By Steve Bornhoft
As an undergraduate electrical engineering student at Florida State University Panama City, Armis Sunday had a chance coffee-shop meeting with fellow student Landon McCoy, founder of Chaos Audio, the maker of a multi-effects guitar pedal called Stratus.
Chaos Audio, which was hatched at the TechFarms business incubator, was in its infancy when Sunday and McCoy became good friends. Before long, McCoy asked Sunday to join the company as a co-founder and to go to work assessing the market for Stratus and directing fundraising efforts.
TechFarms founder Steve Millaway, an early-stage investor in Chaos Audio, supported the addition of Sunday, who would become a key player in making the startup a viable enterprise and industry leader. Along the way, Sunday:
- Coordinated successful Kickstarter campaigns.
- Ushered Chaos Audio through the 2021 InNOLEvation 2021 pitch competition at Florida State University in Tallahassee; as the winner of the Dean’s Choice award, Chaos Audio was awarded $10,000.
- Took the lead role in establishing Chaos Audio’s domestic distribution partnership with FullScaleAV and paved the way for Chaos Audio’s eventual expansion into European markets.
In the summer of 2023, Sunday transitioned to an advisory role at Chaos and started a consulting business, TechFutures. Early clients included tenant businesses at TechFarms and other small businesses in Florida.
Sunday moved to Chicago in December 2023 and has continued to operate his consulting business. Current clients include a VR gaming development studio and a nonprofit that works with the Florida Department of Corrections as a direct-support organization.
Sunday is a volunteer mentor for Defy Ventures Illinois, where he provides mentorship to one-time prison inmates seeking to become entrepreneurs. He also participates in the advocacy efforts of the advisory council of the Florida Foundation for Correctional Excellence.
This year, he completed his master’s degree program in Organizational Management and Communication at FSU PC. He is at work on a newsletter that will focus on strategies for flourishing in today’s tech-driven world; it will draw upon principles of applied behavior analysis, technology and philosophy.Sunday’s free-time activities include reading, cooking, running, video games and basketball. He lives with his partner Lexie and his 3-year-old cat named Rusty
