NSquared 10-Year Anniversary: From Small Beans to Big Dreams

It all started in 2014 when we first met at local WordPress meetups. Our paths crossed frequently, and we quickly became active members of the community. After collaborating to organize the 2014 WordCamp Los Angeles, we realized we worked well together and decided to take it a step further. In October 2014, we teamed up on a test project—not just to see what we could create, but also to see how well we clicked as partners.

For six months, we met for four hours each week at The Coffee Bean in South Pasadena, hammering out the free version of what would become our first product — Draw Attention, a small plugin for creating interactive images on WordPress. 

Draw Attention was an exciting first project for us because it perfectly blended our backend and frontend coding skills. It allowed us to get creative with interactive design while also tackling the technical challenges behind the scenes.

We launched Draw Attention with high hopes and a good first turn out—sharing it with our WordPress friends helped spread the word and gave us the motivation to continue building the paid version. We kept meeting each week, and three months later, we launched the paid version of the plugin!

As more people started using Draw Attention, we started to get our first taste of running a small business. Each week we would start answering support tickets and we continued to get feedback and build more features into the plugin.

During those first two years, Draw Attention remained a side project that we focused on during our dedicated 4-hour weekly sessions. 

An Appointment with Destiny

After our initial project was a success working together, we started itching to build something new. In 2016, we started brainstorming ideas for what would eventually become Simply Schedule Appointments (SSA). 

Some of our personal clients were struggling to find a scheduling solution that integrated seamlessly with WordPress. However, the available options were either too complex or lacked the features they needed, leaving a clear need for a user-friendly scheduling tool.

We began building out the new plugin, however it was snowballing into a much bigger project than we had anticipated. 

And, to top it off, we had to ditch the initial React platform that we had started on. A year into the project, we had to switch to the Vue framework and start over again. But, we kept going and as we saw the potential and the growing interest in what we were creating, we gradually increased our efforts. 

In 2017, we launched the free basic edition of Simply Schedule Appointments, with minimal features but we knew there was much more we wanted to do and offer for our new scheduling plugin.

In the early days of building SSA, we still had other commitments, so we started dedicating just 8 hours a week to it. Eventually, our 8 hours a week turned into 12, and then 16, as we fully committed to making SSA a reality. Those hours at the coffee shop evolved into a full-fledged business as we poured more time and energy into working together.

From WordCamp to Wordmark: The Accidental Naming of NSquared

Around the same time, we gave a presentation together at LoopConf 2018, where the idea of forming an official company started to take shape. Nathan casually threw out the name “NSquared” as a joke during the flight back home to Los Angeles—but it ended up sticking! Little did we know, that offhand comment would become the foundation of our brand.

Listen to their fun intro for this LoopConf talk. And, from there the rest is history, this is when NSquared officially started to form.

No Mile-Stones Unturned

Our journey has been filled with key milestones that defined who we are today:

• 2014: Launched free Basic Edition of Draw Attention
• 2015: Launched paid Pro Edition of Draw Attention
• 2017: Launched free Basic Edition of Simply Schedule Appointments
• 2018: Launched Plugin Detective (Won first place at Plugin-A-Palooza at WordCamp Orange County 2018!)
• 2018: Launched Plus Edition of Simply Schedule Appointments
• 2019: Launched Professional Edition of Simply Schedule Appointments
• 2020: Hired our first support team members during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
• 2021: Launched Business Edition of Simply Schedule Appointments
• September 2021: Held our first in-person team meeting (See picture below)
• 2022: Began production on AAArdvark and BlinkMetrics
• July 2022: Nathan and Natalie transitioned full-time to NSquared
• 2023: Launched AAArdvark
• 2024: Set to launch BlinkMetrics

The NSquared Lineup

Over the years, we’ve built a suite of products that reflect our passion for solving real problems for small businesses. Each product is a piece of the NSquared puzzle, built with passion and a dash of our playful creativity.

Squaring Up for the Future

The next chapter of NSquared promises to be just as exciting. We’re working on numerous new features for AAArdvark and BlinkMetrics, plus some enhancements for Simply Schedule Appointments. 

For SSA, we’re also focusing on improving integrations with Stripe and PayPal as well as completing the MemberPress integration to help sell appointment packages. And enhancing the overall admin experience.

Brewing a Bigger Team: From Coffee Chats to a Crew of 15

What started as two people huddled over laptops in coffee shops has blossomed into a vibrant team of 15 passionate members. With each new product and milestone, we realized we needed more hands—and minds—to keep up with our growing ambitions. 

From developers and UI designers to support staff and sales, every team member has brought unique skills and energy that have been crucial in shaping NSquared’s journey. We’ve grown from a small duo with a dream into a diverse team, each person playing an essential role in driving our success and pushing us toward new heights.

Thanks a Latte to Our Customers!

To our amazing customers, thank you! You’ve been the driving force behind everything we do, making this journey not just possible but incredibly rewarding. As a bootstrapped company, we’ve relied solely on the support and trust you’ve placed in us. Every purchase, every piece of feedback, and every kind word has helped us grow and thrive.

Thanks to you, 15 passionate individuals now have fulfilling careers, doing what they love every day. From the bottom of our hearts, we couldn’t be more grateful. Here’s to many more years of innovation and collaboration—and don’t forget to explore our other products to see how we can continue making your life easier!