Sculpt, rebuilt
My Ph.D. system, which became Interactive Simulations: grab a protein and watch it relax in real time. In 2026 I rebuilt it from the original papers in about a week, and checked every detail as its author.
MCS Strategies, LLC · Mark Surles, Ph.D.
Executive software leadership. AI-native products, built.
For thirty years I have built software companies: as the founder who took a breakthrough product to acquisition, and as the CEO who grew another five-fold. Today I advise CEOs, boards, and investors on growth and financing, and I build AI products myself, in weeks.
- 5×revenue growth as CEO of ScienceMedia, with nearly 70% recurring
- Founder → exitInteractive Simulations, acquired by MDL / Reed Elsevier
- Sciencecover, 1993 issue on the future of computing
- 1 weekto rebuild my Ph.D. software with AI, work that first took years
Services
Strategy from someone who has run the company, and code from someone who still writes it.
I take on a few engagements at a time, where new software can change a company's trajectory. I focus on what is new: products, markets, and the capital to pursue them.
01
Strategy & growth
For CEOs, boards, and investors.
- Funding and growth strategy
- Pricing, TAM/SAM/SOM, and market entry
- Forecasts, cash flow, and balance-sheet analysis
- Corporate development and board work
02
AI product building
From idea to working product, fast.
- Rapid prototypes that become real products
- Services, APIs, embeddable UIs, and iPhone apps
- Evaluation harnesses, latency budgets, AI system cards
- Coaching teams to build this way
03
Larger builds & hosting
With Hatchery, Bozeman, Montana.
When a product needs a full team or managed hosting, I deliver it with Jean Holt and Hatchery, my development partner.
- Production engineering at scale
- Managed cloud hosting and operations
- One accountable lead: me
Products
Two products, built with AI by one person.
Each would once have needed a funded team and a year or more.
Pre-launch · early access
Answer Reel
Trusted video answers from massive content libraries. Ask a question and Answer Reel cuts the right moments from many sources and stitches them, in real time, into one narrated video. Your video library becomes as searchable as the web, and every word of the answer comes from your own content, so nothing is made up.
- One produced answer video, cited to its sources
- Answers in 14 languages
- Built from the video, webinars, slide decks, and audio you already own
Coming to the App Store
PillSheet
For older adults, people with low vision, and anyone managing many medications. Photograph a prescription bottle; PillSheet reads it, says it aloud, and keeps the list ready to print.
- A wallet-sized medication list for emergencies and doctor visits
- An organized sheet for filling a weekly pill organizer
- Large text and plain wording throughout
Selected work
From a 1993 Science cover to AI-native builds.
Q Contrast dosing across the treatment arms.
A Arm A starts at… Arm B adds…
Sources §6.2 p.41 · Table 4 p.43
(illustrative)
A Arm A starts at… Arm B adds…
Sources §6.2 p.41 · Table 4 p.43
(illustrative)
Long-document Q&A
Ask a 100-page clinical trial protocol a question. The answer respects the document's structure, from multi-page tables to cross-references, and cites the exact pages.
SMi Source & SMi Trial
The two cloud products I created and led at ScienceMedia, with its team. Together they turned a services firm into a product company and drove five-fold revenue growth.
About
Mark Surles turns new software into businesses.
He founded Interactive Simulations, the venture-backed company behind the first desktop 3D molecular modeling software for drug design, and sold it to Reed Elsevier. As CEO of ScienceMedia for thirteen years, he grew revenue five-fold with nearly 70% recurring. Today, through MCS Strategies, LLC, he advises CEOs, boards, and investors, and builds AI products himself. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from UNC–Chapel Hill.
Let's talk.
Based in San Diego, California. Working with companies anywhere.
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Advisory, product builds, and Answer Reel early access
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Career history and recommendations