Posted on February 2, 2009 - by Khaled
Matt Mickiewicz or how to survive crashes and recessions before fully thriving
Matt Mickiewicz is the co-founder (along with Mark Harbottle) of the giant Australian online media company, SitePoint.com. SitePoint is growing quite fast since few years now and doesn’t seem to be affected by the recession. Matt, kindly accepted to accord this interview to talk about the huge success of his company and to reveal key points about how SitePoint has become what it is now. Some really great insights and advice to follow if you want your business to fully thrive! This interview will be really inspiring for most of you! Especially if you learn (and this is not a secret) that Matt started the whole thing in a very young age!
-.Hello Matt, Can you introduce yourself?
I’m Matt Mickiewicz, co-founder of SitePoint and 99designs
-.How did it all start for you? What led the jump from Webmaster-Resources.com to sitepoint.com?
It started as a hobby for me. I started compiling useful links & resources related to web development and online marketing back in 1997 and I put it up as a one-page site on Geocities. It quickly gained traction and popularity.On April 1st, when the price of domain name registration at Network Solutions dropped from $100/2 years to $70/2 years, I decided to purchase the domain name Webmaster-Resources.com.Unfortunately, the choice of domain name came to haunt me, as another website occupied WebmasterResources.com (without the hyphen). When WINDOWS Magazine – with 1 million subscribers – did a write-up about my site, they left out the hyphen, which was a sign that it’s not a name for the long-term. We moved quickly to find a better alternative when Mark joined me in the Fall of 1999.
The name SitePoint was inspired by a billboard for Microsoft’s CarPoint that Mark Harbottle, my business partner, saw while driving in Melbourne. When he hopped online to find out the availability of SitePoint.com, we found ourselves in luck as the domain name had *just* expired. We relaunched as SitePoint in March of 2000 and opened our Melbourne office that summer.
-.Almost ten years after can you give us a brief timeline? And how SitePoint became what it is right now? What worked the best during the start? the forums? the articles?
There’s a great timeline of the company in the right hand sidebar at: http://sitepoint.com/about/
What really worked the best in the very early days was helping as many people as possible. I participated in forums and discussion lists related to online sales, marketing & web development. I critiqued websites for free and offered advice on improvements. I answered every email I got, and tried to help out everyone as much as I could.
-.Surviving and thriving after 10 years including the dot come crash, and without venture capital, is a huge achievement. How did you do it?
In the early days, we never turned down a dollar in revenue. Since we were seen as experts in Web Development, it wasn’t all that shocking when Melbourne companies approached us to do Web Design work for them – and we did.
We’ve also been very moderate in our growth. We only hire people when we have the revenue to support them, and we never took on too many financial obligations before we were ready for them.
In a way, we’ve always been ultra-conservative with expenses & hiring.
For example, we’ve had to move offices 3 times since 2000 as our staff has grown. That’s counter-intuitive for many Silicon Valley based companies which rent 20,000 sq feet on day 1, expecting that they will grow into it eventually.
Likewise, we’ve always been very in touch with what people are doing on our site. When we learned that they were printing our articles through the “print” feature so that they could follow-along with our programming tutorials, we decided to do it for them and as a result published our first every book.
The design contests, which morphed into 99designs, and the buying & selling of Websites forum that turned into a full-featured Marketplace were also all born out of the Community. We didn’t come up with the ideas, just realized their potential and invested manpower and resources into executing upon them.
-.A question I always had in mind: Why did you choose Australia over Canada for the HQ of SitePoint?
Mark was based in Melbourne, Australia as were the first people we hired who came from Sausage Software – makers of the Hotdog HTML editor. As an unexpected bonus, the 2:1 exchange rate between the USD and AUD dollar at the time allowed us to stretch our revenue lot further than we otherwise could have in North America.
-.When you visit the sitepoint forums, where do you go?
I read the SitePoint Feedback & suggestions, Marketplace Feedback and “Forum Help” areas the most.
-.What is your favorite book or kit from the SitePoint collection that you would recommend?
The Web Design Business Kit by Brendon Sinclair is gold.
-. What about 99designs?
99designs was spun off as its own separate company in February of 2008. It now has its own brand name and the focus and resources that it deserves.
I hope you liked this nice interview. I have been lurking on SitePoint since 7 years now and I registered as a member since 2003. Now for almost the last three years I have been a staffer on the SP forums (Currently I’m a Design Team Advisor) and I witnessed this amazing growth and the fast evolution occuring in SitePoint. Not yet a member? Hurry and register in the forums, Read the articles and the blogs, Check out the HTML, CSS and JavaScript refrences buy the books and the Kits! Watch the Video tutorials and Listen to the Podcast! Subscribe to the newsletters! And you will be truly thrilled with the material and the information you will find!
You can always follow Matt on Twitter.
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February 3, 2009
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very nicely done, khaled
;o)
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February 3, 2009
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Thanks Rudy! Nice to see you stop by
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February 7, 2009
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A great interview. Matt doesn't look like expected. I didn't even know what he looked like, to be honest. I think that I am used Brendon Sinclair's picture … after all, I have the web Desing Business Kit he wrote
You are doing a great job. Keep it up!
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February 7, 2009
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Hey Nuria!
Thanks
You probably thought he's older! right?
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February 19, 2009
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[...] When you are just starting you should invest wisely! Only spend what you have to spend! Don’t rent a 1000m² office since day one, Don’t buy luxurious furniture for your office, don’t buy expensive equipment and PCs! You don’t need a MacBook air for now! Only get what you need! I started with a 120m² office, some second hand (yet good-looking, modern and refurbished) furniture, necessary computers (7 desktops and 2 laptops), a broadband connection, 2 telephones, a fax machine, 2 printers, A digital camera, a scanner and a coffee machine (essential). That’s all! I bought everything else later on (fridge, microwave, water cooler, other PCs…) when I had the money and the need to buy them! If you need a service try to have at the lowest prices (if not FREE). Having a collaboration network will help you later on (see point 7)! Don’t try to grow too fast! If you think you need more staffers just ask yourself will you have enough work all year long for these newly hired designers or developers? Or is it just a circumstantial work flow? If so why hire people to fire them a short time after? Instead of hiring you can alternatively Outsource to some other companies whether they are in your country or in an other country. Choose carefully the company you’re going to outsource the work to! Or you can just turn down some projects! After a while I was sure that I have (and will have) a ceaselessly increasing amount of work and I ended up hiring another full time Web developer. I also successfully outsourced some small projects (Tunisia, India, Romania) as we closely monitored the projects. Matt Mickiewicz, the co-founder of the Australian giant SitePoint has some interesting thoughts about the matter: read his interview! [...]
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March 22, 2009
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[...] Matt Mickiewicz or how to survive crashes and recessions before … [...]
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September 17, 2009
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Wow, Interesting I did not know he was that young!
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September 29, 2009
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A great interview. Very interesting
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September 29, 2009
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very great post I really enjoyed reading it!
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March 10, 2010
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nice interview! Wow he was young
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February 6, 2012
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I think a need discussion at this time.
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February 6, 2012
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Great interview with an important character in this community.
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February 6, 2012
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Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about information and love learning more on this. If possible, as you gain expertise,mens ties It is extremely helpful for me. would you mind updating your blog with more information?
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February 6, 2012
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A great interview section and I think every youngster should see this.
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February 6, 2012
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Thanks for very interesting post. I have a high regard for the valuable information you offer in your articles. I really believe you will do much better in the future
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December 23, 2010
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Good post, Rudy! Nice to see you stop by
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February 9, 2011
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Very good
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April 2, 2011
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Awesome to hear about sitepoint like this. I actually bought digital hearing aids from there.
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April 15, 2011
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The post is very interesting! Really a great post!
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April 28, 2011
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Hi there! Sitepoint has emerged to be very successful. The founders' strategies and guts have paid off. More power to Sitepoint!
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April 28, 2011
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May 3, 2011
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Interesting read. And now I know I need to go pick up a copy of "Web Design Business Kit"
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May 3, 2011
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um, talented AND cute…
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May 5, 2011
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Matt offers a lot of good advice for start-ups. Valuable info for any business, actually.
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May 7, 2011
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Nice interview dealing with the experience. This blog may teach a man to make hobby as the profession.
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May 7, 2011
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This interview is inspiring. Makes me want to leave the company I work for and start fresh with my friends…
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May 9, 2011
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"In a way, we’ve always been ultra-conservative with expenses & hiring."
Naturally, you have to take risks, but I like to abide by this philosophy.
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May 10, 2011
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Great interview… it offered a lot of insight into growing a business. I look forward to seeing what happens with SitePoint.
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May 11, 2011
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Matt is a constant source of inspiration to young techies. I wish Site Point had a long way to go inspite of recession.
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May 12, 2011
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99 Designs is a great site. I've gotten a couple logos there, it's really great to be able to see dozens of concepts before picking one. Way better than paying a single designer $300 or more, then getting stuck with the 1 or 2 ideas he has in his head.
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May 16, 2011
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great article.. very informative.. it is such a great resource.. I always wondered the background .. thanks for the interview
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May 18, 2011
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I love the name "SitePoint". It's one of those names, like Microsoft, that combines two computer terms to create a strong brand…
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May 21, 2011
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Mark is based in Melbourne, Australia, were the first people we hire who came sausage software – the head of the HTML editor of Hotdog. As an unexpected bonus, the 2:1 exchange rate between the dollar and the dollar AUD at the time allowed us to stretch far beyond the revenue that would otherwise be in North America.web designer
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May 24, 2011
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I enjoyed learning about the background to SitePoint… I've taken a couple of really helpful courses offered on the site
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May 25, 2011
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Hi!
This is such an inspiring story of someone who has worked so hard to reach the top. It is given that at first life would be tough, but eventually things will get better. The struggles one has experienced and the effort that has been exerted will definitely reap off the fruits of their labor. Thank you for posting this! Kepp them coming!
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May 31, 2011
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He launched SitePoint in 2000? I can't image what he would have looked like then – your nerdy younger brother, perhaps.
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June 15, 2011
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yeh this is a very insightful post… good job
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June 22, 2011
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Matt is definitely outstanding. Even when recession hit, his business didn't fell. I guess Matt's business type is the kind which everyone should be considering by now. it is recession proof! What more can I say?
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June 23, 2011
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99 designs is a great site. I received a couple of logos there, it's really great to be able to see dozens of concepts before choosing one. Much better to pay a single designer $ 300 or more, then stay with 1 or 2 ideas you have in your head. Minecraft for free
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It's really refreshing to see that good old-fashioned business strategies can still work in today's high speed get-rich quick environment!
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This story is very inspiring. It gives me strength to pursue my goals. I realized that anybody can be that big just as long as you love what you are doing (as Matt put it that it was a hobby at first) and you give extra effort and dedication to your work. Thanks for this article. Keep posting inspiring stories like this.
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