Chris Teitzel

Chris Teitzel is the founder and owner of Cellar Door, a web development agency he launched in 2009 after beginning his career as a research scientist in molecular biology, studying novel medical devices and drug candidates. That scientific foundation shaped his approach to building technology: rigorous, evidence-driven, and unafraid of complex systems. Under his leadership, Cellar Door has delivered work for some of the largest sites on the web, including NASDAQ, alongside projects in emerging markets across Sub-Saharan Africa — and has become a leading voice on what it means for a digital agency to build AI-native, pairing agentic tooling and workflows with the craft of custom development.

Privacy and security sit at the center of Chris's work. He holds global patents in secrets management and served on the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, chairing its Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies and helping bring industry insight to the department's privacy initiatives. That advocacy carries directly into how Cellar Door builds — with security and privacy treated as first-class concerns in every product.

Chris is a frequent speaker on the international stage, having presented at conferences on 3 continents on the topics of web development, cybersecurity, and entrepreneurship. Outside of work, he's an avid traveler and snowboarder who spends as much time as possible outdoors and on the water with his family.