Entrepreneur · Founder · Inventor · Author · Artist · CEO

Joshua Stone

I’m a serial entrepreneur, builder, and technologist who has spent decades turning big ideas into real businesses. From the early days of the internet to the frontiers of AI, I’ve always been driven by one thing: building what’s next.

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Joshua Stone
01

About

I’ve been blessed with a career at the cutting edge of technology, from large corporate ventures to startups built from the ground up. My focus has always been turning emerging technologies into useful products and practical business solutions, helping teams innovate, navigate change, and bring new ideas to market.

I’ve built and led multiple ventures, raised millions in venture capital, and helped bring several startups to successful exits. Along the way, I’ve partnered on projects with Mark Cuban, Snoop Dogg, Charles Hoskinson (cofounder of Ethereum and Cardano), Ingram Content Group (world's largest book distributor), and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, with experience spanning product development, fundraising, and strategic partnerships.

Today, much of my focus is on AI. With Kosmos, I’m building ways for people and AI agents to work together, bringing different models into shared projects to coordinate tasks, exchange findings, and solve problems. I’m also the founder of North Texas AI, connecting builders, entrepreneurs, and enterprise leaders advancing AI development and adoption across the region.

As founder and CEO of Stuff.io and Book.io, I’m changing how creators distribute digital media and how fans own it. Our technology turns books, music, film, and other content into decentralized, encrypted assets, allowing creators to sell directly to their audiences with ownership recorded on-chain.

I’m the author of several nonfiction works, including Unscrewing Digital Media: Rebuilding Ownership from the File Up. My work explores how blockchain can restore digital ownership and establish verifiable provenance, helping creators and audiences defend against AI-generated counterfeits, impersonations, and manipulated media.

I’m the inventor of Decentralized Encrypted Assets™ and a named inventor on three U.S. patent applications for Systems and Methods for Providing Secure Access to Digital Assets: US 2023/0177185, US 2025/0005187, and US 2026/0134124.

I speak on AI, entrepreneurship, blockchain, Web3, and emerging technology and how it applies to business. I’ve spoken at Music Tectonics, Rare Network, Digital Book World, and the London Book Fair, along with dozens of other industry events, and served as a guest lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, and New York University.

D CEO Innovation Awards 2027 finalist badge Finalist, Startup Leader of the Year D CEO Innovation Awards 2027
Based in
Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas
Focus
AI, Agentic Infrastructure, Blockchain & Web3
Education
Oklahoma State University
Speaking
Music Tectonics · Rare Network · Digital Book World · London Book Fair
Guest lecturer
The University of Texas at Dallas · Southern Methodist University · New York University
Author
Unscrewing Digital Media
Patents
3 U.S. patent applications, digital asset security
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Active Projects

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Books

Cover of Unscrewing Digital Media: Rebuilding Ownership From the File Up, by Joshua Stone
Unscrewing Digital Media Rebuilding Ownership From the File Up Digital media is broken. Unscrewing Digital Media exposes how we got here and why the future depends on a new kind of file, a new kind of protocol, and a new kind of economic model: a blueprint for rebuilding digital media with ownership, scarcity, and value from the ground up.
Cover of the Stuff.io Whitepaper
Stuff.io Whitepaper The Future of Digital Media Ownership Books, music and video are licensed to us, not owned, and centralized retailers stand between creators and their audiences. This paper extends Decentralized Encrypted Assets (DEAs) to every kind of media, so people truly own what they buy, and creators are paid fairly and connect directly with their fans.
Cover of the Book.io Whitepaper 2.0
Book.io Whitepaper 2.0 The Path to Decentralize and Incentivize Knowledge Readers don’t own their eBooks or audiobooks. They buy a license to access them, so they can’t sell, give them away or lend them, and the content can be changed or removed without notice. This paper introduces Decentralized Encrypted Assets (DEAs), bringing real ownership of digital books to readers.
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Experience

  1. FounderKosmos

    A free, open-source app on Mac or Windows that lets anyone run a team of AI agents on their own computer using their own AI subscriptions - geared towards enterprise business adoption.

  2. Founder & CEOStuff.io

    Direct-to-fan e-commerce for digital media and media made by AI with blockchain-based proof of ownership; backed by Snoop Dogg and William Shatner.

  3. Founder & CEOBook.io

    Digital publishing that gives readers true ownership of ebooks and audiobooks. Backed by Mark Cuban and Ingram Content Group.

  4. FounderNTXAI.org

    A nonprofit connecting AI builders, business leaders, investors, educators, and civic leaders across North Texas focused on applied AI in business.

  5. Founder & CEOStoneSyndicate

    A consulting and incubation company for my selected distractions which has birthed multiple companies including Book.io, Kosmos, cabal.md and clocking.news.

  6. CEOSafeConversations

    Led corporate and nonprofit empathy training initiatives for Dr. Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt, with 700+ trainers across 24 countries and 16 languages.

  7. PresidentBookShout

    A digital reading and bulk ebook distribution platform with over 6 million registered users and partnerships including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and major publishers.

  8. Chief Product OfficerBig Jump Media

    Entered social media when MySpace was bigger than Facebook. Helped sell Big Jump Media to Salem Communications; its website was Alexa’s fastest-growing for one month.

  9. FounderJoshua Stone Studio

    Started a consulting group that helped build part of Handango, the first mobile app store for BlackBerry.

  10. Led the Product TeamHotels.com

    Led the product and UX team for Hotels.com through transition from a primarily call-center based business to online sales exceeding $1M/day.

  11. Founding team memberJavelin/RAPP, Omnicom

    Worked across Omnicom agencies, helped launch Javelin, and led AT&T’s early digital marketing campaigns, generating actionable data and supporting its expansion into bundled telecom.

  12. FounderAbstractDevice

    Sold my first company, a digital marketing agency, in 2003 at age 24. Largest client was PepsiCo. Won awards for having the first ever stereoscopic 3D website.

  13. Launch Team MemberFandango.com

    Part of the team that launched fandango.com for Cinemark in 1999, when the challenge was getting people to put their credit card number online to book a ticket.

  14. Multimedia TechnologyOklahoma State

    The first program offering a focused study of everything on the cutting edge of the internet, which has since splintered out into numerous degrees.

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Contact

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