WordPress as a Startup Platform: Building MVPs or Full-Fledged Businesses

4/5
6:00 pm — 9:00 pm
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Harvard Innovation Labs - Classroom

Not every startup requires complicated technology or lengthy custom coding, particularly when getting started. WordPress can be an ideal platform for web startups with limited (or no) technical resources to test their idea, and can even be a fully qualified long-term solution for certain types of businesses.

WordPress is best known as the #1 content management system, software that powers 27% of sites on the web. But most sites barely scratch the surface of WP’s advanced functionality and platform potential, made possible by one of the largest open-source communities in existence. So many features desired by many web startups are already developed, freely available, and totally customizable — as WordPress plugins.

Come to this presentation to learn about the benefits of WordPress for startups, whether it’s right for your MVP, how to use it if it is, and what you should know going forward. This presentation is particularly aimed at non-technical founders, but technical founders who want to build more efficiently / not have to spend time developing user interfaces / features outside of their core functionality should find it valuable as well.

In this presentation we’ll go through:

  • The benefits any founder can get from using WordPress:
    • human-powered MVPs
    • easy, editable, well-designed company presence site
    • building your audience while you build your product
  • Some types of businesses WordPress is a good fit for:
    • content-driven (reviews, directories, media)
    • user-driven (communities, user-generated content, user-matching)
    • commerce-driven (e-commerce, marketplaces, deal sites)
    • customer input -> value output (automated services, on-demand platforms)
    • examples: AirBnB, Groupon, and Eventbrite as WordPress MVPs.
  • How to do it:
    • getting set up
    • core WordPress concepts
    • how to evaluate themes & plugins
    • web development baby steps
    • plugins recommended for startup founders
  • A technical perspective:
    • strengths & weaknesses of developing with WordPress
    • common choices: build vs buy, whether to fork (customize beyond supported changes), when to switch off WordPress
About the Presenter: Jay Neely
Jay is the creator of Boston Startups Guide (itself built on WordPress), an online guide to local startups and resources for them. Jay started as a non-technical founder in his early twenties and has since learned to code. He’s worked as a freelance web developer and solo developer for his own projects, using WordPress extensively. Jay has previously taught or mentored at Startup Weekend, Startup Institute, and General Assembly.
WordPress as a Startup Platform: Building MVPs or Full-Fledged Businesses
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