Zero BS CRM

What is ZBS CRM Jetpack CRM?

Jetpack CRM is a WordPress plugin which adds a substantial Contact Relationship Management potential to your WordPress install.

It’s founding principle was a ‘no nonsense’ approach to small business, (hence the ‘Zero BS CRM’ name), which I coined to make it stand out from the meagre competitors who all had bloated, over complex systems. To stay true to this, we built it out as a single core ‘free’ CRM, with 30+ extensions (each an individual plugin which supplemented the core). This DIY approach reduced bloat and kept things streamlined (which all small businesses benefit from). This is now the market standard, but back then WordPress offerings were often cumbersome.

Today it’s called Jetpack CRM and sits in Automattic’s Jetpack selection of plugins (as it’s own plugin).

How did ZBS CRM get started?

I had been making WordPress plugins for some years, for profit and for fun. When consulting for my dad, who runs a small construction business I realised that while many of his systems were slick and business-promoting, he didn’t really have a CRM.

The problem hit me again and again as we grew ZBS, small businesses often don’t even know they need a CRM, or what the acronym stands for.

I searched the market for him to find a viable solution. There were options ranging from Sales Force (too big, too expensive, too overkill, back then), to self-managed standalone web apps which were at best clunky and expensive. I’d built his website on WordPress, and so I checked for WordPress CRM’s. There were 2. Both managed to be severely lacking whilst also bloated; they had users, but their onboarding, UI, and general workflow awareness was poor at best.

From that I built him a basic CRM in WordPress in a weekend, just to help him out.

It turned out to work quite well, so I teamed up with my previous co-founder @mikestottwp and we made a serious business out of it.

How long did you work on ZBS CRM?

I first uploaded an MVP made in a weekend on 18th June 2016 and worked on it for the next 7 years, most of the time. I led development through 4 major versions, and worked with Mike to steer the company in a way true to it’s original concept.

At first this was as a scrappy 2 person startup with Mike Stott, but as we grew we hired contractors, and later ended up selling the company to Automattic, (WordPress.com). I worked on Jetpack CRM (as it became called) for 3 years at Automattic, but then decided to move on to new projects.

Where is Jetpack CRM today?

Jetpack CRM today remains in essence much the same as it did before it was acquired, (though with a far cleaner codebase thanks to the likes of Thomas Bradshaw). It’s a very usable Free CRM plugin for WordPress with optional extensions which supercharge various aspects and workflows.

I hope to see Jetpack CRM continue to be developed at Automattic, where I think there remains plenty of opportunities for it, both as a business, and an impactful tool to help fledgling businesses scale.

Photos from the road

WordCamp Manchester was one of the first events me and Mike attended as ZBS CRM. I’ll always remember it fondly.

… we were already looking for awesome engineers. Mike should have written this, with my handwriting as it is…

Here’s a diagram of our early plans for ZBS CRM, attempting to ring fence MVP v2.0 features and fight bloat.

Some early growth graphs…

Here’s our ZBS CRM mascot, Bullie. I think he helped cement the brand with customers. Here I’ve laser cut us out some classic Bullie.

Berlin WordCamp, just before we sold to Automattic.

Our first (and last) Automattic Grand meetup.

I celebrated selling the company a bunch of ways, but first I enjoyed this superb mezcal 😀