TechCrunch Redesign & Media Platforms
Enterprise WordPress at the scale where "just a blog platform" stops being a joke and starts being an architecture challenge.
The Problem
10up is the premier enterprise WordPress agency — the shop that major publishers, entertainment companies, and research institutions call when their WordPress needs outgrow what any normal team can handle. These aren't marketing sites; they're high-traffic, mission-critical platforms serving millions of readers per day, with complex integrations, strict performance budgets, and zero tolerance for downtime.
Delivering at this level requires engineers who can architect for scale, write code that survives audit, and prototype solutions fast enough to meet aggressive client timelines.
My Role
I joined as a Senior Web Engineer and was promoted to Lead Web Engineer. I developed engineering plans for client projects in partnership with management, created prototypes and final implementations of advanced systems integration tools and API libraries, and served as a senior technical reviewer across the organization.
What I Built
- Led engineering on the TechCrunch.com redesign — a ground-up rebuild of one of the world's most-read technology publications, launched in October 2013 to millions of daily readers.
- Built platform features and integrations for major entertainment and media properties, working within complex enterprise content ecosystems with strict brand and performance requirements.
- Developed systems integration tools for a leading research institution, enabling academic publishing workflows on WordPress at institutional scale.
- Reviewed project code across the organization for standards compliance, secure coding practices, and enterprise-level scalability.
- Detected and remediated server vulnerabilities in client hosting environments, establishing security practices across multiple high-profile accounts.
Impact
The TechCrunch redesign served millions of daily readers and became a reference implementation for enterprise WordPress architecture. The patterns and practices I helped establish at 10up — around code review, security auditing, and scalable WordPress architecture — influenced how the broader enterprise WordPress ecosystem approaches high-traffic builds. This work directly informed the material I later wrote for the PHP Cookbook and my PHP Architect security column.