Following graduation, the three of them cycled through a few startups, including a grocery delivery business, but none of them took off. That’s when they decided to stop relying on on others to code their ideas. They had studied finance and economics at Baylor, but now turned their focus on learning to code. That skill allowed them to create the company that would eventually become CrateBind. They initially built a software system for private equity firms. But word spread, and soon they were being approached by other clients.
“There will be people who come to us with ‘napkin sketch ideas’,” said Connie Harlan, John’s wife, referring to the variety of clients they serve. “There’s large companies raising millions of dollars for support. Or, a publicly traded bank will come to us and want us to rebuild their software. A lot of times, companies will come to us because they’ve already spent $500,000 going to another software company that has failed or that has outsourced their work and it doesn’t work.”
Their portfolio now includes a wide range of apps, including ones for dating, real estate, finance, and health services.
As good as their products are, CrateBind is also known for their office culture and how they treat employees. For the past two years, they have been recognized with an award for Best Place to Work in Texas. They credit some of that ethos to the values they learned at Baylor. People always come before work. They regularly host game nights, have a weekly catered lunch in the office, and make a point to spend quality time with each person on their team. Some employees have gone so far as to move closer to work and one another. Personality fit is an important factor in their hiring process, but each employee also must be on the cutting edge of the industry, with highly developed skills. They now have 30 employees working in both Texas and Mexico.
When asked about the challenges of working so closely with family, Harlan said, “Actually it’s been such a blessing. Each person has a different set of skills. We definitely had growing pains in figuring out what the roles look like, learning the new skills, and adding new people to the team. But it really seems to work pretty well. One project they are particularly excited about right now is for an organization called Our Calling. The goal is to create software that allows homeless shelters to connect with one another to provide real-time data about how much space they have to accommodate those looking for a place to stay. This project has also drawn the interest of AT&T, who is partnering with CrateBind to make it a reality.
The company has benchmarks and ambitious goals they are aiming to hit in the next few years, but Harlan stresses the most important thing is to keep doing quality work, for the right reasons.
“We just want to serve the people that we work with,” Harlan said. “Our clients and our employees. And we want to continue to build great, efficient products.”
