Meet the Member: Sean Daniels, DealStream

Sean Daniels got to a point in his professional life where he needed a change of scenery. He worked from home, and that was fine. He had a comfortable place in which to write code and oversee the workings of DealStream.com as its director of engineering. But there were distractions — the kids, the food in the kitchen, and his drum kit.

“I started to turn into kind of a hermit, and I realized I really missed Portsmouth,” said Sean. So after looking around at other co-working arrangements, Sean settled into one of the dedicated areas at the Cooperative Venture Workspace.

“This just feels like there’s a nice level of activity here,” said Sean.

DealStream is a social network for business professionals seeking connections in related fields. It is an outgrowth of MergerNetwork, a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) site.

“We still have the M&A part of the site, and we added this new feel that’s a little more free form,” said Sean. He’s been with the Cambridge, Mass., based company for 18 years, “I’m the one-stop shop for everything that keeps the site running,” he said.

The tie to Portsmouth — and the drum kit — have important relevance to Sean because he is also the drummer for Thanks to Gravity, a Portsmouth-based band of some renown through the 1990s.

He attended the University of New Hampshire but dropped out, as he says, “to do the rock and roll thing.” Thanks to Gravity was the first rock band on the Seacoast music scene to self-release an album in compact disc format back in 1991. The band has released five other discs, three independently, one on AWARE Records. In 1996, the band signed  a deal with Capitol Records and released one one album with the label. Check out the promotional video from 2013, recorded live at the “In Danger Of Being Discovered” benefit concert at the Portsmouth Music Hall.

In addition to their recording accomplishments, the band has shared the marquee with such artists as Sinead O’Connor, The Dave Matthews Band, Edwin McCain, Train, and Matchbox 20. Though not quite as active as it was, the band is still playing for a concert May 20 at the 3S ArtSpace in Portsmouth.

With the full-time rock gig behind him, Sean took up technical writing, learned code and all matters relating to the web. “I was literally at that transition time in my life,” said Sean. “It was a good time to put down some roots.”

With some working roots now at the Workspace, Sean misses the occasional diversion to his drum set but admits, “I’m probably a little more productive here.”