Matt Report

In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews  Cory Miller from iThemes and jokes with him as being his most interviewed guest on the Matt Report. The big news for 2018 is that Cory’s business (IThemes) was recently purchased by Liquidweb. Matt and Cory talk about the climate around WordPress, how they are working for different hosting companies, and what the future holds for Cory and his team with Liquidweb. Cory remains the general manager for iThemes, a business that he created over ten years ago with  WordPress themes, Backup Buddy, iThemes security and iTheme sync.
 

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Matt Report - A WordPress podcast for digital business owners

What does it feel like to sell your decade-old business? Cory Miller explains.



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Show Notes

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In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews  Cory Miller from iThemes and jokes with him as being his most interviewed guest on the Matt Report. The big news for 2018 is that Cory’s business (IThemes) was recently purchased by Liquidweb. Matt and Cory talk about the climate around WordPress, how they are working for different hosting companies, and what the future holds for Cory and his team with Liquidweb. Cory remains the general manager for iThemes, a business that he created over ten years ago with  WordPress themes, Backup Buddy, iThemes security and iTheme sync.

 

Listen to this episode:

Matt Report - A WordPress podcast for digital business owners
What does it feel like to sell your decade-old business? Cory Miller explains.
/

What you will learn from this Episode:

Profitable Plugin Businesses:

  • Cory talks about how plugin businesses are viewed as good investments for hosting companies. (4:13)
  • It makes sense for hosting companies to look at the plugin and backup businesses for expansion beyond hosting. (4:51)
  • Hosting companies have the power and money for current WordPress onboarding. (6:23)
  • iThemes built a passionate customer community centered around the brand which Liquidweb can benefit from. (7:37)
  • Cory built a compelling company that customers would miss if the company was not around anymore. (8:15)

WordPress and Hosting:

  • The trend right now with hosting companies competing in this environment is they are purchasing plugin businesses. (9:29)
  • Many developers became WordPress entrepreneurs and quickly built a business. (10:34)
  • Merging with Liquidweb allowed the team to have a home. (20:05)
  • Selling a business can impact your identity.  The sale of a business can allow it continue to grow and be valuable for everyone. (22:43)
  • WordPress is changing and the plugin space may be challenging in the future. (24:54)
  • The WordPress story continues to be written. You need to be adapting, adjusting and growing personally. (36:08)
  • It is great to learn with a new team and can be eye-opening to serve a new customer. (38:00)
  • If the technology changes the WordPress community will not. There are special people all over the WordPress world. (40:48)

Advice on Self-Promotion:

  • Cory built his business by being transparent, vulnerable and honest with who he is. (11:32)
  • Use everything at your disposal to be who you are. (12:38)
  • Listen to other people and your customers. It can lead you to purposeful profit where you can help other people with making their dreams come true. (13:20)
  • The slow road to success builds great relationships with people. (14:54)
  • Bitterness, jealousy or envy can consume you early and distract you from your business. Take time to build your quality business. (15:37)
  • There is value in knowing who you are.  (17:04)
  • Owning your own business is woven into the fabric of your life.  (17:47)
  • Fear and uncertainty can impact business decisions but you need to recognize the bigger vision and future. (18:30)
  • A failure is an investment in learning and growth. (the product Exchange)(27:49)

Episode Resources:


LiquidWeb
iThemes
Pagely
Cory Miller’s blog

To Stay in Touch with Cory:
Cory Miller’s blog
Cory on Twitter

To stay connected with the Matt Report, head on over to mattreport.com/subscribe.

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Creators and Guests

Host
Matt Medeiros
Founder of Matt Report

What is Matt Report?

Matt Report uncovers the most resilient digital business builders in WordPress, no-code, and SaaS space. Entrepreneurs share their story on how they built their business using some of our favorite online tools. If you're running a business using WordPress or no-code tools, make sure to subscribe!