I’m Alex Frison, and I live in my hometown, Damme, Germany, a small town about 100 km south of Bremen. I like the balance there: rural enough to feel grounded, but still lively and connected. A great place where my kids can grow up in a peaceful environment.
My path into tech wasn’t the classic “study first” route. After school, I made a conscious decision not to go to university, because I wanted to start working rather than getting stuck in theory. Web development as a formal job barely existed back then, so I got into it out of personal interest and eventually turned that hobby into my profession. My Dad told me back then, “Find a job you love, and you will never work again!” I was lucky that I found it.
A big part of my early life also happened outside Germany: First for 2 years in Seville, Spain (beautiful city and my 2nd home) and then I lived in the USA (Dallas, TX) for quite a while, which shaped how early I got exposed to WordPress and open source culture. Over time, that mix of pragmatism, curiosity, and community-driven building became a consistent theme in my career.
The Journey Began
Before WordPress, my “digital life” was essentially self-driven web building. I was experimenting because I enjoyed it, not because there was a clear career ladder for it yet. The goal was to build, learn, and ship, and that mindset stayed with me.
I found WordPress very early (2004) because I was living in the USA, where it was already better known than it was in Germany at the time. I was excited by the possibilities and by the open source community around it. I even attended the second WordCamp ever, in Dallas in 2008, back when it still felt like a small pioneer group meeting up mainly for fun and shared enthusiasm.
That early phase is a big reason I stuck with WordPress: it wasn’t just a tool, it was a culture of builders. Through that community, I connected closely with Frank Bültge, and together with Michael Preuss, we built the WPEngineer blog, which became a major developer resource for a long time.
When I moved back to Germany, I joined Syde (then Inpsyde) as a project manager in 2010. I became a shareholder in 2012, and at the end of 2018, I stepped into the CEO role. That’s where my personal WordPress journey and the long-term building of products like MultilingualPress truly started to merge into one story.
The Need for “MultilingualPress“
MultilingualPress
As we worked with larger and more international clients, we repeatedly encountered one core challenge: multilingual complexity. There was a popular TV station in Europe, airing in several different countries (Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Austria), requesting a scalable and flexible multilingual solution. Many popular plugins tried to solve the problem, but performance, scalability, and clean architecture were often compromised. Especially in enterprise environments, we saw clear limits.
That was the moment MultilingualPress was born. The idea was simple but powerful: smartly use WordPress Multisite to create truly independent sites connected through a lightweight multilingual layer. This architecture delivered performance, flexibility, and clean separation of content.
The journey was not easy. We faced technical hurdles, market scepticism, and moments where we questioned whether building a premium multilingual solution was the right move. The worst experiences were often tied to scaling, pricing decisions, and aligning product vision with business sustainability. But the proudest moments came when enterprise clients chose MultilingualPress because it solved real architectural problems others could not.
Throughout my journey, I have worked with and built numerous WordPress-related products, services, and enterprise solutions, like BackWPup, WPSEO, Search and Replace, WooCommerce German Market and so on. From agency work to plugin development, from consulting to strategic partnerships, WordPress has been the foundation of everything I have built professionally.
Stay in Touch
Myself with my Brilliant Team
Our team! 100% remote, across 35 different countries. Here at our team meeting in Greece last year!
None of this would exist without my team. MultilingualPress is not a solo story, and it is also not our only project. We are Europe’s biggest WordPress agency, but we have very happy clients worldwide. It is the result of brilliant developers, product and project thinkers, QA specialists, marketers, and commercial minds working together. I am incredibly proud of the diverse, international team behind the product. Our workplace is fully remote, globally distributed, and built on trust and ownership. Collaboration and shared ambition define how we work every day.
Advice for Business Owners
If you want to start your own business, focus first on solving a real problem. Do not chase trends. Build something that creates measurable value. Surround yourself with people who challenge you and complement your weaknesses. My only job as a CEO is to find better people than me.
There is no single niche that guarantees success. Agencies, plugins, hosting, development, or content can all work. What matters most is positioning and clarity. Find a clear problem, understand your audience deeply, and commit long-term. Success rarely comes from opportunistic moves. It comes from consistency and resilience.
WordPress & Beyond
To grow our business, our focus is on enterprise readiness, partnerships, and long-term strategic thinking. Our target is 500! Fortune 500 companies or global players with $500M or more in revenue. It is about building sustainable, scalable solutions that integrate into complex digital ecosystems.
In the next five years, I see WordPress becoming even more relevant in enterprise environments, especially as organisations seek open, composable, and flexible architectures. Of course, competitors exist. SaaS platforms, headless systems, and proprietary DXPs will continue to challenge WordPress. And of course AI. But its openness, community strength, and adaptability remain powerful advantages, especially with AI-implemented features.
My Love for the WordPress Community
I regularly attend WordCamps like WordCamp US and WordCamp Europe. I guess I have visited more than 50 WordCamps in my life. These events are more than conferences. They are places where ideas are born, partnerships are formed, and friendships are built. They keep the ecosystem alive and evolving.
Within the WordPress community, I have built strong friendships with many founders, contributors, and agency leaders. What inspires me most are people who combine technical excellence with humility and long-term thinking. I always enjoy reading success stories of founders who stayed true to open source values while building sustainable businesses.
How I Keep Myself Updated
Back in the days, I followed core WordPress updates, community discussions, and WordPress newsletters. Nowadays, more via conversations with other founders, enthusiasts and engaging people in the WordPress community. I also learn a lot from enterprise clients who push technical boundaries. Staying close to real-world challenges is the best way to remain relevant.
I Have a Life Other Than Work
Outside of work, I value time with my family and friends. I enjoy sports, travel and hanging out with people I enjoy. Holidays like Christmas and New Year are moments to slow down and reflect. Travelling to new places inspires me, but also travelling to visit old friends after not seeing them for a while is always a joy!
I Reward Myself by
I reward myself by spending time with my family and meeting good friends. Supporting employees and celebrating milestones. Success is not only about financial growth but about shared progress and impact.
Connect With Me
If you would like to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, where I occasionally share thoughts about WordPress, enterprise strategy, leadership, and product development.
