Don Cansino
Board Advisor
at FPT
Don is a seasoned executive who has decades worth of experience building award-winning products in mobile entertainment, SaaS, fintech, retail, and automotive industries. Don is passionate about guiding talented teams with his technical expertise in building innovative products that consumers love.
He has held executive positions at startups and at some of the most transformative large companies that have pioneered technology and product innovation.
Don was previously the CTO at CurbWaste, where he helped scale their SaaS/fintech software as revenue increased 8x through multiple funding rounds.
Prior to the startup world, Don headed up product for Walmart, where he oversaw the OmniChannel strategy for all 10 service counters — including wireless, automotive, and health/wellness — each generating over $1B in revenue. He introduced new offerings in wireless and health, tripled online adoption in automotive, and built a universal tech stack to power all service areas.
Don also served as Vice President at AT&T, bringing to market products such as Data Free TV, Mobile DVR, and streaming applications for Rogers in Canada. Earlier, at DIRECTV, he launched the Emmy Award-winning NFL Sunday Ticket experience across streaming platforms and interactive television.
At DIRECTV, Don pioneered the media industry with innovations like TV Everywhere, Kid’s App, Commercial Application, What’s Hot, and Bar Finder. He also expanded digital offerings for DIRECTV Latin America and helped resolve piracy issues, contributing to the company’s rise as a leader in television.
Don earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Purdue University, holds numerous U.S. patents, and speaks three languages.
Articles by Don Cansino
7 Steps to Build a Product That Sells Itself
In our latest session from the Mucker Growth Series featuring Ethan Smith from Graphite, we explored AEO, a significant new approach for optimizing visibility in AI-driven search, particularly relevant as...
The Founder’s Mental Health Playbook: What I Learned After Nearly Burning Out
A hard-won guide to staying mentally healthy while building a startup I founded Stitcher, the podcast platform, in 2007 and ran it for seven years until we sold in 2014....
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies
In our latest session from the Mucker Growth Series featuring Ethan Smith from Graphite, we explored AEO, a significant new approach for optimizing visibility in AI-driven search, particularly relevant as...
Startup Guide to AI Visibility: Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends
Introduction Today, users aren’t just searching on Google. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI systems for advice. AI visibility is the new frontier of brand awareness....
Practical Uses of AI & Automation for Startup Operations
In a recent Mucker Growth Series session, we invited Rock Vitale, Founder & CEO of Easie, to share how he’s helped early-stage teams move from manual, fragmented workflows to streamlined,...
2025 New York Tech Week Recap Of Mucker Sessions
Last week during New York Tech Week 2025, we joined more than 1,000 events hosted by founders, investors, and VCs. This post is a full Mucker recap of the three...