Hi, I’m Mark Forrester 👋🏻

 An English born South African. A husband and a dad. A keen photographer and family documentarian. A blogger since 2005.

Professionally, I’m a designer turned entrepreneur. A bootstrapper turned early stage tech investor. Co-Founder of WooCommerce (acquired by Automattic, 2015).

My journey of self-employment

  • 2001-2003 ~ My journey began as a mobile disc jockey (whilst studying at the University of Cape Town). Having worked through the Christmas holidays as a sales temp at Selfridges in London, I came home to Cape Town and purchased sound equipment. Disc jockeying helped to fund my rent and social life. 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 ~ 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: Always shoot for equity)
  • 2008 ~ I helped my wife launch African Cartel. Helping traffic light artists sell their work online. Our short film featured on CNN.
  • 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 first taste of self employment. DJ Lunatick (circa 2002)
  • Taking photos with my boy
  • WooHQ

My passions

  • Growing humans and being a dad.
  • Spending time with early stage startups.
  • I ❤️ taking photos. Pred0minantly a documentarian of family adventures..
  • Landrover Defenders and beautiful utilitarian design.
  • I’m a Newcastle United football fan. Howay the lads!
  • I’m learning to surf and love how the ocean makes me feel.
  • 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.

Find me elsewhere: