Our book by the founder

★★★★★

Dr. Alexander’s Business by Blueprint encapsulates the invaluable lessons he’s gained from decades of guiding others in building their businesses, which he then applied to design and execute his own with remarkable success. Chris’s iCORE™ highlights the most critical drivers and sequence for success, enabling the creation of a clear plan with sufficient flexibility to adhere to it. The candor with which he shares his entrepreneurial journey is refreshing, standing apart from many business books that offer cookie-cutter solutions while glossing over some of the realities, such that people are the most challenging yet powerful aspect of achieving and sustaining growth. iCORE™ and the well-illustrated ADV success story will provide valuable insights and guidance for entrepreneurs across various business fields. I look forward to seeing more iCORE™ success stories.

– Simon Bellemare
Founder and CEO, MMT

★★★★★

Whether you are building up an existing business or leading a team, Business by Blueprint, provides a proven guide for long-term success.  It is clear, actionable, and rooted in genuine business experience. Dr. Chris Alexander’s iCORE™ framework focuses on five key areas: identifying market gaps, connecting with people, running the right processes, rallying teams, and expecting on time results. As a commercial banker, I have the privilege to work with businesses at every stage of growth and Business by Blueprint is a valuable read for any entrepreneur or business leader.

– Adrian Cadena
Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking

★★★★★

Wow, if you’re running a business in 2025’s wild, AI-charged world, Business by Blueprint by Dr. Chris Alexander is your ticket to clarity and success. The iCORE™ framework—Identify, Connect, Operate, Rally and Expect is a total game-changer, blending the best approaches into one rock-solid, all-in-one blueprint. Chris, an entrepreneur with an engineer’s knack for breaking down chaos, doesn’t just give you a plan; he hands you a lifeline to lead smarter. Unlike finance-obsessed frameworks that miss the point, iCORE™ nails leadership, team vibe, and profits driven by innovation and tenacity. As a consultant and entrepreneur myself, I’ve stumbled with keeping things streamlined, so I know iCORE™’s macro superset framework is gold for me and my clients. For years, I’ve watched Chris disrupt markets and recently exit a business, and I’ve aspired to do the same; this book captures his genius in one simple shot. Need one book to replace a shelf full of frameworks while highlighting real world applications? This is it.

– Tyler Cowie
Founder and CEO, Narrowstack LLC

★★★★★

Chris Alexander’s book, Business by Blueprint, is an excellent choice for guidance for aspiring entrepreneurs. He communicates his guidance through his iCORE™ platform which systematically goes through the steps to build a successful business. First is identifying unmet needs of the target marketplace. Starting with this firm footing, he covers the essential steps of connecting with people (employees and customers), operating through defined processes, getting buy-in from the team of employees, and expecting on-time results.

Along the way he uses the stories of real world companies (good and bad) as examples. He has lots of historical stories of mistakes and great moves that made many famous companies  household names. It is an excellent guide for real world business leaders to be successful. I highly recommend it.

– Dr. Joe R. Fowler
Co-Founder, Stress Engineering Services Inc

★★★★★

In Business by Blueprint, Chris Alexander has crafted a masterwork for your company’s design (or re-design), built for continuous growth and sustainable profitability, by following a proven framework with metrics that amplify your strengths and turn your challenges into surprising wins for your stakeholders.  His iCORE™ framework is elegant simplicity for creating, evaluating, and communicating a blueprint that will de-risk your venture and motivate your team to greater success as they see the results play out in record time.  I witnessed his latest venture from formation to highly profitable exit, and as a serial entrepreneur, I wish I could have introduced iCORE™ to my younger self 20 years ago.  

– Gary Littlestar
CEO, Smartpipe Technologies

★★★★★

Business by Blueprint offers a tactical approach to entrepreneurship, serving as an essential guide for anyone looking to design, build, or scale a successful business. The iCORE™ framework highlights key areas of focus and provides clear questions and actionable strategies, making it perfect for both new and experienced business owners. The inclusion of practical frameworks, scorecards, and assessments equips readers with the tools needed to navigate today’s dynamic market landscape. As a marketing professor, I find this book particularly valuable for identifying and addressing gaps in your business, making it a must-read for any business owner.

– Andrew Loring
Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor, Texas A&M University

★★★★★

Chris has developed an exceptionally practical resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders. He brings a unique engineering perspective to business strategy, approaching entrepreneurship with methodical precision. What sets this book apart is its blueprint-style approach to business development. Rather than abstract theories, Chris provides concrete frameworks and actionable strategies that readers can immediately implement. The book breaks down the complex process of business scaling into manageable, sequential steps – like following an actual blueprint.

I found this book particularly valuable for its real-world applicability. The insights are grounded in practical experience and designed to help readers avoid common pitfalls while building sustainable, scalable businesses. Whether you’re launching a startup or growing an established company, Business by Blueprint provides the strategic framework needed to approach business development with confidence. It’s an insightful guide that transforms complex business challenges into manageable, step-by-step processes.

– Cliff Johnson
President, Pipeline Research Council International

★★★★★

Being a notoriously impatient person, it is hard for a book to keep my attention. Business by Blueprint had me hooked from the first page to the last. There are a lot of things to love about this book. After explaining the foundation of creating and building a highly successful business, Dr. Chris Alexander not only gives you real life examples of companies that succeeded or failed (and why), but also gives you the “blueprint” that can be used to hyper energize your own business. The Assessment Tables in every chapter are absolute home runs, that’s all you need to get going. The letter that Chris wrote to his younger self is by far my favorite part of this book, motivating me to start writing a letter to my younger self – and it is quite the revelation. This book is also filled with one-liners and short sentences of wisdom that generated light bulb moments in my head. And finally, do not skip  the appendices. Appendix A is a wonderful foundation. The list of books in Appendix C is a priceless collection, and I am particularly curious about the Personality Test in Appendix F. This is the second book that Chris wrote that I have enjoyed reading and learning from. I hope he writes some more.

– Tony G. Rizk, P.E.
VP Technical Services, Boardwalk Pipelines

★★★★★

Working with thousands of closely held businesses over the last three decades, our advisors have seen it all. A common denominator with businesses that struggle is a shallow adherence to comprehensive business planning. Dr. Alexander provides a clear, formulaic plan to mitigate the risks of business failure while also providing engaging case studies of both winners and losers. I especially appreciate his focus on maintaining a “perpetual startup” mindset. Read this book, identify a marketplace gap, then work, work, work.

– Mike Slabic
CEO, Century Oak Private Wealth