Meet Dave Gasparine of Epoxy in Pacific Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Gasparine.

Dave, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I originally grew up in Las Vegas and studied mechanical engineering at UNLV. I am fascinated with how things work and how they continually evolve and improve. You fly on an airplane and it’s hard to fathom the amount of work that goes into the research and development of how a team of engineers created one of the safest modes of transportation that floats on a cushion of air. I suppose that mindset is what drives me. I also love the outdoors and the ocean. Obviously, Las Vegas, while a great place to live lacked the weather and landscape to enjoy both of those.

Before and during college, I worked at The Mirage and later Bellagio moving from valeting to driving limo’s. It was a great opportunity for me at a young age. I was exposed to the inner working of what true “hospitality” looked like on an unparalleled scale and was able to get my education at the same time. The hotel industry has mastered consumer trends and how to get them to spend more time and money in their casinos.

Even with such a great opportunity. It wasn’t in my blood to work in a position that wasn’t going to allow me to influence it in some way. You can only get so creative on how to park cars or drive guests to different destinations, so I knew I had to make a change. I was also incredibly blessed to have a great family and friends that influenced me. I decided I wasn’t going to be in my 60’s doing that job and had to make a change. It was a hard job to leave, we made great money and didn’t have any real labor.

I decided to open a restaurant. I had absolutely no experience. It was a true trial-by-fire experience. And it was amazing. I had the greatest experiences and was able to mess things up and learn from them repeatedly. It was a part of a franchise and we grew it to one of the busiest locations in the nation. More important though, it ought me how vital a loyal customer following is to a small business, and how difficult it can be to maintain those relationships.

That’s where my engineering kicked in. I realized that there was a distinct need for a solution that could do a better job of rewarding customer loyalty while easing the logistical and marketing frustrations of the small business owner. I remember closing one day and standing in my office counting the rewards cards and closing out my registers thinking, we have cars that can park themselves and I have to sit here for 2 hours doing something that should be automated. Thus, the Epoxy App was born. I taught myself how to code, adding the pieces of marketing that I used in my restaurants that were successful and creating some new ideas along the way. Once we grew in the Las Vegas Valley I decided that was my opportunity to get closer to the beach and to my favorite city, San Diego. I decided to hire reps in Las Vegas and move to San Diego to continue our growth.

The city is just amazing, the people are equally as amazing. Everyone is active and outside, it’s contagious. You truly feel bad if you stay inside. It forces you to want to be outdoors. I’ve learned how to surf and have met some really great people. I still go to Vegas every week for work and love that city and am grateful I get the opportunity to experience the beauty and diversity the resides in San Diego! The sunsets aren’t too bad either. 😉

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The furthest thing from it. The adversity has been abundant. When I owned the restaurants, I could visibly see the output. Meaning, I could see my employees interact with customers or the food being prepared and make corrections accordingly.

With software, it’s a whole new challenge. Being inexperience and self-taught you learn the hard way that software language is very similar to the language we speak. Different slangs, dialects and interpretations. It makes it exceptionally difficult to take what you have in your head, convert those ideas to a system that is “sellable” and make sure it functions properly all the time.

You learn to take things a lot less seriously and to try to roll with the ups and downs. In the early days I would present a feature of the application, showing the customer how great it was and the whole thing would just crash. It was tough, and it was frustrating but it makes you really appreciate stability and reliability.

Please tell us about Epoxy.
Epoxy is a mobile application that really allows consumers to find local businesses and enjoy their rewards, purchase gift cards and write reviews. There are plenty of companies that do these individually, but Epoxy is the first that combines them all in one place and more importantly does it with the business in mind. I believe our customer service is what sets us apart. We treat every business as if it’s the first one to sign up with us and really do invest a lot of time to create a great user experience for the customer.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would’ve grown a beard sooner, can you believe I waited over 30 years to grow one! Seriously though, I would’ve made sure not to take things so seriously and stress so much. You try so hard in the beginning to make everything perfect and don’t realize how unattainable that is, especially when you have almost no experience in that field. If I had to start over I wouldn’t change the experiences, those are what mold and create what is today. I just wouldn’t have been so bothered and frustrated by the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://epoxyapp.com
• Phone: 702-857-8802
• Email: Dave@epoxyapp.com

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