Taco:<\/strong> Thanks for having me! As you said, I like to know \u201cjust enough\u201d about everything. A few decades ago, when I was still a young boy, my parents bought an old encyclopedia. I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve read all 26 books from cover to back, but I did spend a lot of time looking through them. When I started learning about the web, I kept that broad interest. From hardware, like assembling my own computer and building computer networks, to learning how to write basic software and websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, I joined Yoast in 2013 as a developer. I had some coding experience and they were looking for a junior developer. We quickly learned that I wasn\u2019t the best fit in that role, but wading through the plugin\u2019s code for a couple of months did help me tremendously when I then switched to a role in customer support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having a basic understanding of everything allows me to explain to developers what I\u2019d like to see, while it also prevents me from speaking so much jargon that customers can\u2019t understand what I\u2019m saying anymore. And so, I can bridge the gap between two groups who typically have trouble understanding each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My job at Emilia Capital and Progress Planner oftentimes gives me a seat at very different tables. From C-levels at internationally renowned companies to solopreneurs, I enjoy having conversations with all of them equally. Having a broad understanding of their realities really helps there as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So yes, I can safely say being a generalist has shaped my career and journey in WordPress!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: Your current focus is building a brand with Progress Planner. What inspired this product, how is the journey going and what are some of the challenges that you are facing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> While we (most of the Progress Planner team is former Yoast) were at Yoast, we saw people spend a lot of time, energy and money launching their websites. Every image, every piece of content was carefully curated until they finally launched their site. And then\u2026. Nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my view, a website is like a garden. Once you\u2019ve finished building it, you can take a seat, relax and enjoy all the work you put in. But after a few days, you\u2019ll need to start watering the plants. A week later, there\u2019s some weeds you need to remove, you have to mow the lawn, and by the end of summer, it\u2019s time for pruning and raking leaves. You need to get your hands dirty. Basically, you\u2019re never done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same goes for your website. It needs that same love and care. You can\u2019t stop caring after it\u2019s been built. But that means doing oftentimes boring, tedious tasks, like updating plugins or reviewing your site structure. Typically, it\u2019s not the fun part of being a website owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, we help you identify what you need to do, and motivate you to do it. What else do you need to keep your website up-to-date?! <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, as you said, we do have some challenges. Before people start using Progress Planner, they first have to understand and admit they have a problem. We need to show them their website could be so much better, and conveying that story takes time. And so, the growth of our free plugin isn\u2019t as fast as I\u2019d hoped for\u2026 And that\u2019s a real challenge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: What\u2019s one unexpected lesson you\u2019ve learned from transitioning from Yoast to co-founding your venture?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> Being at a large company like Newfold (the owners of Yoast after its acquisition in 2021) has taught me a lot about processes and running a large business. It\u2019s allowed me to grow in ways impossible in a smaller company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the transition to Progress Planner showed that I\u2019m a much better fit to a smaller company. I love to take on a thousand very different tasks, and have a direct impact on the company\u2019s results instead of having to \u201cfight\u201d processes. So, I\u2019ve learned that being in a smaller company plays to my strengths much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What it also taught me is that personal reputation doesn\u2019t mean a lot when you\u2019re building a new business. Despite knowing a lot of people in our industry, it\u2019s still very hard work to promote a new product! Much harder than I anticipated, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: You’ve spoken at numerous WordCamps worldwide. How has being a speaker and organizer contributed to your professional growth and understanding of the WordPress ecosystem?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> To deliver a valuable talk, and not just a business pitch, you need to be well-versed in the topic you\u2019re presenting on. So far, every presentation I gave was also a learning experience for myself. I had to dive deeper than ever before into the topic, in order to be able to explain valuable concepts in layman\u2019s terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing that well really helps you build and enforce your (brand\u2019s) reputation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An even better learning experience for me was being an MC at various WordCamps. That required me to dive into a topic I had absolutely no prior knowledge about, to make sure I\u2019d be able to properly introduce and highlight the speaker. It also allowed me to personally connect to a broad range of amazing experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same goes for being an organizer. As an organizer, you have to work with a large number of volunteers, speakers, and suppliers. I can\u2019t imagine a better training for your communication skills, organizing skills, and negotiation skills. And, it requires you to acquire valuable event organizing skills, like budgeting, communications, leading volunteers, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So whichever way you\u2019re involved in organizing community events, there are always valuable lessons to learn! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: Let’s do some quick rapid-fire questions: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: With your extensive experience in the WordPress ecosystem, how do you see the role of managed WordPress hosting in growing a product?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> There are many people who need a website and will build it themselves. They\u2019re not necessarily web development experts. A good managed host will do the hand-holding those customers need to make their online presence a success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But even beyond the DIY group, properly managed hosting can take away many headaches from professionals. Not having to worry about many of the absolute basics frees up time to spend on the more sophisticated areas of the website build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So in my opinion, managed hosting is adapted to a specific target audience to help them thrive online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: You\u2019ve had a front-row seat to the evolution of SEO through your work at Yoast. What\u2019s a common SEO myth that you\u2019d love to debunk?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> A myth I\u2019d love to debunk is that SEO is all about publishing large volumes of content. It\u2019s not. Search engines try to answer their users\u2019 questions, which means they need to be fed quality information. So instead of trying to publish as much content as possible, think about how you can add value to the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your main question when writing or reviewing content should be what value, like unique opinions or insights, you can add that will establish you as a subject matter expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: What changes have you noticed in the WordPress community over the years, and where do you think it\u2019s headed next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco: <\/strong>If I\u2019d be able to predict where we\u2019d be going next, I\u2019d be filthy rich. Spoiler alert, I\u2019m not. For years, many people in our industry have been saying \u201cwhat got us here won\u2019t get us there\u201d, when talking about the growth of WordPress. Looking at the flattening of WordPress\u2019 growth, it feels like we (finally) may have reached that point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, people, businesses and organizations need an online presence. I hope there will always be a good open-source solution to help people achieve that. Ideally, that open-source project would be WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: Can we have a glimpse of your workspace? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco: <\/strong>Absolutely!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: In your experience, how can being a generalist be a superpower, especially in tech and digital marketing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> Being able to talk to everyone, and to quickly identify what you don\u2019t know are the super skills of a generalist. In today\u2019s day and age, being able to adapt to unique circumstances and quickly learning what\u2019s needed to move forward are essential skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m convinced that generalists are uniquely qualified to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devrims: Lastly, from the community, who are the top three people that you would recommend us to interview next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Taco:<\/strong> Naming a top 3 in a space as large as WordPress is about as evil as asking who my favorite child is. My daughters are quite different in pretty much everything, and yet I love them equally. The same is true for the WordPress community, it consists of so many absolutely amazing people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s where the Progress Planner comes in. We help you identify the crucial tasks that need to be done on your website, and bring fun to completing them! Working on your website makes you earn points and badges. The more problems you resolve, the more badges you collect! <\/p>\n\n\n\nFavorite Movie\/book<\/strong><\/td> Ice Age<\/td><\/tr> Favorite WordPress Plugin<\/strong><\/td> Progress Planner<\/td><\/tr> Classic editor or Gutenberg<\/strong><\/td> Gutenberg<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/devrims.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_0468-1024x768.jpeg\")
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