At just 46 years old, Dino Mavrookas’ career already looks more expansive than most, spanning three distinct roles: Navy SEAL, private-equity investor, and now cofounder and CEO of $9.25 defense-tech startup Saronic—proof that your first career doesn’t have to be your last.
His latest career pivot came just four years ago, when Mavrookas was a senior associate at Austin-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. However, after half a decade in finance—likely bringing in a six-figure salary—Mavrookas began to question whether he wanted to spend the rest of his career on the same path.
“After five years, I started to look around and say, is this what I want to do for the next 20 or 30 years of my life? Like, I learned a ton about investing. I learned a ton about operating companies, but is this what I wanted my career to be? And the answer was no,” Mavrookas said in a recent interview on the Sourcery podcast.
“I walked into the living room one night and I told my wife that I had to quit my job.”
Mavrookas knew he wanted to start a defense-tech company, but he didn’t yet know what the business would be. What he did know was that he needed to create the time and space to figure it out.
