WP Legends is a weekly interview podcast with the founders, builders, executives and operators shaping the WordPress ecosystem. Hosted by Jake Geller.https://wplegends.tv/en-ushttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/172-zach-aufort/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/172-zach-aufort/In WP Legends Episode 172, Zach Aufort shares his path from working at a data center in high school to seven years in the US Army as an explosive ordnance disposal technician, and now leading performance and security as Performance Services Manager at BigScoots, the Chicago managed WordPress host built around human support. They dig into how BigScoots' Optimization Pro audits and fixes Core Web Vitals issues, how Cloudflare edge caching works alongside plugins like WP Rocket, what it takes to migrate agencies with hundreds of sites, why Zach thinks "managed hosting" has become a loose term, and why he'd add two-factor authentication to WordPress core.Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingPerformancehttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/171-freddy-schiwek/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/171-freddy-schiwek/In WP Legends Episode 171, Freddy Schiwek shares his path from publishing a Commodore 64 magazine as a teenager to EuroDNS and Domain Invest, then building hosting.co.uk into a hosting business he sold to World Host Group, and now working on marketing and acquisitions at Namespace Group, including hosting.de. They dig into why Luxembourg punches above its weight in internet infrastructure, how an exact-match domain became a hosting business, what sellers should prepare before an acquisition, why buying a client base can be faster than acquiring customers one by one, what sets hosting.de apart in Germany, why data sovereignty matters for hosting, and why he thinks AI is making it easier than ever to become an entrepreneur.Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTDomainsHostingLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/170-ross-morsali/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/170-ross-morsali/In WP Legends Episode 170, Ross Morsali shares how Search & Filter grew from a free plugin he built to scratch his own itch while running a London agency into a business with tens of thousands of active installs. They dig into what faceted search actually means, why he rebuilt the search engine again for version 3.2 and how AI deep research helped him roughly double its performance, how many posts WordPress search can realistically handle, and why he believes AI search won't remove the need for on-site filtering. They also cover the plugin's roadmap, whether new plugins should still launch with a free tier, and his advice for anyone starting out in WordPress today.Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTPlugins & ThemesAIPerformanceSEOAgencieshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/169-ukasz-gawior/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/169-ukasz-gawior/In WP Legends Episode 169, Łukasz Gawior shares his path from hosting Counter-Strike game servers as a teenager to building and selling two web hosting businesses in Poland, co-founding the industry outlet WebHosting.today, and launching AdminBolt, a flat-per-server control panel built to take on cPanel and Plesk. They dig into why legacy panels charging per account punish hosts for growing, what it actually took to get independent hosting companies to switch, why Łukasz built AdminBolt's WhatsApp integration specifically for hosts in Africa, and why he believes the real threat to traditional hosting isn't Wix or Squarespace anymore, it's Cloudflare and Vercel.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/168-nadya-frost/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/168-nadya-frost/In WP Legends Episode 168, Nadya Frost shares her journey through two decades of European digital infrastructure, from GoDaddy's EMEA commercial team through the Host Europe Group acquisition, to COO of one.com, before leaving last year to co-found ShareShift, a market intelligence platform that reads DNS and server signals across more than 55 million European domains. They dig into why hosting companies are so aggressive about acquiring each other in a saturated market, what ShareShift's data actually shows about who's winning the AI arms race in Europe, why domain activation rates are rising fast as AI makes it easier to launch a site, and whether traditional hosting providers risk losing ground to all-in-one platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and Lovable.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIDomainsLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/167-rae-morey/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/167-rae-morey/In WP Legends Episode 167, Rae Morey shares her journey from laying out a 20-cent community newsletter by hand at age 14 in rural Tasmania to becoming Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Repository, the independent news publication she quietly ran nights and weekends for five years before finally going full-time after WordCamp Asia 2024 in Taipei. They dig into what it took to keep an independent WordPress newsroom alive through a newborn, a pandemic, and a full-time career, why she built The Repository around working with up to 10 sponsors at once instead of just one, and why she believes the WordPress ecosystem, now powering over 40% of the web, still doesn't have enough serious journalism covering it.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMTCommunity & Mediahttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/166-michael-riedl/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/166-michael-riedl/In WP Legends Episode 166, Michael Riedl shares his journey from registering his first domain in 1997 to becoming CEO of Team Internet, the technology company that quietly powers domain registration for GoDaddy, Squarespace, and hosting giants in over 200 countries — timed right as the first new top-level domain application window in 14 years just closed with over 1,600 applicants. They dig into why trusted digital identity becomes more valuable, not less, as AI agents start doing the browsing and buying, how brands are leaving billions in fraud prevention on the table by not securing their own top-level domains, why Gen Z trusts non-.com domains far more than older generations do, and what Michael would change about the new gTLD application rules if he could.Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMTDomainsHostingMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/165-thomas-medard/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/165-thomas-medard/In WP Legends Episode 165, Thomas Medard shares his journey from co-founding the Danish hosting company B1 (later renamed 1.com) to launching AI Vikings, an MCP-first domain registrar built for AI agents to search, register, and manage domains on a human's behalf. They explore what it took to land 1.com's first 1,000 customers in the early 2000s, why building credibility for a new TLD takes over a decade, the legal question of whether an AI agent can ever be a domain registrant, and why Thomas is betting AI Vikings' entire roadmap on tools for agents instead of a traditional browser-based buying experience.Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMTDomainsHostinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/164-narek-torosyan/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/164-narek-torosyan/In WP Legends Episode 164, Narek Torosyan shares his journey from customer care agent to CEO of 10Web, a company that pivoted from managed WordPress hosting to one of the first AI website builders on the market, and has since rebuilt its entire product as a fully agentic, WordPress-native builder. They dig into what "agentic" actually means versus a chatbot bolted onto a builder, how agencies should respond when a competitor undercuts them using AI, why hosting companies now have to bundle domains, SSL, and builder tools by default or risk losing their customer base, and where Narek sees WordPress and the open web heading by 2030.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMTPage BuildersAIHostingDomainsAgenciesOpen sourcehttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/163-alexander-juarez/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/163-alexander-juarez/In WP Legends Episode 163, Alexander Juárez shares his journey from B2B market intelligence to leading customer success at GreenGeeks, the independent, founder-led hosting company that matches 300% of its energy use with renewable energy credits. They explore what green hosting actually means in practice, why WordPress agencies are increasingly asking for renewable energy certificates, how GreenGeeks manages retention and pricing transparency, and what staying independent in a private equity-consolidated hosting market really means for customers.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAgenciesMonetizationhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/162-ben-pines/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/162-ben-pines/In WP Legends Episode 162, Ben Pines shares his journey from SEO and affiliate marketing to becoming the first marketer at Elementor and later building BeSeenByAI. They explore why getting cited by AI tools may soon matter more than traditional backlinks, the technical mistakes that make websites invisible to AI crawlers, and how generic AI-written content is quietly hurting brand trust.Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMTSEO & MarketingAIPage buildershttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/161-raitis-sevelis/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/161-raitis-sevelis/In this episode of WP Legends, Raitis Sevelis returns to the show to talk about WPBakery 9.0, the biggest release in the product's 15-year history. Raitis has led WPBakery as Head of Product since December 2013 and also lectures on AI, digital marketing, and e-commerce at Riga Nordic University. They dig into WPBakery's redesigned CSS loading system and why it makes sites faster without developers lifting a finger, the new developer attributes built for professionals and AI alike, why WPBakery honors lifetime licenses while introducing Support Plus as a sustainable subscription model, and why Raitis believes page builders and AI should work with developers rather than replace them. They also cover WPBakery's commitment to smaller WordCamps and local communities, and where Raitis sees WordPress heading five years from now.Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMTPage BuildersAIWooCommerceCommunityMonetizationMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/160-graeme-inglis/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/160-graeme-inglis/In this episode of WP Legends, Graeme Inglis shares his journey from international business and channel marketing at Vin Magic to leading strategic partnerships at bunny.net, one of the fastest, most developer-loved content delivery and edge platforms in the world. They explore what a CDN actually does in plain terms, why bot traffic now outweighs human traffic across the internet, how a single bot farm can quietly drive up a hosting bill by thousands of dollars, where WordPress fits into an AI-first web, and what most companies get wrong when building partnerships meant to last.Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIPerformanceServerlessMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/159-michael-pearce/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/159-michael-pearce/In WP Legends Episode 159, Michael (Mike) Pearce shares his journey from 18 years in hosting infrastructure and VPS management at Server Mania to building Hosting Verified, an independent community-driven review platform designed to bring honesty and transparency to an industry dominated by affiliate incentives, paid placements, and undisclosed commissions. They explore why cheap hosting is never actually cheap, who is accountable when websites break or get hacked, the education gap in the hosting industry, what an honest review ecosystem looks like in five years, and why Michael is building a WHMCS module to verify reviews directly from hosting data.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingCommunityhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/158-neycho-tepavicharov/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/158-neycho-tepavicharov/In WP Legends Episode 158, Neycho Tepavicharov shares his journey from SiteGround sales rep in 2006 to co-founding TMD Hosting, where he spent 17 years as COO helping scale one of the most recognised brands in the hosting industry. After selling TMD in 2024, he launched Flashcloud, a founder-led hosting company built around transparent pricing, human support, free domains for life, and handcrafted WordPress websites included from day one. They explore what is broken in the hosting industry today, how AI helped build Flashcloud in a fraction of the time, the future of WordPress and WooCommerce hosting, why cPanel is becoming a problem for hosting providers, and whether companies like Flashcloud need to compete with Vercel and Netlify.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIWooCommerceDomainsMonetizationMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/157-garrett-bryan/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/157-garrett-bryan/In WP Legends Episode 157, Garrett Bryan shares his journey from building websites for nonprofits to leading product strategy at one of the web's most trusted hosting companies. They explore what separates winning hosting providers today, how InMotion is approaching AI without replacing human support, the future of shared hosting, WordPress vs emerging frameworks, and why retention begins at acquisition, not cancellation.Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAILeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/156-aleksandar-vucenovic/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/156-aleksandar-vucenovic/In WP Legends Episode 156, Aleksandar Vucenovic shares his journey about performance marketing, conversion tracking, and data-driven growth for e-commerce. They explore how accurate tracking impacts profitability in WooCommerce stores, the challenges of attribution across platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok, and how AI is changing both marketing and development workflows. LinksThu, 25 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTAgenciesAIWooCommercePerformanceMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/155-mark-bacsko/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/155-mark-bacsko/In WP Legends Episode 155, Mark Bacsko shares his journey from customer success to Chief Product Officer at BitNinja and discusses the evolution of website security in the WordPress ecosystem. We discuss BitNinja’s security network, AI-generated malware, WordPress security challenges, hosting best practices, PhantomGuard, DDoS protection, website performance, and the future of WordPress in an AI-first world.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTSecurityAIHostingPerformancehttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/154-casey-burridge/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/154-casey-burridge/In WP Legends Episode 154, Casey Burridge, Strategic Growth & Operations Manager at GravityKit, shares how GravityKit helps users turn Gravity Forms into powerful WordPress applications, directories, dashboards, workflows, and reporting systems. We discuss Casey’s journey at GravityKit, how GravityView, GravityBoard, GravityExport, and GravityMath support different use cases, and why agencies, freelancers, and businesses rely on GravityKit to build without custom code. We also dive into AI, MCPs, automated testing, customer support, product growth, SaaS models, and where WordPress may be heading as AI-native workflows become more common across the ecosystem.Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTPlugins & ThemesAIAgenciesMonetizationMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/153-niels-arts/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/153-niels-arts/In WP Legends Episode 153, Niels Arts, Co-Founder of Clonable, shares how businesses can expand websites across countries and languages faster. We discuss multilingual WordPress, AI translation, global SEO, localization, Google Search Console setup, and the future of international e-commerce. Niels also explains why localization goes beyond direct translation and how businesses can use multilingual websites to grow in new markets.Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTSaaS & ToolsAIWooCommerceSEOMultilingualhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/152-corey-hammond/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/152-corey-hammond/In WP Legends Episode 152, Corey Hammond shares his journey across SEO, hosting, digital marketing, and growth leadership, including his role as CMO at HostPapa. We discuss HostPapa, customer retention, hosting differentiation, AI website building, WordPress, WooCommerce vs Shopify, customer acquisition, affiliate marketing, and the future of hosting. Corey also shares his thoughts on trusted WordPress plugins, paid media, AI tools, and why Obsidian has become part of his daily workflow.Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIWooCommerceSEOPluginsMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/151-gerasimos-mourelatos/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/151-gerasimos-mourelatos/In WP Legends Episode 151, Gerasimos Mourelatos shares his journey from manually cleaning infected WordPress sites to building security products, malware response systems, and threat intelligence tools for the WordPress ecosystem. We discuss WordPress malware, abandoned plugins, SudoWP, IntelHunt, AI-generated attacks, hosting security, password risks, managed WordPress gaps, and why proactive maintenance matters more than ever.Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTSecurityAIHostingPluginshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/150-mathieu-lamiot/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/150-mathieu-lamiot/In WP Legends Episode 150, Mathieu Lamiot shares his journey from fintech engineering to leading WordPress engineering at the group. one, including practical tips for improving your own WordPress projects. We discuss AI in WordPress, performance, SEO, MCP, observability, CDN challenges, plugin compatibility, engineering culture, and why better guidance can make WordPress easier to maintain.Fri, 29 May 2026 12:00:00 GMTPerformanceAISEOPluginshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/149-james-kemp/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/149-james-kemp/In WP Legends Episode 149, James Kemp shares his journey from freelance WordPress developer to founder of IconicWP and now Core Product Manager for WooCommerce at Automattic. We discuss AI native e-commerce, developer experience, MCP, checkout optimization, WooCommerce performance, and why simplifying the store experience matters for the future of WordPress commerce.Tue, 26 May 2026 12:00:00 GMTeCommerceAIWooCommercePerformanceAgencieshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/148-marcus-kramer/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/148-marcus-kramer/In WP Legends Episode 148, Marcus Krämer shares how HostPress built a strong reputation in Germany’s highly competitive hosting market through performance, customer trust, and managed WordPress services. We discuss managed hosting, AI in infrastructure, WordPress performance, caching, malware prevention, pricing mistakes hosting companies make, and why customer support still matters in an AI-driven web.Tue, 19 May 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAISecurityPerformanceMonetizationLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/147-raquel-manriquez/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/147-raquel-manriquez/In WP Legends Episode 147, Raquel Manriquez Founder of Wonderland Curious and PressConf shares how she built PressConf into one of the most respected community-focused events in WordPress. We discuss smaller curated events, AI’s impact on WordPress, Gen Z, hosting, community building, and what the future of the ecosystem could look like.Wed, 13 May 2026 12:00:00 GMTCommunity & MediaAIHostinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/146-chris-pennington/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/146-chris-pennington/In WP Legends Episode 146, Chris Pennington shares how Resend is making email infrastructure simpler and more developer friendly. We discuss React Email, Resend CLI 2.0, AI workflows, deliverability, WordPress SMTP challenges, and why email still needs a modern developer experience built for developers first.Fri, 08 May 2026 12:00:00 GMTSaaS & ToolsAIhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/145-jared-rethman/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/145-jared-rethman/In WP Legends Episode 145, Jared Rethman, Founder of Worldhouse and WP Signal, shares his journey from Automattic to building independent tools for the WordPress ecosystem. We discuss real time systems, Rust powered development, headless workflows, and what the future of WordPress and modern web tooling could look like.Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:00 GMTSaaS & ToolsEnterpriseLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/144-tony-baird/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/144-tony-baird/In WP Legends Episode 144, Tony Baird, CEO of Hawk Host, shares how he built an independent hosting company through reliability, fair pricing, strong infrastructure, and customer trust. We discuss the future of shared hosting, WordPress security, plugin bloat, AI in hosting, and why independent hosts can still compete by staying simple, honest, and customer focused.Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAISecurityPluginsMonetizationhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/143-arnas-donauskas/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/143-arnas-donauskas/🔗 Get Hostinger with 85% OFF + 10% EXTRA using code WPLEGENDS: https://hostinger.com/wplegends In WP Legends Episode 143, Arnas Donauskas, Product Manager at Hostinger, shares how real user feedback shapes better hosting products. From customer support to product, his journey brings a unique perspective on understanding user frustrations and turning them into meaningful features. We discuss modern development workflows, designing for both beginners and advanced users, what “unlimited” really means, and why building hosting products is more complex than typical SaaS.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingMonetizationhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/142-milan-savov/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/142-milan-savov/In WP Legends Episode 142, Milan Savov, Founder of Smartclick, shares how he went from a WordPress freelancer to building a growth focused agency helping B2B SaaS companies turn traffic into real revenue. We discuss SEO as a long term growth engine, the shift toward AI driven search, and why most founders focus on traffic instead of outcomes. Milan also breaks down client expectations, competitive keywords, and how to think about SEO as a compounding business asset.Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTSEO & MarketingAIPerformanceAgenciesMonetizationhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/141-jeffrey-gabriel/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/141-jeffrey-gabriel/In WP Legends Episode 141, Jeffrey Gabriel, Founder and CEO of Saw.com, joins us to explain why domains are far more than just URLs. With over $550M in domain transactions across Sedo, Uniregistry, Igloo.com, and Saw.com, Jeff brings a deep perspective on digital identity, branding, and long-term business value. We dive into why .com still leads, how .ai is reshaping buyer behavior, and when founders and agencies should start taking domain strategy seriously from day one.Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTDomainsAgenciesMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/140-alex-borto/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/140-alex-borto/In WP Legends Episode 140, Alex Borto, Founder of WPMarmite, shares how he built one of the most trusted WordPress education platforms in the French-speaking world. From publishing consistent, high-quality tutorials to building a loyal community, Alex breaks down what it really takes to grow a content-driven platform in WordPress. We dive into beginner challenges, why WordPress can feel overwhelming at first, and how simplifying the learning experience creates long-term trust. We also explore SEO, multilingual growth, and how WP Marmite expanded beyond France to reach a global audience. As AI continues to reshape content and publishing, Alex shares his honest perspective on what this means for tutorials, creators, and the future of WordPress education.Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTCommunity & MediaAISEOMultilingualMarketinghttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/139-jeff-golenski/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/139-jeff-golenski/In WP Legends Episode 139, Jeff Golenski, Principal Designer and Product Manager at Automattic, joins us to break down what it really means to design for millions of users and simplify complex experiences across WordPress products. We dive into how AI is transforming product workflows, why human intuition still plays a critical role in design, what agencies truly need from WordPress and WooCommerce, and how better onboarding can drive adoption at scale.Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTDesignAIWooCommerceAgencieshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/138-brian-gardner/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/138-brian-gardner/In WP Legends Episode 138, Brian Gardner, Head of Community at WP Engine, joins us to talk about WordPress design, block themes, AI, and the evolution of the ecosystem. We dive into the Genesis era, the shift to Gutenberg, AI’s role in design and content, and why community continues to be at the core of WordPress. Brian also shares his perspective on where WordPress is headed over the next few years.Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAICommunityPage buildersDesignhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/137-syrus-akbary-nieto/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/137-syrus-akbary-nieto/In WP Legends Episode 137, Syrus Akbary Nieto joins us to explore WebAssembly, serverless infrastructure, and the future of hosting in an AI driven world. He shares how Wasmer is redefining how applications run across browsers, servers, and the edge, and why WebAssembly could become a powerful alternative to traditional containers. We also dive into WordPress hosting, PHP, headless setups, AI generated apps, and how infrastructure is evolving as more people start building software.Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIEnterpriseServerlesshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/136-benjamin-zekavica/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/136-benjamin-zekavica/In WP Legends Episode 136, Benjamin Zekavica, WordPress core contributor, 2025 core team rep, and founder of Unleash WP and Kreo Pulse, joins us for a deep dive into WordPress leadership, AI, and the future of core. He shares how he started with WordPress at just 11 years old, his journey into core contributions, and what it really means to represent the global core team. We also explore AI workflows, Gutenberg, headless WordPress, and the key skills professionals need as the ecosystem rapidly evolves.Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTCommunity & MediaAIOpen sourceEnterprisePage buildersLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/135-quintin-russ/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/135-quintin-russ/In WP Legends Episode 135, Quintin Russ, Co Founder of Web Slice, shares how Web Slice is redefining hosting for modern PHP applications through serverless infrastructure, measurable performance, and greater transparency. We explore serverless PHP, PHP Vitals, hardware performance, pricing transparency, uptime claims, and the reality of shared vs cloud hosting. The conversation also dives into what truly matters when choosing infrastructure for WordPress workloads today.Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingPerformanceServerlessMonetizationhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/134-goncalo-lourenco/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/134-goncalo-lourenco/In WP Legends Episode 134, Gonçalo Lourenço, Head of Cloud DevOps and R&D at Namecheap/Spaceship, shares how his team approaches the invisible work that keeps hosting platforms reliable at scale. From infrastructure and automation to incident response and delivery speed, his role sits at the intersection of DevOps, R&D, and platform trust. We explore EasyWP, Spaceship, managed WordPress hosting, malware detection, abuse prevention, AI-assisted development, and where hosting is heading next. The conversation also dives into abstraction in hosting, why users shouldn’t have to worry about infrastructure, and how AI is transforming the way teams build, ship, and scale products.Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAISecurityPerformancehttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/133-freek-van-der-herten/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/133-freek-van-der-herten/In WP Legends Episode 133, Freek Van der Herten, Co-founder of Oh Dear and core member of Spatie, shares his journey from open source development to building a trusted monitoring platform used by developers and agencies worldwide. We explore Laravel in the AI era, why its clean architecture works well with AI, and where to start with hosting using tools like Laravel Cloud and Laravel Forge. The conversation also dives into monitoring, infrastructure reliability, and how AI is changing the way we build and manage applications.Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTSaaS & ToolsAIHostingAgenciesOpen sourcehttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/132-jason-agnew/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/132-jason-agnew/In WP Legends Episode 132, Jason Agnew, Co-founder & CTO of Big Bite, shares how Big Bite evolved from a small agency into a trusted WordPress partner for major publishing organizations. Now part of WP Engine, that experience is shaping the future of publishing platforms. We dive into legacy media stacks, newsroom workflows, AI in publishing, headless WordPress, and what smaller publishers should focus on when building from scratch. A clear look at how publishing infrastructure is evolving in an AI-driven world.Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTAgenciesAIEnterpriseLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/131-matt-cromwell/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/131-matt-cromwell/In WP Legends Episode 131, Matt Cromwell, Founder and CGO of Roots & Fruit, shares lessons from building and scaling WordPress products. From GiveWP to advising product teams today, he brings a clear perspective on product growth, customer experience, and long-term strategy. We dive into product-market fit, customer feedback loops, north star metrics, and product-led growth, along with what WordPress companies need to focus on in an AI-driven market. The conversation also explores scaling challenges, support as a growth lever, and what types of products will succeed in the coming years.Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTAgenciesAIMarketingLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/130-seb-de-lemos/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/130-seb-de-lemos/In WP Legends Episode 130, Seb de Lemos, CEO of @wearehostingcom shares how he went from accidentally getting into hosting to building and scaling global infrastructure that powers millions of websites. With experience across product, platforms, operations, and acquisitions, he brings a clear perspective on what it really takes to build a hosting company people trust at scale. We dive into the real mechanics of scaling a global hosting brand, why stability matters more than chasing every new trend, and how Hosting.com is approaching AI hosting and Open Cloud. The conversation also covers the future of shared hosting, the continued growth of WordPress, expansion into markets like Bangladesh, and what Seb looks for when acquiring hosting companies.Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIMarketingLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/129-todd-han/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/129-todd-han/In WP Legends Episode 129, Todd Han, Founder, President, and CEO of Dynadot, shares how a simple request to build a website for his mother led to the creation of one of the most trusted domain registrars in the world. Starting as a solo founder in 2002, Todd built Dynadot from scratch with a focus on user experience, customer control, and long-term sustainability in an industry shaped by consolidation and complexity. We dive into the early days of domain registration, how Dynadot scaled from a one-person operation to a global company managing millions of domains, and why Todd chose to stay independent instead of taking outside capital. The conversation also explores pricing in the registrar business, domain investor behavior, ICANN policy, the 2026 TLD round, decentralized domain names, and what people should actually look for before buying a domain beyond just price.Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTDomainsMonetizationLeadershipDesignhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/128-thomas-raef/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/128-thomas-raef/In WP Legends Episode 128, Thomas Raef, Owner of WeWatchYourWebsite, shares his journey from programming in the early 1970s to building one of the most deeply informed website security platforms in the WordPress ecosystem. From the IBM PC era and the Melissa virus to modern malware detection, Thomas explains how his obsession with root cause analysis, automation, and proactive defense shaped decades of work protecting websites at scale. We dive into how WeWatchYourWebsite evolved from early security appliances into a real-time website monitoring platform, why hackers increasingly target authentication rather than core vulnerabilities, and how Thomas trained a purpose-built AI malware engine on hundreds of thousands of malware samples. The conversation also explores why WordPress is safer today despite facing more attacks than ever, why server-level protection matters more than plugin-level scanning, and what hosting companies should be doing when infected sites are used to attack others.Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTSecurityAIHostingPluginshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/127-darcy-kurtz/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/127-darcy-kurtz/In WP Legends Episode 127, Darcy Kurtz, Chief Marketing Officer at WP Engine, shares her journey from Dell to leading global marketing at companies like Mailchimp, OutSystems, BentoBox, and now WP Engine. With deep experience across SaaS, platform businesses, developer ecosystems, and enterprise growth, she offers a powerful perspective on scaling marketing in a rapidly evolving landscape. We explore what modern go-to-market strategy really looks like, from global team structures and localization to value-based positioning and the balance between brand and demand. The conversation also dives into AI-driven shifts in search and discovery, marketing efficiency, and key leadership lessons from scaling high-growth organizations.Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIEnterpriseMultilingualMonetizationMarketingLeadershiphttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/126-yuri-gerasymov/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/126-yuri-gerasymov/In WP Legends Episode 126, Yuri Gerasymov, Founder of Diffy, shares why visual regression testing is becoming essential for modern WordPress workflows. From layout shifts and styling issues to broken UI elements, Yuri explains how many critical bugs go unnoticed with manual QA and how teams can move from guesswork to confident releases. We discuss who this is for, how agencies managing multiple websites can benefit, and the real cost of missing visual issues in production. The episode also covers false positives, dynamic content challenges, Figma comparisons, migration use cases, and why visual testing directly improves user experience and conversions.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTSaaS & ToolsAgenciesDesignhttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/125-dragos-boroianu/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/125-dragos-boroianu/🔗 Get Hostinger with 85% OFF + 10% EXTRA using code WPLEGENDS: https://hostinger.com/wplegends In WP Legends Episode 125, Dragos Boroianu, Chief Business Officer at ChemiCloud, shares his journey from the front lines of support to helping lead a hosting company built on reliability, human-first service, and strong infrastructure. From handling late-night tickets to managing customer experience at scale, his perspective is shaped by solving real problems where they actually happen. In this episode, we explore what reliable hosting truly means, why support still matters in an AI-driven world, and how ChemiCloud has grown organically by focusing on product quality and customer experience. We also dive into the future of WordPress hosting, the role of AI, plugin quality, security, and why empathy continues to be a key differentiator in great support.Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAISecurityPluginshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/124-paul-carter/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/124-paul-carter/In WP Legends Episode 124, Paul Carter, Co-Founder and CEO of BuiltFast, shares insights into the future of WordPress hosting, serverless infrastructure, and how modern hosting platforms are evolving. With over two decades of experience in the hosting industry and time spent scaling infrastructure at A2 Hosting, Paul explains how BuiltFast and its serverless platform, Vector, are designed to improve performance, scalability, and security for WordPress websites. We also discuss WooCommerce scalability, how agencies are launching their own hosting services, the role of AI in modern development workflows, and what the future of WordPress hosting could look like over the next few years.Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTHostingAIWooCommerceSecurityPerformanceAgencieshttps://wplegends.tv/episodes/123-konrad-keck/https://wplegends.tv/episodes/123-konrad-keck/In WP Legends Episode 123, Konrad Keck, Founder of Konrado.AI, ModulesGarden, PanelAlpha, and EasyDCIM, shares his journey from starting as a programmer in 2009 to building some of the most widely used infrastructure tools in the web hosting industry. Konrad discusses how the hosting industry has evolved over the years, the early days of automation in hosting, and the growth of the WHMCS ecosystem. He also shares insights into the rise of WordPress hosting platforms, why more agencies are launching their own hosting services, and how infrastructure tools are shaping the future of the hosting market. The conversation also dives into AI in customer support, where Konrad explains his philosophy that AI should enhance human teams rather than replace them. Through tools like Konrado.ai, he aims to help support teams become faster, more efficient, and better equipped to serve customers. This episode is packed with insights for WordPress professionals, hosting providers, SaaS founders, and agencies looking to understand where the hosting ecosystem is heading.Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTSaaS & ToolsAIHostingAgenciesMonetizationMarketing