John O'Nolan

Founder

Dubai, United Arab Emirates18 yrs 9 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Founder of a leading open-source publishing platform.
Generated over $130M for independent creators.
Expert in user interface and experience design.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a SaaS expert with a strong focus on open-source solutions and user experience design.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Open Source SoftwareProduct DesignUser Interface DesignUser ExperienceWeb Development

Other Skills

GhostOnline MarketingUser InterfaceCrowdfundingBlogging SoftwareBloggingStart-upsSEOWordPress

About

I'm an outspoken designer and developer who likes doing things differently. Currently I work as Founder/CEO at Ghost — which builds independent technology for modern publishing & journalism. At its core, Ghost is an experiment in doing the opposite of what every other tech company does. Instead of raising millions of dollars in venture capital, building a moat, and pursuing growth at all costs — we set Ghost up as an independent non-profit organisation which can never be bought or sold. We give away all of our intellectual property under a free open source license, and we have a straightforward SaaS business model which funds further development. The company is structured solely to serve its customers and team, rather than owners and investors. As a result, Ghost has become one of the most popular open source products in the world today.

Experience

18 yrs 9 mos

Total Experience

7 yrs

Average Tenure

13 yrs

Current Experience

Ghost

Founder & CEO

Apr 2013 – Present · 13 yrs

The world's most popular independent publishing platform for turning an audience into a sustainable business. Generated over $130M for independent publishers, creators, and journalists. Bootstrapped, decentralised, independent, open source. Currently a team of ~35 with $10M+ annual revenue.

GhostOpen Source SoftwareUser ExperienceProduct DesignWeb Development

Wordpress

Deputy Head of Design

Nov 2009 – Jun 2012 · 2 yrs 7 mos

Helped to conceptualise, design, and develop the user interface and experience for the world's largest open source content management platform. My work was mainly used in the 3.0 - 3.2 release cycles, and was shipped to ~100m users.

User Interface DesignUser ExperienceWeb Development

Lyrical media

Managing Partner

Sep 2006 – Apr 2012 · 5 yrs 7 mos

I started a small interactive agency where I worked as a UI designer, developer and consultant, specialising in building technology for brand journalism, with a client list including Microsoft, Ubisoft, EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic, Nokia, and many more.

User Interface DesignWeb DevelopmentOnline Marketing