From Finance to Founding: Chris Porteous on Building SearchEye and Mastering the Startup Journey
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Porteous, founder of SearchEye, a platform that connects brands with publishers, streamlining their SEO and digital marketing efforts. During our conversation, Chris shared insights into his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of scaling a tech product, and his advice for aspiring founders. Here’s a detailed look into our discussion.
From Finance to SEO: The Start of SearchEye
Chris’s career trajectory wasn’t the typical path you’d expect from a startup founder in the SEO space. “I was actually in investment banking and finance for quite a few years,” Chris said. “I started at a hedge fund and later worked at Goldman Sachs and UBS. One day, someone approached me and asked if I could do SEO for their client. I said, ‘Sure,’ Googled what SEO was, and just took it from there.”
What began as a one-off project soon turned into a scalable business. Chris’s work yielded impressive results for his first client, and he quickly started taking on more. “I realized everything I was doing for these clients could be productized. That’s when the idea for SearchEye started taking shape,” he explained.
The initial stages of SearchEye involved transitioning from a service-based agency to a full-fledged product company. “At first, we were still account-managing and handling day-to-day operations, but we wanted to flip that model and offer a self-serve platform for brands,” Chris noted. By late 2022, the first iteration of SearchEye launched, laying the foundation for the company’s growth.
The Road to Pre-Seed Funding
Launching a tech product is rarely smooth sailing, and for SearchEye, the transition came with its own set of challenges. “We were fortunate that our agency was profitable, so we could reinvest into product development,” Chris said. However, the process required significant investments in hiring data scientists, engineers, and UI/UX designers to make the platform user-friendly.
“The biggest challenge was running two businesses simultaneously: an agency and a product company. It stretched our focus thin,” Chris admitted. This realization led to their decision to raise a pre-seed round in early 2023. “The funding allowed us to focus exclusively on the product and scale it properly,” he added.
Finding Product-Market Fit
Understanding and addressing the needs of their target audience was a crucial step in SearchEye’s journey. Chris credited their deep subject matter expertise for their success. “We knew exactly what agencies and end-users wanted because we had been in this space for years. It wasn’t a matter of identifying demand—it was about figuring out how to build a product that met those demands,” he explained.
The team developed an MVP (minimum viable product) in just four to five months and started gaining traction almost immediately. “We had companies spending $30,000 to $40,000 a month on the platform early on, which was a strong indicator of product-market fit,” Chris said. However, this initial success also highlighted areas for improvement, such as fulfillment and operational scalability.
The Value of Industry Expertise
Chris emphasized the importance of industry experience when starting a business. “Having spent eight or nine years in the SEO space, I had built relationships and gained insights that helped us identify real problems. We weren’t worried about demand because we knew the problem existed,” he said.
That said, Chris acknowledged that industry expertise can sometimes limit creativity. “Being a subject matter expert can put you in a box,” he noted. “For example, if you’re deeply entrenched in an industry, you might focus on improving existing systems rather than reimagining them entirely. Sometimes, an outsider’s perspective can lead to more groundbreaking solutions.”
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
For those without deep industry experience, Chris offered practical advice: talk to users—constantly. “The best founders aren’t afraid to meet with potential users every day to understand their problems,” he said. “And it’s not just about sending emails or surveys. You need to have in-person conversations, ideally in environments where people feel open to sharing.”
Chris shared an example from his own experience. “When I attended South by Southwest, I met a group of PR and agency folks. Everyone was so open, and I learned more in that environment than I could from any survey or focus group,” he said.
He also warned against the common pitfall of “searching for a problem.” Instead, Chris suggested observing real-world issues and validating them with potential users. “The best ideas often come from firsthand experiences or problems shared by people around you,” he explained.
Reflections on Education and Entrepreneurship
When asked about the role of education in fostering entrepreneurship, Chris was candid. “To be honest, the formal education I received didn’t directly contribute to my entrepreneurial journey,” he said. “What I found most valuable were the life skills—like managing finances and networking—that came with the university experience.”
However, he acknowledged that traditional education can sometimes stifle creativity. “In structured fields like finance, you’re taught to think within certain boundaries, which can be limiting. Entrepreneurship often requires breaking those boundaries,” he said.
The Takeaway
Chris Porteous’s journey from finance to founding SearchEye is a testament to the power of industry expertise, adaptability, and relentless user focus. His story offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly the importance of validating ideas through real-world interactions and staying flexible in the face of challenges.
For those looking to follow in his footsteps, Chris’s advice is clear: “Be curious, talk to users, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Whether or not you have industry experience, the willingness to learn and adapt is what will set you apart.”
Chris’s insights are a powerful reminder that successful entrepreneurship is as much about mindset and perseverance as it is about strategy and execution. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a student dreaming of your first startup, there’s something to learn from his approach to building a company that truly solves problems.