Hey!

Chris here. Welcome to Blueprint—the newsletter to help you build a winning engineering team.

I hope you enjoyed our first edition about sizing engineering teams. We will get into more topics similar to that but for now, I want to tell you more about myself.

You might be following me on LinkedIn and already know my story but if not, you're probably asking yourself "Why would I listen to this guy? What does he know?"

In short—a lot. And today I'm going to tell you all about the journey that led to me founding Surton.

Let’s dive in.

📒 DEEP DIVE

Surton Wasn’t Supposed to Work. That’s Exactly Why It Did.

The founding story of Surton

10 years ago, when I shared my vision for a technology services company, I was met with skepticism at every turn.

Today, that vision has become a multi-million-dollar reality.

Here's the story of how persistence, partnership, and a contrarian mindset led to building not just one, but 2 successful technology companies.

The BriteCore Years

Back in 2004, my cousin Phil and I began building quoting systems for small insurance companies across the country. We were just grinding away, building different tech solutions for whoever needed them.

Then in 2008, everything changed—we landed a contract to build software that would run an entire insurance company.

That software became BriteCore.

We had a solid technical split at first—Phil handled the front end and UX, while I focused on Python backend, servers, and DevOps.

But to build something this big, we needed more firepower. 

So I did what any desperate founder would do—I walked into Missouri State (my alma mater) and asked for their top computer science major.

That's how I found Ben Hayden. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.

I dumped all my backend knowledge into him and hit the sales path, while he took over the engineering side.

The company started taking off but not without some rough patches. We had to fire 50% of our staff twice, but we kept pushing forward, bootstrapping the entire thing without any investment until 2012.

That's when things really started moving. 

We took our first angel investment in 2012. Then we brought on our first private equity company in 2018, followed by a second in 2019. 

The Plot Twist

Everything was going great—until it wasn't.

After our second private equity deal, the guys in New York pulled me aside and said, "Hey, you know our job is to get rid of one of the founders, right?"

When I asked if that meant me, they said, "Probably."

That was the gut punch.

For 15 years, I had been growing a company, hitting milestones, and feeling unstoppable. But in that moment, I realized I had reached my limit.

Sometimes, the best person for the job isn’t the one who started the company—it’s someone with a different set of skills, someone, who can take the business to the next level without the inefficient trial and error that comes with inexperience.

It wasn’t easy to accept, but I saw it as a chance to reflect.

The "Bad" Idea

After stepping away for a couple of years during COVID (and doing lots of reading), I realized there was a gap in the market—one no one was talking about—and that’s when the idea for Surton was born.

The tech curve was (and still is) getting steeper every day. This was before ChatGPT, before the AI explosion. I saw all these startups and scale-ups drowning in SaaS products with no idea how to actually implement them.

Everyone in VC kept saying the same thing: "I'm a product person, I'm a product person."

And I'm sitting there thinking, "That's great, but who's actually building all this stuff?"

These companies lacked the context to make proper engineering decisions—the kind that only comes with decades of experience.

I knew we could solve that.

I called Ben and pitched him on this idea that would become Surton. He got it immediately.

When I started sharing the idea more widely, every VC and private equity person laughed at me. "A services organization in the engineering space? Really?"

It was the same reaction over and over again. But this time, I knew exactly what that meant—we were onto something big.

Enter Surton

We founded Surton in February 2022, and in less than 2 years, we’re already growing 3x faster than BriteCore did at the same stage.

While everyone else is scrambling for full-time employees, we’re doing the opposite—we’re embracing contractors.

We don’t just hire anyone—we bring in top-tier talent, pay them what they’re worth, and cut out all the inefficiencies.

No overhead, no waste.

We’ve built a system where every hour of work is profitable. Simple as that.

While other companies are drowning in bloated payrolls and bureaucracy, we're staying lean and moving fast. No HR spreadsheets, no endless meetings about meetings. Just great engineers doing what they do best.

And it's working.

This model is working so well that we've already hit 7x growth from 2022 to the end of 2024.

Not too shabby for a "bad idea," right?

The future's looking pretty bright for a services company that wasn't supposed to work. 

🎙 EPISODE OF THE WEEK

On this episode of the Build Your Business podcast, we tackle the real cost of making price your only priority.

We share hard-earned lessons about investing in value over cutting corners, backed by practical examples that show how choosing expertise can actually save your business time and money in the long run.

If you're an expert who's been wondering how to price your services or a CTO questioning whether to choose the cheapest option, this episode will help you make the smarter decision for your business.

Take a listen here.

BEFORE YOU GO…

I hope you enjoyed the story of how Surton came to be—from a "bad idea" laughed out of VC offices to a company growing 3x faster than my first successful exit.

I've got more stories about building 2 successful tech companies, going against conventional wisdom, and proving the doubters wrong. Plus, plenty of insights about what I’ve learned as a 2x founder. 

More to come next week as we keep building something that wasn't supposed to work.

Talk soon,

Chris.

PS: If you need help scaling your engineering org, Surton is here when you’re ready 🙂