Meet John Eckman, 10up CEO

John Eckman on March 17, 2014 • 8 Comments

Hi. I’m John Eckman and I’m truly honored to officially join team 10up today as CEO.

Jake Goldman will continue as President & Founder, and we will work closely together, as well as with the strong leadership team already in place, especially VP’s Jess Jurick and Vasken Hauri, as well as Directors Helen Hou-Sandi, John James Jacoby, Paul Clark, Taylor Aldridge, and Zach Brown. It’s truly an all-star team up and down the roster at 10up, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of it.

In broad strokes, Jake will focus on product development, recruiting, partnerships, business development, and company vision, while I will be more focused on operational management, client relationships, talent development, and execution against that vision.

Jake and the team have accomplished much over the last 3+ years, and I hope to continue that tradition of excellence while bringing additional processes and organizational development approaches appropriate to a growing firm.

I’ve spent the past 15+ years working in professional services agencies on digital strategy, user experience design, and software engineering, with a focus on content management, web publishing, and social. Short version: TVisions (which became Molecular, which became Isobar), PixelMEDIA, Optaros, and ISITE Design. (Long version: see LinkedIn).

Over the course of that career I’ve worked with clients across many industries and sizes, from early-stage startups to the Fortune 50, as well as higher education and the non-profit sector. I’ve had the opportunity to work as a user experience manager, a technical architect, a project manager (and program manager), an account director and a strategy lead. I’ve worn most of the hats one can wear at a digital agency (other than visual designer, a fact that may be reasonably inferred from my own personal sites), and love nothing more than working with a team to solve a client problem or exceed a client expectation.

I’ve been focused on open source (primarily WordPress and Drupal) for the last 8 years, most visibly as one of the organizers of WordCamp Boston, but also via plugins and talks at WordCamps (New York, Providence, and Boston) and DrupalCamps (Montréal, Western Mass, Connecticut, Boston). I’ve also presented at many content management conferences outside of the WordPress community: Gilbane, Confab Higher Ed, CMS Expo, etc).

I truly believe in the mission of the WordPress project (to democratize publishing) and believe WordPress is the best platform available for organizations focused on publishing digital content. I hope to continue 10up’s tradition of commitment to the community and the project while also bringing the platform (and the firm) into new conversations and opportunities.

Jake and I first met in 2009 at WordCamp NY, as we started early planning for what would become WordCamp Boston 2010, and we’ve had many great discussions & debates about content management and digital strategy over the last 4+ years. I’ve watched 10up grow from one employee to over sixty, and build an incredible reputation for quality delivery while growing at an impressive pace. We’ve often talked about when conditions would be right for me to join 10up, and I’m happy to say that time is now.

Editorial note from Jake: I’ve been considering candidates for a Chief Executive for over 1 year. I’ve always been a fierce advocate of hiring talent better at specific needs than one’s self. Many, if not most, of the engineers at 10up are better developers than me. Our Senior Strategists are better project managers. I’m not even in the same ballpark as our designers. I also knew that there are better operational executives. I feel an obligation to the amazing talent that works at 10up, and was resolute in seeking a candidate as formidable in this role as the rest of our team. John brings a length and depth of agency leadership, enterprise account management, and operational experience that rivals the best agency leaders in the world. Combined with his open source affinity, applied experience with WordPress and its community, and thought leadership in our space, and the choice was incredibly clear. I couldn’t be more thrilled to work closely with John in the months and years ahead.