I was born in 1985 in a small town in Russia, Western Siberia. Since I first saw an IBM PC (80286 AT) and got a chance to play with it a little bit (MS-DOS Prince of Persia was my favorite), I knew what my profession would be about – computers.
I studied software engineering and computer sciences, and after graduating, I stayed with my university for my Ph.D. studies, which I successfully finished in 2010.
I was building my career in software engineering and development, and relatively quickly it went towards web development. But something in me (what I didn’t realize yet) was pushing me towards entrepreneurship, so I was constantly trying to look for ways to do something apart from just being a full-time software developer at some company.
In 2011, I decided to move to Europe, the Balkans, and I have lived in Serbia, Belgrade since then.
The Journey Began
I tried and worked in many programming languages and environments before WordPress (and actually in parallel with WordPress), developed installable software and web software.
As I started freelancing and developing websites and web apps for clients, I’ve started using the standard toolkit more and more (Apache, PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, JS).
As my knowledge in PHP and JS developed, I even created my own CMS (a step that many developers have taken) – a lot of fun in the beginning, requires lots of patience to finish and make it usable by non-tech-savvy users, a nightmare to maintain and keep actual.
I’ve also worked in the other PHP-based CMS engines that were popular back then – Joomla!, PHPNuke, PHPBB (for forums), and Drupal.
I don’t remember exactly the first time; I believe it was around 2008-2009, and it came up as one of the options to use for one of the client’s projects.
It stood out as a great balance between simplicity and flexibility. In the beginning, I didn’t yet realize the potential that it has as a community-developed tool, but as I used it for several projects, I started liking it more and more.
Also, as marketplaces that sell themes and plugins started appearing, I saw that it is actually a very nice direction for a business – create downloadable products, instead of client-based projects all of the time.
The Need for “wpDataTables”
wpDataTables
In the beginning, the first tool I developed to start selling it was actually called PHPDataTables. It came from my own need: back then, I developed a few projects with PHP – one was related to building a referral network, another to online advertisement, and one more to finances – and all of them had one thing in common: a need to display large sets of data in a tabular format on the website, and ways to keep this data always up-to-date.
So I created a reusable module that could be added as a wrapped PHP class into any web app, and render sortable, filterable, searchable tables from database queries or just locally stored files.
As I created a product out of it, almost unexpectedly, it started selling very well, and the common request out there was that in the form of a PHP module it’s still too complicated for the wider audience, so many potential customers asked for a dashboard, UI that would allow doing the same without any coding at all. So I wrapped it in the form of a WP Plugin, added some improvements to make it more “merged” into the WP system overall, and called it wpDataTables. And it was accepted very warmly by the audience.
Only later I realized that there are some competitors in the market – but I’m actually glad I didn’t know it before, as it didn’t influence my commitment and also I didn’t use any external inspiration, which helped to make wpDataTables unique back then.
One of the main challenges was changing my mindset from being just a “developer” to a “solopreneur” first (combining development, support and marketing), and to a manager and entrepreneur later, hiring and forming a team, and delegating activities to them (this shift was actually even harder).
It’s hard to call something “the worst experience” (there are challenges every now and then), but if I need to choose something, I’d pick early hiring mistakes, especially hiring developers. You’re so keen and enthusiastic about your project, and you expect everybody to be. Being inexperienced, you don’t know what exactly you’re looking for, and you hire people who aren’t a match for your project – and it creates lots of issues, as 1) code is getting worse, not better, 2) you have to invest more time and energy then before hiring them to fix their mistakes and help them, not less, 3) you have to also pay them out of your hard-earned income. But those are early mistakes that I guess most of us have to make during different steps of the founder journey.
Currently, we own and/or have a part in a few WP-related products:
- Amelia: an Appointment and Event booking plugin: https://wpamelia.com
- wpDataTables: Tables and Data Management plugin: https://wpdatatables.com
- MapSVG: plugin for building and showing maps, floorplans, Google Maps, SVG schemes and layouts and much more.
- Trafft booking app – whitelabel solution for agencies. Trafft is our appointment booking SaaS/App, and WordPress community uses it mostly as it has a whitelabel solution for agencies that allows them to sell booking platforms to their local clients under their own brand.
Myself with my Brilliant Team
Advice for Business Owners
- Don’t expect to succeed at once.
- Don’t be afraid to take risk, but never take unreasonable risks you don’t have coverage for (debts, overhiring, etc.), expecting miracles to happen.
- First start small, in a low-risk environment, and focus on honing your skills (in task and people management, entrepreneurship in general).
- Starting the business is just a beginning, and it’s much less about the launch than it is about showing up every day and doing what you gotta do. Routine, scrutiny, dedication, focus on quality, and baby-steps-growth are always a reliable way to win in the long run.
WordPress & Beyond
There are many plans and we can’t share 100% of them – so I’ll just mention we plan to continue improving the tools leveraging modern technology and meeting the requests of WordPress users.
A very good question that never has an easy or clear answer, most prognoses turn out to be wrong as there’re so many components at play. If I had to guess, based on the previous trend, it would be similar to what it is now, just modernized, refreshed, updated, migrated more towards full-site editing, and relying more on cloud services.
Of course, as people building websites become less tech-savvy (as more and more DIY users want to build their websites), even WordPress, which is very easy to get started with, is perceived as too complex by them, having too many moving parts. Competing solutions (platforms) try to meet their demand by providing all-in-one builders where one doesn’t have to deal with different components and just build what they need (e.g. eCommerce store) never leaving the platform.
But I think WordPress is also heading in this direction, and, as a community, we can make sure it stays actual.
Stay in Touch
My Love for the WordPress Community
Since 2018 we’ve been attending or sponsoring all WordCamps in Europe in Asia. It’s very beneficial to meet people you’ve been mostly in touch with online, to see new trends in the industry and what others are up to, meet your customers in person. And the community feels like old friends, so often it doesn’t feel as a business-first event at all!
I’m always happy to see all of our friends, colleagues, partners, users in WCEU, WCAsia, and I wouldn’t like to highlight someone in particular, as luckily we haven’t yet met someone we would avoid in the future.
In the past/early in my WordPress career, I’ve been inspired by the Visual Composer example.
Also would be interesting to read about Kinsta, Elementor, and other products that managed to build a really large userbase.
How I Keep Myself Updated
Constant contact with our users makes sure we’re up-to-date with the latest events. Also, I’m a member of Post Status, Guildenberg; follow “Inside WordPress”, “The WP Weekly” and other WP regulars/newsletters.
I Have a Life Other Than the Work
I have 3 hobbies:
1) Sports and running – I usually workout at least 3-4 times per week, I ran multiple marathons and half-marathons in Balkans (“semi-retired” from that now).
2) I play piano as a hobby.
3) I love old (youngtimer and oldtimer) cars, and cars in general, and have a small collection together with a colleague.
Usually with family, either a narrower family (my wife and daughter), or some of the in-laws. We’re all so busy during usual days, I’m happy when we can focus on each other during the vacation periods.
I travel a lot (but less than I’d love to). I actually can’t call just one destination, all places have their charm, some are nordic, some are southern, some have breathtaking nature views, some are rich in culture and architecture. If I need to call one place I return most often to it’s Montenegro, the Kotor bay – because it’s relatively close to where we live, and its a very meditative, relaxing drive rich in mountain views. Also, it’s a nice way to “touch” the sea throughout the year and not only during vacations.
I’m a big cat lover, and I’m happy that my family and our team mostly share this passion with me. I have 3 cats at home, and we have lots of street cats everywhere (near my home and near the office).
In the evenings our cats often occupy our bed and won’t let us in:
And here’s our team with our office cat, he has been with us for a few years already. We call him Gojko:
I Reward Myself by
All of the above!
I strive to maintain a healthy balance between life, work, hobbies, business, purpose, and leisure. For me, this balance isn’t about achieving one perfect proportion of these aspects—it’s about adjusting the proportions based on the day or season.
We’re delighted and proud that our work enables us to support local charity initiatives, and we’ve already helped multiple families and children in need. At the same time, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities our work provides, such as traveling the world and indulging in my hobbies. For example, I’ve had the chance to own and work on a 50-year-old classic car, experiencing the magic of old mechanisms firsthand. This not only “recharges my batteries” but also inspires further work and creativity.
Connect With Me
I’m most active in LinkedIn – please feel free to add me there:
