Mark Peterson has been building networks since before most people knew what the internet was. He tells the hosts he connected the 213th machine to the ARPANET around 1985, later worked at Sun Microsystems during the early days of the World Wide Web, and eventually talked his way into a local cable company's head end to test transmitting internet data over cable television lines, a demonstration that landed him a million-dollar contract with TCI before the dot-com crash wiped out his first broadband company. He rebuilt in Florida in 2004 with Digital Homes, riding the wave of smart home technology into what eventually became Daisy Sarasota, where he is the branch owner and the franchise's second-ever location.
Daisy's business runs roughly 50-50 between residential and commercial clients, with lighting control, video, and surveillance as the biggest categories. Peterson describes a right-sizing philosophy that sorts customers into minimalists who just want a working remote and power users who want a button for everything, then designs systems to match. He walks through an AI-powered surveillance system installed for a commercial client after people kept trespassing in a pool at night: the cameras now identify a person, trigger the lights, and play an audio warning telling them to get out, all before a security guard even looks at a monitor. Daisy Sarasota has also become a fully licensed electrical contractor, letting Peterson's team handle lighting control and high-voltage wiring under one roof rather than coordinating with a separate electrician, a convergence he expects to become standard across the industry.
Looking ahead, Peterson is most animated about 5G ultra-wideband, which he says will eventually let customers cut the cord entirely, replacing cable modems with cellular routers fast enough to support autonomous vehicles communicating with each other in real time. He is also a Tesla Powerwall dealer, walking through how battery storage paired with solar can keep a home running during hurricane outages or simply shift usage to cheaper off-peak electricity rates, with payback periods currently running 20 to 30 years depending on the setup.
Outside of work, Peterson races stock cars, a hobby he picked up after moving to Sarasota, competing out of the old DeSoto Speedway, now the Freedom Factory. On roundabouts, he is squarely in favor, saying he knows how to drive them and gets frustrated by tourists who do not, joking that autonomous vehicles might solve the problem entirely once cars can talk to each other.
What you'll take away
- Mark Peterson helped pioneer transmitting internet data over cable television lines in the 1990s, work that led to a million-dollar contract with TCI before the dot-com crash.
- Daisy Sarasota is a fully licensed electrical contractor, letting the company handle both smart home automation and high-voltage wiring under one roof.
- An AI-powered surveillance system Peterson's team installed can identify a trespasser, trigger lights, and play an audio warning automatically.
- Peterson expects 5G ultra-wideband to eventually let customers replace cable internet with cellular routers, supporting real-time vehicle-to-vehicle communication for autonomous cars.
- Daisy Sarasota is a Tesla Powerwall dealer, offering battery and solar systems for hurricane backup power or off-peak energy savings.
“You're trespassing on private property. Put your clothes on. Get out of my pool.”
“We're giving up convenience for privacy and security. I think we're kind of beyond that point.”
Places mentioned: Freedom Factory