Mark Dusseau
Co-Founder, StarterStack.ai — AI infrastructure for private lenders
About
Mark Dusseau is co-founder of StarterStack.ai, an AI-native infrastructure provider for mid-market non-bank lenders funding $50M–$500M annually. He co-founded StarterStack.ai in 2025 with Justice Parham to close the gap between the ambition of mid-market alternative lenders and their operational reality: the deals are there, the capital is there, but the back-office systems were never built to handle the volume.
Over the past decade, Mark has worked at the intersection of financial technology and lending operations — building and deploying software for non-bank lenders, working directly inside origination and back-office workflows, and advising mid-market shops on the operational infrastructure decisions that determine whether an AI deployment succeeds or stalls at the data quality wall. That operational experience is the foundation for his research and advisory work.
In 2025–2026, Mark led a 75-interview field research study across private credit, CRE bridge, hard money, revenue-based financing, asset-based lending, revenue factoring, insurance, and financial technology. The findings were published as the 2026 Operator’s Guide to AI in Private Lending, a 6,000+ word research paper on the operational patterns, failure modes, and organizational dynamics shaping AI adoption in alternative finance.
Credentials
- Co-Founder, StarterStack.ai (2025–present)
- 10+ years in fintech and alternative lending operations
- Lead researcher, 75-interview field study on AI adoption in private lending (Q2 2025–Q1 2026)
- Deep experience with origination workflows, back-office automation, and AI deployment in non-bank lending environments
- Advisory experience with private credit, CRE bridge, hard money, and revenue-based financing operators
Published Research
- The 2026 Operator’s Guide to AI in Private Lending — 75-interview field research on AI adoption across alternative finance (January 2026, updated May 2026)
Connect
To discuss AI deployment in your lending operation or to inquire about speaking engagements and research partnerships, book a working session.