About

Proudly unemployable

I luckily discovered this quite early in my professional career. Partly thanks to an overly animated Greek restaurant manager and a very short-lived training session as a waiter. This is my journey of self-employment.

• 2001-2003 ~ Whilst studying at the University of Cape Town I decided to spend a Christmas holiday working as a sales temp at Selfridges in London. On returning home, with some rand-denominated pounds, I purchased sound equipment. Disc jockeying at birthdays and weddings helped to fund my rent and social life for the next couple years. The entrepreneurial bug bit.
• 2004-2005 ~ After graduating from university I founded my first business, with two fellow graduates. Gravit8 – an I.T business solutions company. Whilst we focussed on networking solutions I explored our web design arm of the business. An exploration that eventually steered us down different paths. Gravit8 is still going strong today.
• 2007-2008 ~ Whilst freelancing as a web designer (and blogging about it) I was asked to work on the design of an African social media aggregator called Afrigator. Instead of charging for my services I requested equity. After a successful first year we were acquired by MIH Print Africa. (Hat-tip: If it excites you, shoot for equity)
• 2008 ~ I helped my wife launch African Cartel. Helping traffic light artists sell their work online in a curated marketplace. Our short film featured on the CNN home page.
• 2008-2015 ~ 🚀 WooThemes. A hugely significant chapter worthy of it’s own page.
• 2016-Present ~ A new season of rewirement. Being more present at home with the family, whilst immersing myself in new ecosystems and making some exciting early stage startup investments.

My passions

• Growing humans and being a dad.
• Spending time with early stage startups.
• I ❤️ taking photos. Leica unfortunately captured my heart.
• Landrover Defenders and utilitarian design.
• I’m a Newcastle United football fan. Howay the lads!
• I’m learning to surf. The ocean is my zen.
• I‘m was an experimental beer brewer.

Site colophon

• This site is powered by the woonderful WordPress.
• I’ve experimented with numerous hosts over the years. Most recently, my site resides on a WordPress.com business plan.
• My logo was designed by the talented, Cape Town based illustrator, Alex Latimer.
• Whilst I’m not particularly proud of my early archive of blog posts it encapsulates my journey and maturity as a designer, entrepreneur and human.

Selected interviews

• Disrupt Africa – Meet the Investor: Mark Forrester
• Cape Talk – Meet the co-founder of a true South African Cinderella story
• Ventureburn – Q&A: WooTheme’s Mark Forrester talks hacking, investment tips & more
• Fin24 – SA company wins the internet
• Ventureburn – WooThemes’ Mark Forrester on how an SA startup sprouted a global success story