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Steph Smith: The Internet's Favorite Trend Hunter

Meet Steph Smith—the Canadian powerhouse who turned curiosity into a career and side projects into serious business. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to build a life around being genuinely interested in everything, Steph is your blueprint.

From Chemical Engineering to Internet Oracle

Here's the plot twist nobody saw coming: Steph started with a degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University. She did the whole traditional career thing—forensic analysis, sustainability research, engineering consulting. But somewhere along the way, she realized the internet was way more interesting than chemical compounds.

And thank goodness she made that pivot, because now she's basically the person you follow when you want to know what's happening next in tech before everyone else figures it out.

The Rise of a Digital Nomad Pioneer

Steph went remote in 2016—back when "working from home" meant people assumed you were just watching Netflix in your pajamas. She's since lived and worked in over 50 countries, proving that you can build a serious career while your office changes time zones weekly.

Her journey reads like a masterclass in strategic career moves:

• Toptal: Head of Publications, wrangling content for a global network of remote professionals

• The Hustle: Led Trends.co and grew their subscriber base by 400%+ while generating millions in annual recurring revenue (yes, millions)

• HubSpot: After The Hustle got acquired, she became Director of Marketing and launched their Creator program

• Andreessen Horowitz: Hosted the a16z Podcast from 2022-2025, interviewing the biggest names in tech

• Groq: Currently Senior Director of Growth at the AI inference company

But here's what makes Steph different: she's not just climbing the corporate ladder—she's building her own empire on the side.

The Side Project Queen

While most people struggle to maintain one business, Steph launched 10 side projects in two years. And we're not talking about abandoned weekend hobbies—these are real, revenue-generating businesses.

The Hits:

Integral Labs (2019): Her consultancy that helps top tech companies with content strategy and analytics. Because when you're really good at something, why not monetize it?

Trends.co: She didn't just work there—she transformed it. Growing subscribers by 400% and turning it into a multi-million dollar business that entrepreneurs actually pay for (imagine that—people paying for good insights).

"Doing Content Right": This isn't your typical $19.99 ebook. Steph sold nearly 3,200 copies at $100 each, generating over $130,000. The book teaches what she actually knows about content strategy, not what she thinks people want to hear.

Internet Pipes: A $400-500 toolkit for surfacing web insights. But here's the genius part—she uses marketplace arbitrage, pricing it lower on platforms with better fees and funneling buyers accordingly. That's not just business; that's art.

The Philosophy: Companies of One

Steph is obsessed with "companies of one"—businesses that generate serious revenue with minimal staff. Think BuiltWith.com or anything Levels.io touches. High profitability, lean operations, maximum freedom.

Her approach? Launch fast, test everything, optimize ruthlessly. While others are writing business plans, she's already collecting customer feedback.

The Curator of the Internet

People call Steph "the curator of the internet," and it's not hyperbole. She has this supernatural ability to spot trends before they become obvious. Drone delivery, psychedelic therapy, AI inference—she's been talking about this stuff while everyone else was still figuring out TikTok.

Her secret? She actually reads things. Like, really reads them. Then she synthesizes, experiments, and shares what works. It's old-school research meets new-school digital distribution.

Beyond the Business Cards

"Sh*t You Don't Learn in School": The podcast she co-hosts tackles all the stuff your expensive education somehow forgot to mention. Career skills, practical life advice, how to actually function as an adult—you know, the important stuff.

Her Blog (stephsmith.io): Over half a million people read her takes on remote work, productivity, and learning to code. She writes about things that matter, with data to back it up.

FeMake: A data project highlighting female makers in tech, because representation matters and someone needs to count.

The Real Deal

What makes Steph compelling isn't just the impressive resume or the multiple revenue streams (though those don't hurt). It's that she's genuinely curious about everything and disciplined enough to turn that curiosity into value for others.

She's not selling you a course on how to get rich quick. She's showing you what happens when you combine genuine expertise with relentless experimentation and a willingness to share what you learn along the way.

In a world full of fake gurus and overnight success stories, Steph Smith is refreshingly real: smart, hardworking, and building something that actually matters. Plus, she's doing it all while living in a different country every few months, which is either inspiring or exhausting depending on your perspective.

The bottom line? If you want to understand where the internet is going next, Steph Smith is probably already there, taking notes and building something about it.