Tag: entrepreneurs

A new venture, WP Lookout

A few months ago I had an idea for a new tool and service that I thought could be useful to WordPress developers and agencies who manage lots of WordPress sites, but who can't or don't want to go all in on automatic updates. After spending some time thinking through the details and researching what was already out there, I decided to go ahead and build it.

I started writing code and building features on July 1. A month later in early August I launched the first version to a production environment, and now I'm starting to tell people about it.

Please, allow me to introduce WP Lookout.

I've already written about why I think this service fills in some important gaps in the WordPress ecosystem so I won't say a lot more about that here. If you're someone who has worked with keeping multiple WordPress sites up to date and secure, hopefully you see the potential benefit. And there are a lot more features I'm excited to be working on.

Even if you don't travel in those circles, perhaps you'll identify with this sentiment: we have all of these things in our lives running software that someone else has written (routers, computers, apps on our phones, the navigation systems in our cars, the firmware on our TVs), and we're supposed to keep them up to date with the latest versions, usually in the name of speed and security. But often that turns into a part time job of logging in to those devices, finding the settings screen where updates are displayed, and trying to understand what's changed and how much it matters. Automatic background updates are helping in some cases. But wouldn't it be nice if these devices and tools could come to us and tell us when they're ready for an update, and what exactly has changed? So, WP Lookout is set to do that for at least one small corner of the Internet.

It's been a while since I've set out to launch and grow a new business from nothing. It's thrilling to again be thinking through architecture, strategy, business model, marketing, finances, legal paperwork, scaling, innovation and all the other pieces that go along with trying to make something thrive for the long term. It's also vulnerable to be putting something out into the world and wondering how it will be received, or if anyone will care.

I'm hopeful that good things are ahead. Regardless, I'm proud of what I've done so far. I've learned a lot along the way — about building a SaaS ("software as a service") business, about how awesome developing with Laravel is (I'll write more about that soon on my tech blog) and about what solutions people who manage multiple WordPress sites might or might not be looking for to make their lives easier.

After I'm a bit further along I'll share more details and updates. In the meantime, please check out WP Lookout.

Working for someone else

This week marks two full years of my employment at Automattic. I was fortunate to celebrate in person with a number of my colleagues as we hosted a workshop for our clients and partners in beautiful Napa, California.

People who know that I co-founded and built my own tech business before joining Automattic often ask me what it's like to work for someone else. My short answer is usually:

  • I miss some of the joys and challenges that go with being ultimately responsible for the success of a business venture...
  • ...but Automattic is a place where I am trusted with a level of autonomy that I'd be hard pressed to find in many other employment situations, and
  • I am mostly just enjoying discovering new ways of doing things and being a part of a bigger team with greater resources available for innovation.

This post is my longer answer. While working at another company it has been useful and interesting to notice what it's like to have a change in my professional identity, not be "the boss," enthusiastically support something I didn't create, and try to balance the joys of "employment" with the inner itch to again be a "founder."

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In The Plex, a great history of Google

I just finished reading Steven Levy's In the Plex, a great history of Google, Inc.'s origins and growth, and a great insight into what the company could look like in the future, or at least how it might get there.

The story of Google that matters for most people is how it affects their daily lives (searching, web browsing, mobile phones, mapping/navigation, email, calendaring, YouTube, news, etc.) but I appreciate that Levy's book focuses on the personalities and processes driving the evolution of what is arguably one of the most transformative corporate and technological entities of our time.

It can be easy to forget that behind some of the game-changing products and services produced by the company, there were real people thinking through issues of privacy, dealing with cross-cultural considerations and navigating interpersonal dynamics all while trying to make a living and find a sustainable business model.  They had/have desks, meetings, slide shows to give, families to care for, water-cooler conversations to have, and Levy does a great job capturing and re-telling those stories from the days of "two guys in a garage" all the way through the present days of life as an international corporation.  This is not always done with the most critical eye - those with concerns about Google's operations or policies may be put off by the extent to which this book is an homage - but on the whole I think Levy is fair in calling out the moments when individual Google employees or the company as a whole screws up, and placing those in the context of Google's good intentions.

A few themes in what Levy's book revealed about "the Google way":

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A City is a Startup

biodiversity jengaOver the weekend Jon Bischke made the interesting comparison of a start-up company to city government in A City Is A Startup: The Rise Of The Mayor-Entrepreneur.  Bischke notes that the factors that go into a successful entrepreneurial effort are similar to the ones that make for a successful city:

  1. Build stuff people want, offer products and services people want to buy
  2. Attract and retain quality talent
  3. Raise capital to get fledgling ideas to the point of sustainability, create a density of "investors"
  4. Create a world class culture that encourages people to stick around even when times get tough

These may not be comprehensive factors, but they could be useful metrics to view your city with.

If I had to rate my own city of Richmond, Indiana, I'd say we have plenty of room to grow in each area:

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