François, 42 and Ethan, 5 months old.
I am François Planque. In case you wonder, it’s approximately pronounced “france-oh-ah planck”…
I am a father of two, an entrepreneur with a tech background, a life hacker and a detail-nerd. I am fascinated with design; that is: in a broad sense, including industrial and lifestyle design…
My definition of success is being part of a loving family.
My definition of luxury is being able to spend my time as I please, doing things I love, and not waking up to an alarm clock.
The largest hustle of my professional life has been developing b2evolution for over ((18-years-of-b2evolution 18 years)), and the some… for maintenance. To me it has been the best ever open-source Content Management System out there. However, I think it has had its time and the future no longer lies in dynamics CMS’ but in Static Site Generators.
So far, so good.
Whereabouts
I was born in Germany in 1972.
I grew up in France. I studied partly in the US (UPenn), partly in France (UTC). In my 30ies, I lived in Los Angeles for a little while. Also in Long Island and in Hong-Kong as a small kid, but I’m not sure that counts.
I’m currently living in central Europe.
To this day, I never really knew what to answer to the question “Where are you from?”
Work
My work life started with developing server software for the French Minitel when I was in high-school and college.
I made my first web page in 1993 at UPenn. (Remember NCSA Mosaic?)
I bootstrapped several Internet businesses in several countries. Some I sold, some I still own.
I also invested a bit in real estate and sometimes got involved a bit over my head with remodeling. It feels good, though, to know you can do your own plumbing when you have a leak at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning ;) I gotta say though that the most fun I have is with home automation (KNX, HomeKit…) as it combines nicely with my tech background.
Now in my 50ies, I am mostly an investor in several markets. The variety is by design, prioritizing diversification and risk management over specialization and maximum gain.
Healthy Living
For over a decade now, I have also been studying nutrition and more generally healthy living… Sometimes I think of these as survival skills in an increasingly toxic world.
Comments from long ago:
Comment from: Daniel
Salut François,
I don’t comment much or write much. But I want to thank you. It is an amazing tool. I have to admit I envy you a bit.
But I’m happy you made b2evo, I wish you continue your success path and enjoy life!
Thanks again.
2016-02-03 22-18
Comment from: William
Hi François
I’d like to thank you this morning because you gave me the solution to a problem I try to fix since months. The kind of problem you think it is a very simple solution but … you don’t find it. I offered recently a Wacom tablet to my wife and, since then, her Mac is slowing down so much that it is nearly not usable. I checked the console and saw there was a launch of com.wacon.pentablet that fails every 3 seconds. I found the solution to kill that launch on your site. And the iMac is now up and running like on his first day :-) YOU MADE MY DAY (and I wanted to let u know ;-) Thank u so much.
2020-12-09 11-09
Comment from: ajaxStardust
Thank you for developing b2evolution!
2022-01-28 19-27