Chairman of the Board at ACRES, and held leadership roles at CMGI, Sonavation, and Votem. He’s also spent 20 years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. Father of nine, grandfather of six.

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