My name is Hristo “Chris” Rusev, and I am the Co-Founder and CEO of ScalaHosting, a cloud-native web hosting company dedicated to making managed VPS hosting accessible to everyone. I divide my time between the U.S. and Europe, leading our global team and helping shape the future of cloud infrastructure for online entrepreneurs.
Before co-founding ScalaHosting, my professional background included business strategy, financial advisory, and M&A consulting for major corporations and financial institutions. This experience helped sharpen my understanding of scaling businesses, building efficient systems, and spotting industry inefficiencies – the seeds that later shaped ScalaHosting.
The Journey Began
Before WordPress became a central part of my work, my digital life revolved around helping companies grow, streamline operations, and modernise their technology as part of my consulting work. I have always believed that technology should make people’s lives easier, not more complex.
I first encountered WordPress in the late 2000s when building online projects. The platform’s simplicity, enormous community, and endless flexibility immediately stood out. Once I realised how transformative WordPress could be for businesses of all sizes, it became a natural focal point for the hosting solutions we wanted to build.
The open-source spirit of WordPress, powered by community innovation, aligned perfectly with our own philosophy. That’s why we continue to invest heavily in tools, infrastructure, and partnerships that empower WordPress users worldwide.
The Need for “ScalaHosting“
SCALAHOSTING
The inspiration for ScalaHosting came from a problem we experienced firsthand. In the early 2000s, we were running an online store hosted on a provider that simply couldn’t deliver reliable uptime. That pain point revealed a bigger industry problem: hosting was either cheap but unreliable, or stable but overpriced.
We knew there had to be a better way.
In 2008, ScalaHosting was formally founded with the mission to make reliable hosting available to every website owner. As the industry began shifting toward Managed Cloud VPS, we saw an even bigger opportunity to build our own technology stack that removed licensing costs, increased performance, and gave users more control.
This led to our flagship innovation: SPanel, a fully proprietary, cloud management platform that gives website owners cPanel-level freedom without cPanel-level costs.
Another major innovation was SShield, our AI-powered security system that blocks 99.998% of attacks in real time.
These innovations helped transform ScalaHosting from a traditional hosting provider into a cloud-native technology company.
Challenges, Worst Moments & Proud Milestones
Like every fast-growing company, our journey had its challenges, from competing with established giants to building a truly proprietary control panel from scratch. Creating a new cloud ecosystem in a market dominated by legacy solutions required vision, persistence, and absolute belief in what we were building.
Our worst moments were often tied to scaling pains: infrastructure expansions, rapid user growth, and the enormous responsibility of keeping thousands of businesses online 24/7.
But the proudest moments made it all worth it:
- Seeing SPanel adopted by hundreds of thousands of users
- Becoming one of the fastest-growing hosting companies in the U.S.
- Earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list
- Receiving recognition from major industry publishers and thousands of 5-star customer reviews
Most rewarding of all is knowing that our technology helps small businesses grow safely, affording them tools that were once accessible only to large enterprises.
ScalaHosting today provides a full suite of WordPress-focused resources:
Challenges, Worst Moments & Proud Milestones
- Managed Cloud VPS hosting
- SPanel – our in-house alternative to cPanel
- SShield – AI-powered cybersecurity system
- WordPress Manager – one-click management toolkit
- Free WordPress migration services
- Easy staging environments, backups, and dev tools
These solutions were built for WordPress users, content creators, agencies, and developers who expect more from their hosting provider.
Stay in Touch
Myself with my Brilliant Team
I am incredibly proud of the ScalaHosting team, a global group of talented engineers, programmers, designers, support specialists, and product minds who give their all every day.
Our culture is built around freedom, innovation, flexibility, and user-driven development. Many features we build come directly from feedback from the WordPress community and our customers.
Advice for Business Owners
If I could give one piece of advice, it would be this: start small, stay consistent, and listen to your users.
The biggest advantage small businesses have is their ability to move quickly and adapt. Another key lesson: focus on a niche where you can deliver real value.
Whether it’s hosting, plugins, themes, or developer tools, the WordPress ecosystem rewards creativity and genuine usefulness.
WordPress & Beyond
Our plan for scaling ScalaHosting is straightforward:
- Continue expanding our cloud infrastructure
- Invest heavily in SPanel and automation
- Build more developer-friendly WordPress tools
- Strengthen partnerships across the WordPress ecosystem
- Bring Managed Cloud VPS hosting to even more users worldwide
Where I see WordPress in five years
WordPress will continue to dominate, but more as a full web-application framework than just a CMS. Gutenberg, the block editor, and headless architectures will all play a huge role.
Threats?
The biggest “threat” is not competitors, it’s complexity. As WordPress evolves, we need to keep the user experience simple and accessible so that new users remain excited to adopt it. That’s where hosting companies like ours come in.
My Love for the WordPress Community
I make a point of staying involved in WordPress events, including meetups and WordCamps. These gatherings are invaluable; they bring together some of the most passionate, creative minds in tech.
These events help us understand real-world challenges and stay aligned with what the community truly needs.
How I Keep Myself Updated
I regularly follow:
- WordPress.org news
- Hosting industry publications
- Cloud-infrastructure research
- Influencers in the WordPress and cloud hosting space
Staying updated is essential for anticipating trends and keeping our ecosystem secure and competitive.
I Have a Life Other Than Work
I love to travel, especially to destinations where I can unwind after intense work cycles. I’m also a certified scuba diver; exploring underwater worlds is one of the purest forms of freedom.
Holidays are usually spent with family, enjoying downtime, and recharging for the next big challenge.
I Reward Myself by
When we hit major milestones, I prefer rewarding myself through experiences:
- Travelling and exploring new places
- Spending time with family
- Supporting and rewarding the team
- Contributing to causes that matter
Success is always better when it’s shared.
