It was the summer of 2014. I had been working long nights for 8 months developing my new plugin alongside Luis. I had set a launch deadline, so the crunch was on: writing website content, creating documentation, fixing bugs, and learning as I went about how to build hype and develop an email list.
Finally, GravityView went live on July 24, 2014. Without any sense of what would happen, I sent out a launch email at 10:02 pm to my mailing list. I went to bed that night exhausted, but exhilarated.
The next day, I woke up and immediately opened my phone. I made over $1,200 in sales. By the end of the first day, we sold over $4,000 in licenses. That day, I knew: selling plugins was now my job.
Now, ten years later, GravityKit powers 40,000 websites and has passed $5.5 million in sales. In 2023, we passed one million dollars in revenue for the year.
All of this started with meeting the needs of a single client.
From GravityView to GravityKit
GravityView was inspired by the needs of a web design client: they needed a way for practitioners to submit a listing to a public directory on their website. I knew the way I would approach gathering the input (Gravity Forms, of course) but Gravity Forms didn’t have a way to display those entries on the front-end of the site. So I developed it.
After launching GravityView, there were features that our customers needed that aligned nicely with GravityView: there was no way to import entries into Gravity Forms, no way to display entries on a map, no way to display entries in a calendar…and so on.
By 2022, we had developed a powerful suite of 9 paid add-ons for Gravity Forms. Thus, it was necessary to update our name to reflect the professional toolkit we offered: we became GravityKit.
The moment I felt that I made it
We had our first full-team meetup at WordCamp Europe 2022 in Porto. GravityView was turning 8 years old, and I had met multiple team members individually. But a full-team meetup? That was new.
I had bought swag, reserved hotels, made restaurant reservations, rented a working space. But I didn’t know what it was going to be like spending time together as a full team.
It was fulfilling.
Sitting at a restaurant table on the first night with the team, watching as all of us sharing a meal, passing drinks, and telling jokes, I felt a swelling of pride: The business I founded brought us all together and was supporting each of us and our families. Running a business is a beautiful thing; a creative act. I was, and remain, immensely grateful.
Giving thanks
I had written many more words about the evolution of the company and the team, lessons learned in business, and things I’d do differently if I had the chance, but I realized what I want to communicate in this post is my gratitude.
WordPress
Working on the web is a dream come true. That dream was able to be realized because of WordPress. Beyond being a wonderful platform to build on, the WP community has been welcoming, kind, and giving. I am so glad I chose WordPress.
Our wonderful customers
It sounds trite, but it’s true: our customers are wonderful. In the 10 years since launching GravityView, we have done business with over 13,000 customers, yet I know of only a handful of times where we have not been treated with kindness and respect. In speaking with other business owners, that is not the norm.
Thank you to each and every one of our customers for the trust you put in us and our products. You are the reason for our company’s existence and your ongoing success is the team’s guiding light.
The GravityKit team
It is a privilege to work every day with people I respect and like. Thank you to the entire GravityKit team. I am proud of the work we do together.
Gravity Forms
From the very beginning, the crew at Gravity Forms have been great to work with. For example, I was blown away when—on launch week—Carl Hancock (co-founder of Gravity Forms) wrote an article sharing GravityView.
Gravity Forms has provided a nurturing environment for third-party developers, including creating a Certified Developer program. This close communication makes it so that working on GravityKit isn’t working in isolation: we’re working in concert with Gravity Forms to provide our shared customers with the best ecosystem out there.
Pippin Williamson
If you’ve been in WordPress long enough, you will hear the name “Pippin” as an example of a good WordPresser. Pippin is the creator of Easy Digital Downloads, co-creator of AffiliateWP, and many other plugins. His podcast with Brad Tousnard, Apply Filters, and Pippin’s annual year in review blog posts were valuable guides for running and growing a WordPress business. More than that, the podcast and his blog showed Pippin to be a reflective person who cared deeply about open source, workplace culture, and personal growth.
As I was starting in WordPress, Pippin Williamson took time to show me the ropes. He asked me if I had ever contributed to WordPress and, when I said no, he whipped out his 11″ MacBook Air, opened the Terminal app, and showed me how to generate patches and submit a fix to core.
His open-source ethos helped jump-start our website, too: I loved the website that Andrew Munro had just launched for AffiliateWP and noticed it was on GitHub. Andrew and Pippin allowed me to fork it for GravityView. Pippin remains my canonical example of how to be a good WordPress citizen.
Pippin is now running Sandhills Brewing and I’m glad to hear from sources that he is happy!
Chris Lema
I first saw Chris Lema on stage at WordCamp Phoenix in 2014. Two things I remember about that WordCamp: they gave out handfuls of free Sharpies and Chris Lema nailed his talk “Escaping the Imposter Syndrome.” It was, in retrospect, the first great business talk I had seen. Give it a watch—Chris’ message, cadence, and delivery is masterful.
Beyond his excellent WordPress talks, Chris is generous in sharing his wisdom. I attended CaboPress, Chris’ business conference in Mexico. I made lasting connections and came away with a list of business ideas that I still refer to.
Chris is a story teller, a distributor of wisdom, a connector, a facilitator. Chris helped me with sage advice and coaching calls at multiple points in my career. If that sounds like someone you want to help you as well (he is!), you’ll be pleased to know Chris Lema provides business coaching.
The WP Business Mastermind group
I had been hearing for years that a mastermind group was a huge help for people running businesses. I had been in a couple attempts at mastermind groups before, but they fizzled out. I was determined to try again and I reached out to a few people I knew (and knew of). It turned out they also had been wanting to be part of a mastermind group.
The WP Business Mastermind is comprised of (in alphabetical order by last name) Jack Arturo of WP Fusion, Chris Badgett of LifterLMS, Jason Coleman of Paid Memberships Pro, Daniel Iser of Content Control and Popup Maker, Katie Keith of Barn2, and James Kemp previously of IconicWP (now of Woo). They’re great people and good business owners.
For nearly 5 years, we have met on Zoom fortnightly, chatted on Slack daily, and gotten to know each other better. We have become friends, spending lots of time together when we go to events like WordCamp Asia. Without the mastermind, I would feel more alone as a business owner, in WordPress, and as a person.
Dr. Juniper Katz
During the first decade of our relationship, my wife Juniper was working actual jobs, bringing in regular paycheks. While Juniper was supporting both of us, I was doing website work that came in fits-and-starts. Juniper believed in me and was patient while I was developing my nascent business. It was a wonderful coincidence that GravityView launched just as Juniper was starting her life as a PhD student: now I was able to reciprocate by supporting her.
Juniper is now Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
The next ten years
WordPress is changing. AI is transforming the web. Nothing is certain. Yet, I’m as optimistic as ever: by focusing on delivering customers what they need while prioritizing team happiness, more good things are sure to come.
Thanks to all who have helped me along the way and for everyone who has been part of GravityKit’s success. I am grateful.
