Episode 77 – Mark Somehow Talks Donnacha Through a Live On-Air Breakdown

Mark Zahra of RebelCode and Donnacha MacGloinn of RedPen take a break from battling the forces of darkness and discuss the best steps to take if you want to make a living as a coder in the WordPress world.

The hidden benefits of managing a plugin project, including the level of seniority at which it is acceptable to shout and call the developers “code monkeys”.

The advantages and disadvantages of selling plugins through a marketplace.

Tectonic shifts in the world of WordPress marketplaces.

How a platform owner can play nice when deciding to close down their third-party marketplace.

Why acquisition feels a bit like pimping your own mother.

Reactions to the massive WordPress switch from React.

The best alternative Javascript frameworks, from the point of vue of Mark’s developers.

Why it might be a good idea to have Mark Zuckerberg on your side when you’re mugged by patent trolls.

Donnacha coerces Mark into making a big money bet with complicated terms.

ThemeForest and CodeCanyon are crack cocaine for WordPress beginners.

Trying to teach Web Design to a millennial.

What Envato teaches us about the importance of making your products shiny, rather than functional.

Why Mark, unlike the owners of Envato, is an idealist and will, as a result, die penniless.

Jean Galea’s advice to Donnacha to avoid creating a product that requires support, and why RebelCode are completely ignoring that insight with their upcoming blockbuster bookings plugin.

How, instead of making your own plugin, you could make more money by charging exorbitant amounts for customizations of someone else’s plugin.

How to approach an existing plugin owner and ask them to refer customization clients to you, and how that might actually land you a full-time lead developer job.

A sneak peak at an upcoming episode in which an actual owner will reveal THE INSIDE DIRT on running a marketplace, while flopping about as naked as the day he was born. Bring whiskey.