Justin Fortier, the Founder and CEO/CTO of FYC Labs, is a visionary leader who has been at the forefront of web and product development for years. He is also currently serving as a CTO, VP of engineering, and Advisor for several companies. With his strong background in these fields and his passion for innovation and growth, Justin has created a company where people truly are the best product to offer.
As the CEO and CTO of FYC Labs, Justin is responsible for guiding the company’s overall strategy and direction. He is dedicated to ensuring that the company continues to grow and evolve, and is always on the lookout for new opportunities to innovate and make a positive impact in the world of web development and graphic design.
With a mission to create high-level products and web platforms that take businesses to a whole new level, FYC Labs has grown internationally over the last few years, working with a wide range of clients, from small start-ups to large corporations.
Tell us a little bit about the beginning of FYC.
The company was founded in 2012 when I was working at a cocktail lounge in San Diego called El Dorado. I saw how successful the owners were and wanted to start my own business. Pablo, who was doing comics and memes at a company in San Francisco, came back and asked for a job as a busboy. But I couldn’t give him that role as he was the most talented designer I knew. So I asked him to join me in starting a business, and he agreed.
We had a third partner, Athena, who joined us later. With just $1500, we rented a tiny office in East Village, San Diego, and started doing flyers and menus for El Dorado. We gradually built our network in the restaurant industry and hosted small music or art events. The turning point was when Paola joined us and introduced us to a new network of people. She replaced Athena as the third owner and brought in an investor from Mexico City. This led to us working with American companies pivoting into Mexico, including Remax, which catapulted us into becoming a software development company. The first year was tough as some clients didn’t pay, leaving us broke. But we survived and had a lot of fun.
How would you define the leadership style of FYC?
We leverage a “systems approach”, meaning we use as much automation and technology as we can for traceability and accountability. Rather than us having to constantly monitor our employees with conversations and check-ins or micromanaging, we just use our project management tools- our time tracking, some custom build software to send reminders to our team, to hold people accountable for missed or overdue tasks.
Running FYC is like conducting an orchestra- you don’t need to sit there and play the individual parts, you just need to make sure everything’s in concert. All the different pieces, all kinds of work, just like in a concert. And that’s because we have written a lot of automation and it feels like there are many people doing things, but there really aren’t. Our leadership and management team is pretty small- it’s about one manager to every 10 people.
What makes a company successful and what are the signs in FYC that you see of being successful?
Success comes from the people that you surround yourself with, whether it’s the clients that you have, the employees that you hire, the contractors and vendors you use, or the network you create. I’m lucky that I’ve been surrounded by a lot of great people who have been really supportive and you know really carried the company over the years. Once you’ve found your tribe and the people who will help you through and support you, then you start working on systems. Systems are more important than your product, ideas, or creativity. The ultimate foundation lies within well-structured systems.
What we really strive for it’s for our systems to be on point. If I was in a manufacturing environment, I could try to control everything and set up process, run by machines. But in a services business trying to keep people on systems is a full-time gig. Businesses are successful when systems are on point. You can survive whatever market elements are out there as long as you have a solid system. It’s not always about having the best product, or the best marketing. The best systems attract the best people. If you come to a place where the systems are chaos and you don’t feel like you’re respected by the team enough to build an infrastructure and a system for you to work in, you’re going to want to quit.
When you talk about attracting and retaining talent, having good systems is probably more important than perks and pay. Our systems will never be perfect, but we strive for incremental improvement every day so we can deliver the best possible results for our clients.
What is your favorite thing about working at FYC?
One of the things I really love about working at FYC is seeing the transformation of people from the moment they join us. They didn’t know they could have a life in technology, engineering or design, or marketing. They didn’t even know this was something for them, because they didn’t go to school for that or they didn’t know enough people. It’s incredibly fulfilling to watch them grow in their careers, develop their competencies, build their confidence, and improve their overall quality of life. It’s kind of like a parent feeling when your kids are successful, I get a lot of pride in seeing that. And I know that we’ve facilitated those life-changing events for many of those people, so that to me is the best part.
What motivates you?
Our employees are also our customers- we provide them with opportunities. That’s what motivates me- giving them more opportunities. I look at where many of them came from and that they didn’t know they would have an opportunity to work at a place like this, or on the technology side.
It’s important to remember that employees are looking for more than just a salary and benefits. They want to be a part of a company that aligns with their values and allows them to grow and make a meaningful contribution. Throwing money at the problem will only retain employees for a short time. It’s important to have integrity and create a work environment that provides a sense of purpose.
Another thing that motivates me is seeing how my work in creating technical architecture or rewriting reusable code can benefit others, as well as contribute to sales. When I think about a sale, I’m not thinking about “Oh, this is great for the bottom line and the money”. It’s like “Oh cool, this gives person X a job now”. Or this gives someone else a really cool project to work on.
What is your biggest achievement during your journey with FYC?
A career milestone for me is to see the lives we’ve touched, and the opportunities we’ve given. I am proud to say that we’ve provided opportunities for many individuals who were previously overlooked. Our 10-year anniversary was a culmination of the immense impact we’ve had on so many people’s lives over the years. It was amazing to have everybody in San Diego together and make it to that milestone, to see the lives we’ve touched, and the opportunities we’ve given.
What is the most challenging project you’ve worked on?
One of our most difficult projects was with Remax Mexico, our first major client. It was a challenge because we were a small team at the time and we didn’t have much support. Additionally, the project was in Spanish, which was not our native language. We had to build and integrate everything under high pressure, as we wanted to exceed the client’s expectations. Meeting the client’s urgent timeline and user expectations proved to be difficult. We also faced limitations as many of the current frameworks weren’t as developed at that time.
That was probably the most challenging time of my life, but it was well worth it. Even today, when we discuss our achievements, the first thing we mention is the successful creation of the Remax site.
If you could describe your professional journey in three words, what would they be?
Courage. That has always been a big one for me. Courage is something that I’ve always had- the courage to start a new business, the courage to take on a new project, the courage to work until 4 in the morning, and to get something done.
Perseverance. I learned that I can endure and persevere through really tough times. I put every penny I had in my name into a festival and I lost it all. But it was a great party, everybody loved me and they thought “Oh, this is amazing, you must have made so much money”. No, I lost everything. But I got up the next day and I started working again and persevered. People think that hard work means that someone just likes to work a lot, but it’s actually someone who perseveres through really hard times and keeps going.
Courage, perseverance, and fun. I think we’ve had fun doing a lot of the stuff we do, we make things a lot of fun. Funky!
Connect with Justin on LinkedIn.
Meet FYC Labs COO – Phillip Lorenzo