When you walk into member of the month Craig Sutter’s private office inside a private office, you’ll see them immediately: the most fun dog portraits! Makes perfect sense, as he’s an animal lover that works for a dog-ter company. As CTO for Vetsource, Craig handles all things tech and built the entire department from the ground up. Craig has been with Vetsource since, literally, day one and you can see how that loyalty has paid off for him and his company. 

Founded in 2008, Vetsource has over 9,000 veterinary practice customers and 600+ employees throughout the United States. Vetsource provides smart solutions that seamlessly fit into the lives of veterinarians, their clients, and the pets they love. And, their Home Delivery platform equips veterinary practices with the tools they need to help their business thrive and improve the quality of pet care. 

What do you do? Tell us a little bit about your company.

I am the Chief Technology Officer at Vetsource, I am responsible for software engineering, data engineering, system infrastructure, and technical program management. 

Vetsource provides technology and pharmacy services to Veterinary Practices nationwide, primarily through home delivery of pet medication and nutrition products. We reduce the complexity of caring for pets by connecting retailers, pet owners and veterinarians.

What is your typical weekday routine?

My weekday is generally a lot of meetings with department heads and staff engineers strategizing and executing on technology goals and challenges. I also have a daily all-team open forum meeting that is a lot of fun. I also might have a few ad hoc discussions with other folks in the organization that need technology help and direction. 

How did you end up in your current role?

My previous Tulsa-based software startup was running out of money and not fun or interesting anymore, so I took a chance on a brand new venture in the pet healthcare technology space. I began as our sole engineer and slowly built a team, multiple products and a pharmacy. There were ups and downs, and many times I was sure that we would fail, but it’s almost 16 years later and we are still going strong.

What strategies do you use to make big decisions?

I like to make big decisions as late as I possibly can. The longer I wait, the more time I have to think about alternatives and how they might be better or worse. When the time comes, I have had time to “try out” the decision in my head and can feel good that I have done what I can to get to a good outcome.

What is your favorite restaurant in Tulsa and what do you get there?

I love going to Yokozuna and ordering the chef’s choice roll (raw, medium spicy). I have had the best rolls this way; always a surprise and always delicious!

What’s one song or artist that you’re embarrassed to admit you like?

I just found out recently that it’s not cool to like “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes and that the band even hated it. I blast this song every time it comes on!

What’s a pet peeve that you would make illegal if you could?

Hard-shell plastic packaging. I hate trying to open this stuff.

What is one of your favorite things about being a member of The Root Coworking?

Hard to choose one, but if I have to, I would say that after being in charge of a busy office for many years it’s so nice to have to do nothing other than show up and get to work. The facility is well managed and taken care of, and our team really appreciates that.