On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2025. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Chris ↗
In their words
you need to iterate your growth strategy with the same kind of discipline, rigor, data that you do on your product
And we would do these things two to five times a month. And it was essentially like running TV ads on the Super Bowl, but we were getting paid for it.
You're likely not going to find the growth economics that you need just by giving your money to Zuck.
Around the web ×2
Quick answers
Who is Chris Houston?
A Toronto founder. He started SurfEasy, the consumer VPN, in 2011 and was its CEO; he is now a co-founder of Settled, an AI dispute-resolution company whose first product is TripFix.
What did Chris Houston say at TechTO?
That consumer startups with low lifetime value can't win by outbidding everyone on Facebook and Google, and that growth strategy needs the same iteration and rigour founders give the product itself.
How did SurfEasy grow?
Through QVC. Houston told the TechTO Travel Toronto stage in December 2025 that bundling SurfEasy into QVC 'today's special value' segments two to five times a month drove enough search volume to rank organically on the category's most competitive keywords.