March 8th we’ll have 100 HeroPress essays published. This seems like an auspicious time to look back at what we’ve built. Since the first one I’ve only missed maybe 2 weeks. One essay has been taken down for security reasons. Only once has anyone really stood me up, and only four times or so has…
Something that’s always bothered me about HeroPress is that it’s just so happy and upbeat all the time. Sure, people talk about some hard things sometimes, but it always ends with everything being better and awesome and happy. I’d like to clarify that it’s not always like that. Sometimes it ends in tears, frustration, and…
One year ago, on March 25, 2015, we published the very first HeroPress essay. It was by Andrey “Rarst” Savchenko, and titled “Finding Your Place“. It’s been an amazing journey for me (Topher) personally. I’ve met a huge number of amazing people in the last year, far more than did essays. People who’ve enlightened me,…
I didn’t know Alex King. I barely knew who he was. This may sound strange to so many of you who saw his touch everywhere, but the vagaries of life simply kept us apart. Over the last year or so I heard his name here and there. A nice long talk with Norcross and Karim…
My goal with HeroPress has never been to help people directly. The idea was to find someone who’s solved a problem and have them tell how, so that people with that same problem can see a way out. I have no idea if that’s ever been successful. Many people have told me that the essays are…
I set out to to build HeroPress into something that would help people. My goal was to help the readers. Over time it has felt like the contributors are getting more out of it than the readers, and it’s felt like I personally am getting more out of it than anyone. I get to talk…
This coming weekend I’m presenting a case study on HeroPress for WordCamp Milwaukee, and in September (as you ALL know!) I’m doing a presentation on HeroPress at WordCamp Pune. I’d like for both of those presentations to have some feedback from readers about what HeroPress has meant to you, or how it has affected or…
10 days ago HeroPress contributor Saurabh Shukla sent me an email asking that I come to WordCamp Pune, India to present about HeroPress. I didn’t even know WordCamp Pune was happening, but I had wanted to go to WordCamp Mumbai VERY much, so I was incredibly excited. My first thought was “How can I afford…
