About

Mike Stott

Actuary turned plugin builder. Co-founder of Zero BS CRM, acquired by Automattic. Now writing about content, creators, and building things on the internet.

13+
Years building online
$200k+
Plugin sales
5+ yrs
At Automattic

The story so far

I started with the typical path — maths degree, finance career, pension risk at FTSE 100 companies. It wasn't my passion. In 2011 I started building online and never really stopped.

  1. 11
    2011

    Left PwC — started building online

    After qualifying as an Actuary and working with FTSE 100 companies, I handed in my notice at PwC and started side projects online. First product: an ebook on 101 tips to get worse at Call of Duty. It made $3,000.

  2. 12
    2012

    Social Gallery — $200k on CodeCanyon

    Partnered with a developer to build Social Gallery, a WordPress plugin for book cover galleries. Handled support, marketing, and customer acquisition. It went on to make over $200k in lifetime sales.

  3. 13
    2013

    Epic Plugins — building a plugin portfolio

    Launched Epic Plugins, followed by Epic Themes the following year. Grew a portfolio of 30 plugins and 5 themes while still holding down a day job.

  4. 16
    2016

    Quit the 9–5 for good

    After years of side projects and deliberation, I finally made the leap to full-time indie. Going full-time opened up the space to build something bigger.

  5. 19
    2019

    Zero BS CRM acquired by Automattic

    Co-founded Zero BS CRM, which outgrew every plugin I had built before it. Automattic acquired it in 2019 and it was rebranded as Jetpack CRM.

  6. 20
    2020

    Joined the Jetpack division

    Joined Automattic full-time as part of the Jetpack team. Helped Jetpack Boost scale, integrated WP Super Cache into Jetpack, and worked on Akismet's WordPress.org rankings.

  7. 23
    2023

    Launched Jetpack Newsletter and Jetpack Creator

    Led the launch of Jetpack Newsletter and Jetpack Creator in November 2023. Content creation and audience building remain my core passion.

  8. ★
    Now

    Content Conversion Machine

    Writing the Content Conversion Machine newsletter — practical strategies for creators who want to turn their knowledge into consistent, high-quality content.

Newsletter

Content Conversion Machine

Every week: 1 short story, 2 incredible examples, 1 great video — plus deep dives on content creation, AI tools, and building a sustainable creator business.

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