“Programming is an art form that takes time to master.”

Our founder, Corey Ballou, started Craft Blue to combine his love of building both startups and software. Having owned and operated his own startup SaaS ventures, he's well equipped to help you build and run yours. Long before programming was popular and the internet was widely adopted, Corey was building websites and programming in Perl and CGI. We believe that having a technical founder is paramount to our success.

Here at Craft Blue, we believe that startups and companies alike should not have to stress over whether their web development agency is capable of delivering a product to specification and on time. One reason for our continued success is the fact we have always met and exceeded our client's expectations.

About Our Founder and Principal Consultant

Craft Blue was founded in 2012 by Corey Ballou.

Corey's passion for web development began nearly two decades ago when he built and ran his own domain name, SnowBlown Snowboarding, from middle school through early high school. In high school, Corey enrolled in computer science courses at a local college to enhance his education. He also found the time to consult with local area businesses to develop and enhance their websites.

Nearing graduation, Corey researched top 20 computer science programs. With a sizable scholarship offer in hand, he decided to pursue a Bachelors in Computer Science from Clarkson University. Corey graduated in 2007 with dual minors in Business Administration and Information Technology. After graduating, Corey headed south to Charlotte, NC to pursue a career as a professional web developer. For the first 5 years of his career, he worked for two prominent design and development firms in Charlotte: MODE and Skookum. These fast paced agency environments gave Corey a taste for learning fast and delivering high quality client work.

Corey made a calculated decision to rapidly master his craft. He began blogging about everything interesting he learned, contributing heavily to StackOverflow, open sourcing a number of works he found useful on Github, and co-organized the Queen City PHP meetup group in Charlotte, NC. Corey shared his expertise in PHP at conferences, meetups, and online. These efforts combined helped accelerate his career.

“Take calculated risks. Stepping out of your comfort zone is critical to personal growth and success. That which was scary becomes habit.”

Corey found that he loved working with and building startups. After 5 years of agency life, he decided to pursue his passion; he started working remotely for a startup based in Washington, DC. This first startup failed in epic fashion. Funds dried up within only 3 months of him joining. This unfortunate failure turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to Corey's career. Rather than seeking another full-time opportunity, Corey decided to take a risk and capitalize on his prior agency experience. He began consulting and building startups for himself and others. Within a few short months, he filed for the formation of his new web development business, Craft Blue.