WordPress Plugin Acquisitions

Noah Kagan shares his strategy of acquiring underutilized WordPress plugins with large install bases and monetizing them through cross-promotion. He specifically targeted plugins that had significant installations but weren't being actively maintained.

Key Points:

• Acquisition Strategy:

  • Scraped WordPress directory for plugin rankings
  • Targeted plugins with high install counts but no recent updates
  • Sent bulk emails to plugin owners offering to buy
  • Got cheap prices because there wasn't an established market
  • Most owners weren't monetizing, treated plugins as hobbies

• Scale & Costs:

  • Acquired approximately 5 million total plugin installs
  • Largest acquisition: Google Analyticator with 1 million installs for $100k
  • Other acquisitions included:
    • WP Fonts
    • Construction Page
    • All-in-1 Favicon
    • Various other plugins

• Monetization Approach:

  • Rebranded acquired plugins
  • Used them to cross-promote Sumo.com (email capture tool)
  • Leveraged WordPress's massive reach (used by roughly half of top 10,000 websites)

• Key Success Factor:

  • Found undervalued assets others weren't paying attention to
  • Acquired at below-market rates due to lack of established marketplace
  • Targeted neglected but popular plugins with large install bases