10up Hires CEO To Help Take Company To The Next Level

WordPress development agency 10up has hired John Eckman to take on the role of CEO. Eckman will work closely with Goldman and team leaders on the day-to-day operations of the company. Jake Goldman will remain as president and will focus on the products, strategic investments, and business development side of the company.

Eckman has spent the last 15 years in the CMS ecosystem with five different companies both in the open-source and non open-source space. Before 10up, he worked for iSite Design, a company that has a portfolio filled with companies from start-ups to non-profits to fortune 25 industry leaders.

Removing Obstacles To Enable More Efficient Employees

In the short-term, Eckman will observe how the company functions, locate growing pains and determine any obstacles he can remove to help employees become more efficient. Sometimes, a hiring like this can lead to immediate and drastic changes but Eckman wants the transition to be as smooth as possible. He doesn’t want to change the company culture if it’s working. Longer term, he wants to “Make the team as efficient as possible. Remove non-productive frustrations and empower employees to be as productive as possible“.

Executing The Vision

The hiring enables 10up to continue growing and to take on bigger projects. However, Eckman noted he wants to see the company continue to take on smaller more nimble projects. The goal is to have a wide-ranging portfolio showcasing the strengths of the company no matter how small or large the project. When I asked Eckman to summarize his position in the company, he said, “Jake will drive the vision, I’ll execute it“.

Also check out Brian Krogsgard’s hour long interview where he sat down and talked to Jake Goldman and 10up’s new CEO John Eckman.