About
The professional summary.
Jake Goldman founded 10up, an agency that made finely crafted, easy-to-manage websites, mostly on WordPress, and merged it into Fueled in 2023, where he still advises on strategy, helps with content, and takes on the occasional special project. The rest of his time goes to building open source software and writing about technology and the business of digital services.
He has been building for the web since the 1990s. He founded 10up in 2011 and, over the next twelve years, grew it to nearly 300 people and more than $40 million in annual revenue, without an office. Its teams worked with organizations including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Harvard, with flagship projects including the 2021 relaunch of WhiteHouse.gov and Google's Site Kit.
Contributing to the open web was part of the business from the beginning, through WordPress core contributions, free plugins, and tools used by millions. Jake is a WordPress core contributor himself, has written for Smashing Magazine, taught web development at Boston University, and spoken at conferences across the country.
In 2023 he merged 10up with Fueled and helped lead the integration before stepping back from full-time executive leadership in early 2025. He still works with the team on strategy, editorial work, and selected technology and operations projects.
His recent projects include the official WordPress Browser Extension for Chrome and Safari and Auto Release Posts for GitHub. AI has become central to how he builds, opening up projects that would previously have required substantially more time or a larger team. That practical experience also informs his writing and speaking about how AI changes the economics of digital services, from what it costs to make something to what clients should expect for their money.
He lives in Roseville, California.
About
The rest of the story.
I grew up in southern New England and went to the University of Rhode Island, where I studied software, business, film, and economics, in roughly that order of seriousness. I get back east whenever I can.
Home is now northern California with my wife, Michele, and our daughter. Michele has made me a more worldly, well-rounded person. Our daughter inspires me and is growing up much too fast. Michele gets most of the credit.
I'm a gadget geek with a particular affection for home automation and a low tolerance for things that almost work. If something in my house won't talk to the rest of the house, there's a reasonable chance I'll end up writing the bridge myself. That's how the air purifier and robot vacuum ended up in HomeKit. Small annoyances have a way of becoming projects.
I love a good drive and a good movie, especially cerebral science fiction or something a little surreal. A home theater that does it justice helps.
I'm infamously opinionated about technology, policy, economics, and the state of the world. I have no opinions about sports, which I consider a public service.
For twelve years, all my creative energy went into building a company. I still care deeply about it and the people carrying it forward. Since stepping back from day-to-day leadership, I've been seeing more of the world, making a few investments here and there, and following ideas that never made anyone's roadmap. AI has made many more of those ideas practical to pursue, and I'm making good use of that.
Give me a coffee shop with the right atmosphere, reliable Wi-Fi, and a good matcha, preferably with some inventive twist on the menu, and I can happily settle in for hours. Especially when there are no meetings on the calendar.