Jason Cohen - Founder of TWO unicorn companies (WPengine + Smart Bear)

Jason is the founder of two unicorn companies: WPengine and ASmartBear.
Original Post: copywritingcourse.com/blogs/3...
00:00 Intro: Jason started two unicorn companies.
00:11 What is Smart Bear?
00:53 What is WPengine? Largest managed Wordpress host in the world.
43% of the web builds on Wordpress
01:42 How did you know you could charge 10x or 20x more than the competitors.
03:35 He did 50 customer interviews and 5 months later, he found out people would pay 10x more for a Wordpress host if it was fast, scaleable, secure, and have engineer-level tech support.
05:15 I’ve personally used Wordpress for 15+ years, and every few years I’d get hacked until I moved to WPengine then it stopped.
07:47 “Inciting Moments” or “Inciting Events” = When someone gets hacked all of a sudden they really want a more secure website….but maybe it takes them several times of getting hacked before moving.
09:35 They found their biggest allies in getting people to signup was SEO people.
10:23 It’s like selling burglar alarms, you don’t need one
10:35 WPengine had an office next to me, and had a TV on the wall with their MRR which was $2,000/mo (Now it’s…well, WAY higher) 😂
11:19 “It’s fun to put your most important number on the wall and say we’re going after that.”
13:35 I like optimization. “Here I am in a great market doing something I love.” That’s a good place to start as an entrepreneur. What are my assets, talents, experience sets, and what in combination is unique, what do I love doing so much you wouldn’t have to pay me? Now figure what in there an actually be a business (not all of it).
16:04 It was easy to go after the Wordpress market because even at the time it was 11% of the internet which is just soooo big and still growing. Large and growing markets are great because there’s always niches to service within that.
18:43 How do you come up with business ideas? Do you write a bunch down? “I don’t build too many 1st products, but we build a lot 2nd and 3rd additional products to our main product.”
23:04 Talking to customers is the only way to figure out the right product.
24:52 It’s hard to go look for a problem, you generally stumble upon it. So the answer is exposing yourself to stuff. Then try to validate. Doing something like McKinsey Consulting will exposure you to all sorts of businesses and industries.
27:11 Talking about Wordpress.
31:30 Forums → FB Groups → Private Communities
33:30 What platforms do you use? Twitter, LinkedIn, Threads…standard stuff. I post the same thing everywhere. I don’t primarily do social media but I write longform that’s unique to me. That’s where I want to spend most of my time. I have hundreds of drafts.
35:33 How did you get your first WPengine clients. “I had 18,000 RSS feed subscribers, I launched it, and only 2 people signed up.” You have to muscle your first customers in.
37:20 Why did you first start writing online?
38:39 Personal Brands vs Corporate Brand? Write under your own name or company name? There’s a macro-trend of younger people not having personal secrets as much. If the goal is to sell the company you have to have a corporate blog.
43:44 Using AI? Using mainly for coding and it’s so good it’s frightening.
44:14 Writing for me is personal expression, trying to hone my craft, and my own ideas which are new.
46:46 Are you afraid of where AI is going?
49:37 Are things moving faster and changing…or are we just old?
54:45 What skills are you teaching your children to future proof them for AI? “Kids are better than this stuff already. THEY are going to be deciding what skills will be important, not us.”
55:35 The most popular Wordpress trend? Block based themes. You’ll be able to drag and drop everything.
56:49 How would you go about starting a new business?
57:37 Are there any marketing hacks you tried that worked or flopped? .
59:48 A book that’s changed your life? Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
1:13:33 Being around people with extreme levels of wealth, where do people get the most fulfillment?
1:16:47 Generally many very rich are not happy, not fulfilled, and don’t have a good family life. Leaving a company often leaves you directionless. “Life After Exit.”
1:18:35 The Seinfeld story after the end of the show, Seinfeld was a hardcore road comic, and that saved him.
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[@chrishare]

Every interview or talk by Cohen is filled with expertise. Always a great watch.

[@larrymedina4624]

Great interview! Thanks for the knowledge.

[@seriouscash]

this dude is legit

[@DEIMETHIANG]

Ex