Jake Goldman has been making websites since the mid-90s. In 2011, Jake put his past experience as a technology director to use in a new capacity - founding 10up, a full-service WordPress agency that specializes in engineering solutions for clients such as TechCrunch, NBC Universal, and Google.

Now in its 4th year, 10up has been recognized as one of the top agencies building on WordPress in the world. Jake has grown the company from a one-man startup to a distributed team of over 100 employees. He is a WordPress core contributor, an incredible business man, and a strategic mastermind. We are very excited to welcome Jake back as a returning speaker to Prestige Conference Las Vegas.

In 3 sentences or less, please describe what you do for a living:

I’m the President and Founder of 10up, a full service digital agency that focuses on making content management simple and fun. I spend the plurality of my time on new and prospective accounts development, with a dose of just about everything else an owner needs to be attentive to: company policy, long term team development and strategy, product development. I also stay grounded with a sprinkling of project strategy and execution.

Why this career and not something else?

I’m in the web publishing technology business because its the perfect intersection of a passion for mass communication (I wanted to be a journalist before a technologist) and modern technology. I also knew I wasn’t cut out for the infrastructure and data side of computing technology after I was miserable in a systems position I took for about 6-7 months.

I’m in the “owner and president” business because after 7 years helping other agencies grow as a senior leader, I decided it was time for me to forge my own path. I’m also very fond of economics and marketing/branding strategy.

When did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

Who says I’m grown up or I’ve figured it out?

I knew since late in high school that I wanted to focus on the intersections of technology, mass communication, and business. I loved video production (both technical editing and shooting, as well as the storytelling), loved making websites since there was a web to make things on, generally have a strong geek streak, and am fairly competitive by nature (but mostly with myself).

I don’t think my path had a clear beginning. You could argue I fell in love with mass communication and publishing when I worked on my summer camp newspaper in my early teens. You could argue I feel in love with computing technology when my father brought home what can only loosely be described as a “portable computer” when I was about 5. You could argue my interest in websites and business was solidified during a summer job when I was 17. You could argue my path as a consultant began when I left a retail job to consult before I left high school, and continued throughout college. And you could point to my agency career path beginning with my mentors at my first full time jobs after school. It’s been always been a blurry continuum.

Once you figured out what you wanted to do with your career, how did you start making things happen?

There was never a “crystalizing moment” when I figured it out. I studied MIS in college, chased opportunities in web technologies, and always tried to create more value for my customers and employers that my job description required.

Who were your most valuable mentors and how did you connect with them?

I don’t think I could point to a “most valued” mentor. I could point to many inspirations.

The VP of Business Development, a guy named Steve Turner, at a government contractor I worked for really empowered me to stretch my wings in the sales and marketing space, helped me learn to write great proposals, and shared a lot of wisdom that I didn’t even fully appreciate at the time about agency/contractor business strategy. Some of my most ingrained philosophies about hiring came from him - he was the one who told me “if you’re not interviewing and hiring, you’re swirling the drain.”

One of my first consulting customers, when I was about 17, was a packaging machine manufacturer, and I worked directly with the co-owner Anne DeHertogh (the wife in the husband/wife team). She offered me unique opportunities to work across their business marketing needs: I created promotional videos, brochures, and of course, built them one of the first websites I was really proud of. She was incredibly supportive, graceful with her feedback, and really made me feel like this path was for me. (In hindsight, she also got an incredible deal. 😉 )

An old friend of mine, Jeff Wilhelm, always had strong entrepreneurial genes, and a business leadership savvy. He introduced me to many opportunities (including my earliest consulting gigs), and often inspired me with his work ethic and drive.

Rick Goldman (no relation), CFO of a huge insurance business (where he started around employee #3), worked with me on a few projects and really taught me to think about and appreciate the practical importance of financial metrics and tools. He taught me to *really* understand basics that I’d learned on paper, like the real cost of a first employee.

This list could go on for a long time. I’d point to most senior leaders at my past employers, brilliant people at 10up like our CEO, John Eckman (who’s ability to be graceful, firm, tough, and respectful all at once I try to model to this day), and many more.

What’s coming up next for you?

My main focus is taking 10up to a place where its as known and admired for great design (UX, creative, overall experience) as it is for industry leading engineering. I’ll decline to be more specific about how we get there.

Any industry predictions for 2015?

The CMS marketplace will continue to get wider and flatter. That is to say, there are more customers than ever publishing online, many of whom have astonishing traffic numbers, but the “wealth” gap is closing: there are fewer and fewer companies and publishers who will be spending enormously (7+ figures) in the space as their margins and perception of CMS cost erodes.

I also think “selling code” (as in a downloadable module) will continue to be a diminishing business. It will still be *a* business, but will continue to be displaced by SaaS and PaaS solutions with “no installation required”, easier cross platform access (from phone to desktop with “central cloud storage”), and where the experience can be better controlled. That poses an interesting challenging for WordPress itself, too, and underscores the importance of a rich hosted platform ecosystem. I plan to really explore these themes at Prestige.

What book(s) are you reading right now?

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Favorite “guilty pleasure” song or band that you can’t help but rock out to?

Jason Derulo (I’m not sure if that counts as guilty?)

Name one thing you’re looking forward to for Prestige Conference Las Vegas:

Asking some hard questions. I love that we’re adopting a more interview-focused format, with serious preparation going in, and am proud to help get this format off the ground - and excited to hear the answers. I think this format will bring out gems that you don’t get by asking someone to stand up and talk about themselves (either because of humility, embarrassment, or other factors).