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What Pulled Jason Schuller Into Selling WordPress Themes?

Jason Schuller says it started at Boeing, where internal sites were still static HTML. He saw that one WordPress install and one theme could run all of them, and that problem is what pulled him in. WordPress was open source, young, and growing a community. He blogged, tweeted, and gave work away, and the following became Press75. Getting in that early, he says, mattered more than any single trick. His wife did not believe the theme business at first. A few months of rising revenue changed her mind. Long after the sale, his dad still mentions Press75.

Transcript

Jason Schuller. Press75 and how a WordPress theme set an entrepreneurial journey in motion. ·

Geek at Sea

More from this episode

  1. Who Is Jason SchullerJason is the founder of Press75, a WordPress theme company that he founded by a lucky accident.
  2. How Did WordPress Replace Piles of Static Pages?For many organizations, early web meant a collection of static HTML pages that were individually uploaded and managed.
  3. What Is a Good Way to Gain a Following for Your BusinessWordPress was an open source community and Jason quickly gained a following by sharing his progress, and by giving away ideas and tools for free.
  4. How Did Jason’s Parent React When He Left the Cushy Job at Boeing and Traded It for a StartupWhen Press75 started, nobody but Jason really got it first.
  5. How Did One Unpaid Client Launch Press75?Jason has always had an interest in video and video-centric content. At one point,he had an idea to create a really cool Hulu-like WordPress theme.
  6. What Impacts Did Starting a Business as a Husband and Wife Team HaveIt strengthened Jason & his wife's relationship because they could both pursue things they wanted to - something that was not 9 to 5 office-related.
  7. What Would Jason Do Differently If Doing Press75 All Over AgainJason says that because the business was doing so well, he got very wrapped up in the day to day.
  8. What Is Important to Keep in Mind When Starting a Business and Experiencing a Great Deal of Financial SuccessDon't become too wrapped up in the excitement.
  9. How Much Money Was Press75 Making in Its Glory DaysWithin six months, Jason and his wife were making around $16,000 a months, and ten months in he was up to $30k per months.
  10. What Was the Biggest Challenge as Press75 Grew and Gather CompetitionAs the WordPress popularity grew, Jason Schuller and team had to find more creative ways to stay relevant.
  11. Should Jason Schuller Have Kept Making Themes for Press75 Customers?Jason Schuller tells Kirill Zubovsky it depends, and that simply following the Press75 customer would not have made him happy.
  12. How Did WordPress Business and Community Change With Rising Popularity of WP as a PlatformThe original community of WordPress makers was a tight group that built friendships around their passion.
  13. Who Bought Jason Schuller's WordPress Theme Company Press75?Jason Schuller tells Kirill Zubovsky that he sold Press75 in 2014 to a custom WordPress theme agency. He never names the buyer.
  14. How Did Selling a Business and Then Having a Baby Impact Life OverallIt was a wakeup call. Things are put into perspective when you are looking through the eyes of a child and the responsibility of raising them.
  15. How Does One Channel Life Experience Into Their ChildrenIt is hard to find a balance of career and parenthood. It is important to instill the idea of not giving up in children.
  16. How Do Parents Decide What Is Right for Their ChildrenIt is difficult to know. There are aspects of how one was parented that are implemented into their own parenting style.
  17. How Are Work/life Balance Opportunities Different Today vs. Just a Few Decades AgoPrevious generations did not have opportunities with the internet like there are today.
  18. How Do Parents Teach Their Children How to Work HardIt boils down to what one is interested in.

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