We’ve featured Writers, we’ve featured Users, and we’ve even featured Content Runner’s team members. Now, at long last, it’s time to get to know Chad Fisher, our Co-Founder, Chief Strategist and Glorious Leader. I sat down with Chad in our offices near Seattle and we had a little chat about Content Runner, kids, and assorted silliness.

GLORIOUS LEADER

Content Runner Co-Founder, Chad Fisher. (Known consumer of green bell peppers.)

Tawny: What inspired you and Ryan Devereux, our other Co-Founder, to start Content Runner? Was it a light-bulb moment, or were you responding to a need you saw other businesses struggling with?
Chad: We endured a large number of pain points from our old content creation process, and it was the need for a solution that inspired us to create Content Runner. After using spreadsheets, Paypal and Craigslist to find contract writers I quickly realized that wasn’t scalable. The next step was using the competition—that worked for a bit, but each site had severe limitations that didn’t allow us to get our work done effectively and efficiently.

What sets Content Runner apart from other, similar services? What’s the biggest advantage of Content Runner over other services for Writers? Users?
Content Runner is unique among writing platforms for 3 main reasons:

  • Transparency – We allow our writers to include pictures, social profiles, personal blogs, complete biographies, resumes and much more information on their Writer Profiles. We want users to know their writers and establish trust with them directly. Content Runner is really only there to provide structure to the relationship.
  • Low Fees – We only take 15% of the payment that our writers receive. Our competition takes 30-40%. This is a huge advantage that is already manifesting itself through the large number of professional writers we are able to attract and retain.
  • Unique Features & a Simple UI – With an Idea Engine and a white labeled WordPress plugin we offer features that resonate with the agencies that choose to work with us. In addition, we have a clean user interface that makes interacting with Content Runner a snap for both users and writers.

So, I hate to distract from Content Runner, but I promised our readers some silliness. We’ll start out small—favorite pizza toppings? (This is obviously of critical importance.)

BRB drooling everywhere

Chad’s ideal pizza. (There is some debate among the editors about whether green peppers, the worst of all peppers, disqualify this from being delicious.)

Pepperoni, olives, sausage and green peppers and occasionally diced tomatoes or onions. Sort of a dialed down supreme pizza.

[Editor’s note: Now we are all hungry. Is it lunch time yet?]

Do you have any hobbies? What do you do when you’re not in the office?
Yes! I like to go running and play soccer once a week on a co-ed team with my wife and friends. I also enjoy watching the Seahawks and occasionally Mariners (though our team is never good). I like playing games, mostly board games or quick and easy games—I don’t have the time I used to for the longer, more involved ones. Watching a good TV show (usually HBO) is another hobby of mine. The Wire and Breaking Bad are my top 2 shows of all time by a long shot.

You know I’m a huge word nerd. What’s your biggest grammatical pet peeve? (I have so many, Chad. Don’t feel bad. This is a safe space.)
2 spaces after a period! I used to do that in high school and college but now that I’m so used to one space after a word I can’t stand 2 – all that unnecessary white space!

How do you feel about Snuggies? I’ll warn you, this is a potentially divisive issue.
I’m very nonchalant (dare I say insouciant) regarding Snuggies. They don’t really get me fired up in a positive or negative way. As far as novelty products, I’m partial to the Slap Chop. I loved the remixes of the Slap Chop guy—if you haven’t watched this video yet, treat yourself. It’s a must!!!

[Editor’s note: I had actually never seen this video, and it was everything I could have hoped it would be.]

What’s next for Content Runner?
We have tons of features planned! Here are a few of the biggest features planned for the next 3-4 months:

  • Revised JSON API
    • API for new Orders – Users can now order directly from their company website
    • API for Dashboard Content – Users can get their dashboard data and report status to clients via our API real time
    • API for Writer Profiles – Writers can grab their profile information and display it live on their site. Users can grab writer profiles and sort and search for writers in their own environment.
  • Offerings Enhancements
    • Allow users to leave Offerings reviews
    • Integrate bonuses into Offerings
  • Calendar Feature
    • New tab in the CR dashboard (think Microsoft Outlook) that will show all projects by date and allow users to see which projects are on time, which are late, etc.
    • Users will also be able to load up recurring and future orders
    • Explore a sync to Outlook and Google Calendar Option to export Calendar data

Thanks for indulging my whimsy. Any parting words?
I am super passionate about Content Runner and I love helping writers and agencies work together. 2014-2015 is going to be an exciting time for us as we add new features, bring on new users and continue to  help people succeed.

Thanks for sitting down with me, Chad. And thanks for reading!

(Bonus round: if you have strong feelings about pizza toppings, feel free to share in the comments!)