Differentiating by Excellent Execution in a Commoditized Market – with Ike Stranathan of STAFFVIRTUAL

On this episode of the Outsource Accelerator Podcast, host Derek Gallimore sits down with Ike Stranathan, CEO and Co-founder of STAFFVIRTUAL. They discuss the company’s growth, differentiation strategy, and the future of outsourcing. 

Ike shares how STAFFVIRTUAL evolved from a VA startup concept to a trusted BPO partner for legal and technical clients across the globe. 

STAFFVIRTUAL

Ike founded STAFFVIRTUAL in 2009 after moving to the Philippines. Back then he had no network, no clients, and no local experience. 

“I didn’t have one client and I didn’t know one person and I didn’t have one friend,” Ike recalls. Today, the company provides offshore teams to US-based law firms, managed service providers (MSPs), and other businesses across industries.

Although the company started with customer-facing and back-office roles, Ike shares that their “bread and butter really is technical professionals who work for managed service providers or MSPs in the United States,” 

He clarifies that they’re not a contact center and handle mainly tech support and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO). 

STAFFVIRTUAL offers two delivery models: a basic cost-plus model where clients manage their own staff, and a full-service model. “We’re gonna find these people, we’re gonna manage them… manage the outcomes and the KPIs for them,” says Ike. “That’s what most of our clients go with.”

Client acquisition and early challenges

The decision to move to the Philippines was inspired by Ike’s friend, an early e-commerce entrepreneur, who shifted 80 jobs to Manila and saw huge cost savings. 

“He immediately saved… somewhere in the neighborhood of two or $3 million in payroll,” Ike says, “and more importantly, all of his KPIs… actually improved.”

Inspired, Ike made the move but quickly realized the difficulty of building a VA-focused agency targeting solopreneurs. 

“That was a very, very difficult business model to scale,” he explains. “It was a B2C business model, and in general, anything B2C in my opinion is harder than B2B.”

The company pivoted to team-based B2B outsourcing. “It’s actually easier for me to build a team of 10 people doing one thing than finding one person that knows how to do 10 things,” he says.

Early client acquisition was driven by SEO, at a time when outsourcing was still relatively unknown. “People didn’t even know what it was. The average business person didn’t know what building a dedicated team looked like in Asia,” he explains.

Changes in the outsourcing market

Fifteen years later, the outsourcing market is significantly more crowded. “Now there’s literally thousands of people providing the service,” Ike observes, noting the emergence of Upwork, freelancers, and small offshore providers. Yet despite this saturation, there is still low adoption among SMEs.

“If you decide to do this in 2025, you’re sort of ahead of the curve. You’re sort of an early adopter,” Ike says. “It really hasn’t gained… mass adoption. There’s no brand name BPO company that everyone knows in the United States.”

He adds, “For how gigantic the industry [is]… it’s the size of like sports leagues, just the BPO industry in the Philippines… and they’ve just scratched the surface.”

The role of process in BPO success

With outsourcing becoming more commoditized, Ike believes process is what sets top BPOs apart. “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems and processes,” he explains. “That’s where you’re gonna create the most value.”

As STAFFVIRTUAL’s CEO, Ike aims to continue improving onboarding, training, and operational handholding. 

“We had something like a 97.4% show rate with our team,” Ike proudly shares. “Good luck finding people on your own and having that type of show rate.”

He emphasizes that the company’s aim is not just to provide bodies, but to run processes “with military grade precision.”

AI and the future of outsourcing

Like many industry leaders, Ike sees AI as both a disruption and an opportunity. “I think AI and the metaverse and a lot of this Web3 stuff is gonna usher in the golden age of outsourcing,” he says. “It levels the playing field.”

While some low-level contact center roles may be phased out, Ike believes AI tools will supercharge outsourcing talent and delivery, not replace it wholesale. 

Resilience and diversification in the BPO industry

To stay competitive, Ike emphasizes the importance of resilience and diversification. “I would not wanna be just doing like ticketing in the travel industry… where a lot of those BPOs died when travel died with COVID,” he warns.

STAFFVIRTUAL operates across multiple industries and service types, from legal and technical to administrative. “Let’s say I’m doing basically seven or eight different processes across seven or eight different industries and AI takes out one… you’re okay. You could pivot to the others.”

That flexibility, combined with disciplined execution, is how STAFFVIRTUAL continues to stand out in a crowded and evolving market.

Feel free to visit STAFFVIRTUAL’s website, and you can email Ike directly at [email protected]. 

Recognize the power of good in outsourcing! Nominate your company’s incredible initiatives for the Outsource Accelerator’s Outsourcing Impact Review (OIR) 2025. Showcase your positive impact and help redefine perceptions of outsourcing as a force for good.