How One CEO Built a 6-Million-Dollar Company in Two Years

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Aug. 23, 2017 - PRLog -- CEO Romeo Spino will clock 6.2 Million dollars in revenue for 2017. His government contracting firm, Stratascorp Technologies, which provides a multitude of tech-related support for the Department of Defense, has grown leaps and bounds since its inception in 2015. How does a startup not only make 1.2 million dollars in it first year of business, but multiply revenue 5 times in year two? We have no clue, and that's why we sat down with Spino to get his insight on what it takes to grow a business from the ground up, with people as the catalyst.

Spino's humble home life with his mother, a migrant worker, and father, who served in the Marine Corps for 22 years, drove the Pittsburgh native to always put hard work first, and understand the value of earning a dollar.

"I was 12 when I started a lawn care service. I scoped out which houses had husband's deploying for service and I went house to house and cut the grass until their husbands came home from deployment. That's when I had my first taste of entrepreneurship," said Spino.

Putting that method into motion has significantly grown Stratascorp in the marketplace with employees across 12 states and 3 countries.

"I started Stratas to have a company where people are valued for their talents. After years of closing deals and contracts for other companies, I thought about how young my mother was when she passed away, and that life is too short to work for someone else. So I said to myself, I can build a business, do it better, and treat people with respect. I woke up the next morning and started working on my plan," Spino stated.

What sets Spino and his team apart is the fact that he truly values people and what they bring to the proverbial table. His philosophy of surrounding himself with creativity and utilizing unconventional ways to approach linear problems puts Stratas in a different realm for employee retention.

Spino spends his time not only recruiting talent, but visiting his team members across the country, a rarity in a business where 98 percent of communication is done over the phone or email. Spino makes it a point to see as many of his remote staffers as possible.

"A lot of the people in this industry are simply voices on the other end of the phone or an address in an email. It's critical to the well-being of my company to lead with an open door. I want my team to know me for who I am and I want to know them. For them to believe in my process they have to believe in me. Developing and maintaining culture is what drives our company success. I believe that continuity of a team, trumps everything," said Spino.

But the prize doesn't come easy. There are long days, early mornings, late nights, and weekends to get to this point, and Spino is the first to say that it's no picnic.

"If you want to play golf on the weekends or watch Netflix all night, then this game isn't for you." Spino chuckled.

"I wake up around 5am to start working with our team in Germany, then head to the office and work with my local team and our east coast and mid-west customers until 7pm, then hop onto calls with our west coast team for a few hours to include Hawaii until about 9pm, and then I roll into my international call with Japan until midnight or sometimes later. It's a grind, but I don't mind it, because it's what I love to do. But don't let anyone tell you that this shit is easy, because it isn't. Building a company is real shit. Having people's livelihood depend on your hustle is real shit. And if you aren't playing for keeps from the start, you already lost. Being an entrepreneur is a skill, don't let anyone bullshit you. Just because I can shoot a free throw doesn't make me ready to  play Lebron James 1-on-1," Spino stated.

Spino, much like his upbringing, lives a very modest lifestyle, still driving the early 2000 Nissan Maxima he purchased years ago. His fashion choice is usually a black t-shirt, jeans and a pair of weathered brown shoes. No misaligned hubris clouded by materialistic noise and showboating, he's always accommodating team members to the best of his ability. "I love the game of building a business more than I love riches. It's not about driving a phat whip or having fucking bling, it's about the process and providing value to my team. That's all I want to do," said Spino.

Be it a nice hotel, dinner, or ice cream, Spino invests in people, because he believes that people are the root of everything he does, and without them, he wouldn't be anywhere.

"I hate when people say it's just business, nothing personal. Fuck that Noise, it's complete bullshit," Spino said. "Business is personal, and I never want to be the guy who treats people like shit. It's not what we do here at Stratas. Everyone has value and vision, and the best part about what I do is being able to not only see it, but to see when people recognize it in themselves. Creativity yields opportunity."

Spino will begin speaking at colleges and high schools about entrepreneurialism, and plans to start hosting business talks at the company's corporate headquarters in Virginia Beach.

"I'm on a journey building my dream by taking action, because dreams without actions are just dreams," Spino said.

For more information on Stratascorp, visit http://stratascorp.com