I’m Nizam Uddin, Co-Founder and CEO of weDevs, one of the largest bootstrapped WordPress product companies to come out of Bangladesh.
I was born and raised in a rural village in Pabna. Life there was simple and, in many ways, limited. We didn’t have electricity until 2003. Still, my family made sure one thing was never limited: my education.
Things started to shift when I earned a scholarship in class five and moved to Pabna Zilla School. That phase changed how I saw the world. I began to dream bigger. At first, I wanted to become a scientist. Then an engineer. I would spend hours in the library reading science magazines. That’s where I first came across NASA and the idea of the internet.
In 2001, while I was in class seven, I visited a cybercafé for the first time. I spent 300 taka that day, which felt like a lot back then, just exploring the internet. The first thing I searched for was NASA. That moment stayed with me. It opened a door I didn’t even know existed.
Later, I got into the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Rajshahi University. Looking back, that decision shaped everything that followed.
It was there that I met Tareq Hasan, founder and CTO of weDevs. More importantly, it was there that our entrepreneurial journey truly began.
Today, I’m based in Türkiye. But my roots, and the heart of our team, remain in Bangladesh.
The Journey Began
Before I discovered WordPress, my digital journey began with a burning desire to use technology to solve real problems.
During university, Tareq and I participated in BASIS Soft Expo 2010 with a Braille board project that won the Best IT Innovation Award. Attending that expo and learning about the startup ecosystem completely changed my trajectory. I came away convinced that entrepreneurship was my path.
My first real venture was in education. In 2011, Tareq and I launched a platform offering physical training, free video tutorials, and online courses. We physically collected 500 gigabytes of video tutorials to distribute across Bangladesh. But we eventually had to shut it down. It was a hard lesson, but a formative one.
Meanwhile, Tareq had already been building WordPress plugins as far back as 2008. His WP User Frontend plugin had gained significant traction in the WordPress.org community.
When I saw the global reach of a well-built WordPress plugin – how it could serve customers in the US, Europe, and Asia without requiring a large sales team or physical presence – I understood the model immediately. WordPress wasn’t just a tool; it was a global distribution channel.
It immediately stood out to me because it simplified things. Instead of building everything from scratch, I could focus on solving real problems.
That’s why I chose WordPress. And that’s why I stayed. It gave me the flexibility to build. And the ecosystem to grow.
The Need for “WeDevs”
weDevs was never a planned startup. It grew out of the problems we kept running into while building real projects.
We formally launched weDevs in 2012 from a rented house in Rajshahi. It was a small setup, but the intent was clear. After graduating, we moved to Dhaka in late 2013 and decided to commit fully.
When we started, the WordPress plugin market already had established players. But many solutions felt incomplete. Some were too narrow. Others were too technical. Many lacked proper support.
There was a clear gap between what people needed to run real online businesses and what tools were available, especially when it came to multi-vendor marketplaces.
That gap led us to build Dokan.
We were watching the rise of eCommerce and we realized something. Building an Amazon or eBay-style marketplace was still too complex and expensive for most entrepreneurs. So we asked a simple question.
What if anyone could launch a professional multi-vendor marketplace on WordPress without deep technical knowledge? That question became Dokan.
Today, Dokan powers over 40,000 marketplaces globally. Seeing that kind of adoption is something I’m deeply grateful for.
In the early days, our strategy was simple. Build a great product. Provide exceptional support. Let the community speak for us.
For the first two to three years, we didn’t spend anything on paid marketing. Growth came organically through WordPress.org, community forums, blog mentions, and word of mouth.
I still remember noticing a sudden spike in traffic once. It came from a forum post where a customer was praising our support. We had helped him solve an issue with a simple code snippet and saved him a high cost. That one moment brought in more trust than any advertisement could.
But the journey also came with hard lessons.
After moving to Dhaka, we lost focus for a while. We tried to build four different startups at the same time. That decision cost us.
The most painful experience was with our healthcare startup, Rx71. We had a team of around 70 people. It was fully self-funded. The product was strong. We even won a Manthan Award and got selected for SLUSH.
But the company collapsed in a single afternoon. The reason was simple. A partnership dispute that came down to things we never clearly documented.
That experience taught me one of the most important lessons of my life. No matter how strong the relationship is, always write things down. Trust is important, but clarity is essential.
On the other hand, building weDevs into a globally recognized WordPress company is something I’m proud of. Seeing products like Dokan being used by entrepreneurs in over 100 countries makes the journey meaningful.
Over the years, we’ve built a range of WordPress products, each solving a specific problem:
- Dokan Multivendor — a complete marketplace solution
- WP ERP — HR, CRM, and Accounting in one system
- WP Project Manager — project management for teams
- WP User Frontend — frontend posting and user management
- Happy Addons — Elementor addon with advanced widgets
- weMail — simplified email marketing for WordPress
- wePOS — point of sale system for WooCommerce
- weDocs — documentation builder for WordPress
- FlyWP — cloud server scontrol panel for WordPress
- Klasio — SaaS online course platform
- FlyCommerce — cloud-based marketplace platform
Every product came from a real need.
The journey was never easy. There were moments of doubt. Times when things didn’t go as expected. One of the biggest challenges was scaling while maintaining product quality.
But those challenges shaped us.
For me, the proudest moments are not awards or milestones. It’s when I see people building their own businesses using our products.
That’s when it feels real.
Myself with my Brilliant Team
weDevs is not just about me. It’s about the team. We currently have 50+ team members at weDevs, and I genuinely mean it when I say this is a family, not just a workplace.
Our culture is built on mutual respect, trust, transparency, and shared ownership. We believe in “we” – that’s literally in our name. There are no bosses here; everyone is a brother or sister.
When hiring, we prioritize passion, the desire to learn, and cultural fit far above academic credentials. Some of our best engineers studied literature, physics, or law – not computer science.
We evaluate people across three dimensions: performance, personality, and learning curve. We genuinely believe: if a person is honest, good, and willing to learn, performance will follow. We value effort over results.
We also run a full-fledged employee welfare system, including provident fund, gratuity, medical fund, marriage bonus, annual profit-sharing, family get-togethers (our “weFamily Day”), and tours. Because we want everyone at weDevs to feel secure and happy, not just employed.
Our offices are in Mirpur DOHS, Dhaka, and anyone who visits can’t help but smile at the artificial grass play zones, table tennis tables, and the general vibe of people who actually love what they do.
Advice for Business Owners
If you want to build something meaningful, start with a real problem. Don’t chase trends. Don’t build just because something looks exciting. Spend time understanding your users. Talk to them. Observe where they struggle. That’s where the real opportunities are.
At the same time, be clear about your dream. Make sure it has the potential to scale. But don’t try to execute everything at once. Start small and focus on doing one thing exceptionally well.
Many founders think big but try to execute big from day one, and that usually leads to chaos. Depth first, then expansion. It also helps to begin with the end in mind.
Before you launch, think about what happens if things don’t work out. What does the exit look like? What happens if a partnership breaks? This is not pessimism. It’s practical thinking.
Another important lesson is to prioritize reality over emotion. As founders, we often become emotionally attached to what we build. I’ve been through that myself. But good decisions come from facts, not feelings. You need the ability to step back, assess the situation, and make hard calls when necessary.
And most importantly, be patient. Building something meaningful takes time. There will be setbacks. There will be uncertainty. But if you stay consistent, things start to compound.
In terms of niches, I believe AI is opening up one of the biggest opportunities we’ve seen in a long time. But the real shift is not just “build with AI.” It builds useful things powered by AI.
If you have a real insight into a daily pain point for website owners, eCommerce entrepreneurs, or developers, that’s your starting point. Use AI as a layer to make the solution faster, smarter, or more accessible.
That’s how we approach it. And that’s what makes the difference.
WordPress & Beyond
Our plans for weDevs are built on two parallel tracks.
On one side, we continue to go deeper into the WordPress ecosystem. But this is no longer just about adding features. It’s about rethinking how products should behave in an AI-first world.
We are embedding AI into tools like Dokan, WP User Frontend, weDocs, and WP ERP in a way that actually reduces friction, not adds noise. The goal is simple. Let users do more with less effort, even if they don’t have technical skills.
On the other side, we are expanding beyond WordPress with FlyCommerce, our fully managed SaaS commerce platform. This represents a different kind of future. One where entrepreneurs don’t need to think about hosting, maintenance, or infrastructure at all. They just focus on building their business.
I don’t see this as a shift away from WordPress. I see it as an expansion of the opportunity.
Over the next five years, WordPress will continue to dominate a large portion of the web. But it won’t have the same 40%+ market share. It will coexist with SaaS platforms. And AI will accelerate this convergence.
What used to require developers will increasingly become accessible to non-technical users. That changes user expectations. People will expect speed, simplicity, and intelligence by default.
In that world, WordPress needs to evolve from being just a CMS into a full application platform.
As for competition, platforms like Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace are strong because they prioritize simplicity.
But WordPress has something fundamentally different. It is open. It is flexible. And it gives you control. That advantage doesn’t disappear.
The real opportunity for WordPress businesses now is not just to build plugins. It’s to build experiences that feel as seamless as SaaS, while keeping the flexibility of open systems.
And more importantly, to build things that are not easily replaced by AI. AI can generate. But it doesn’t understand context the way real products do. It doesn’t build ecosystems. It doesn’t create trust.
My Love for the WordPress Community
The WordPress community has given us everything. From the very beginning, it was the community that carried us forward. Through WordPress.org ratings, WordCamp networking, and community blogs, we gained reach and credibility without spending on marketing. We didn’t have a budget. The community was our marketing.
Over the years, I’ve been actively involved in meetups and WordCamps, both as an organizer and a speaker. I’ve spoken at multiple WordCamps, and at weDevs, we’ve sponsored more than 22 WordCamps since 2014. In 2019, we took a step further and initiated the first-ever WordCamp Dhaka.
Events like WordCamp are invaluable. Of course, you learn a lot. But more importantly, you build relationships. You meet product builders, developers, marketers, and contributors from all over the world. Some of my most meaningful partnerships and friendships have come from simple hallway conversations at these events.
I also have deep respect for the WordPress community across South and Southeast Asia. Many talented people are building incredible products with very limited resources. That kind of resilience and creativity is inspiring.
There are many individuals in the community I admire. It’s difficult to name just a few because so many people have contributed in meaningful ways to make WordPress what it is today.
For me, WordPress has never just been software. It’s a community that grows together.
How I Keep Myself Updated
I stay current through a combination of reading, community engagement, and direct product feedback. WordPress.org, WP Tavern, Post Status, WPfounders, and Make WordPress blogs are regular reads.
I follow conversations on relevant Facebook groups and community Slack channels. I also learn enormously from our own customers – the feedback we receive through support tickets, reviews, and user interviews is some of the most valuable market intelligence I have.
Beyond WordPress specifically, I follow broader trends in SaaS, eCommerce, and AI through newsletters and industry publications. And I have a practice of regular discussion with mentors.
I Have a Life Other Than the Work
I wake up between 4 and 5 in the morning. After Fajr prayer, I exercise, study, and prepare for the day. I try to be disciplined about protecting time for things beyond work because I’ve learned that rest and perspective are not luxuries; they make you better at everything else.
I genuinely enjoy reading; it’s a habit I developed as a child at the Annada Govinda Public Library in Pabna, and it never left me. I read across a wide range of subjects, from business and technology to Islamic scholarship and personal development.
Travel is something I find deeply enriching both for perspective and for business. Living and spending time in different cities and countries has broadened how I see markets, people, and opportunities. I find Istanbul particularly fascinating – a city that literally bridges two continents, and a place where Tareq and I both spent time building our international network.
I spend holidays with family and make it a point to be present for the people who matter most. Our faith is central to how our family and company are organized, and occasions like Eid are times I protect carefully for family.
I Reward Myself by
For me, reward is not always about something big.
Sometimes it’s taking time off. Sometimes it’s spending time with family. And sometimes it’s simply seeing the team grow and succeed. That’s what makes the journey meaningful.
I also believe strongly in giving back. Through the weDevs Foundation, we try to contribute to our society beyond just building products.
A big part of that mindset comes from something I learned early in life, the idea of Sadaqa Jariya (“ongoing charity”). The concept of creating something that continues to benefit people even after you’re gone.
For me, that translates into two things.
Building products that empower people around the world. And building a company where people can grow, feel valued, and live better lives.
That’s what keeps me going, especially on the hard days.
Connect With Me
I’d love to connect with fellow WordPress entrepreneurs, builders, and community members. You can find me at:
Website: wedevs.com
WordPress.org: https://profiles.wordpress.org/nizamuddinbabu/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nizamuddinbabu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nizamuddinbabu/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/Nizam5428
Whether you’re just starting your WordPress journey or building your next product, I’m always happy to talk entrepreneurship, growth, and how to build something that truly matters. Let’s build together.
Thank you, WPfounders, for the opportunity to share this journey. I hope something in these pages is useful to someone starting and reminds them that great things can indeed be built from a small rented house in Rajshahi.
