Here are the key lessons from that discussion, shaped by Aurelio’s own words, for anyone building in the WordPress ecosystem.

"We’re not trying to reinvent WordPress monitoring. We’re just trying to make it not suck."

That line captures Aurelio Volle’s direct, no-nonsense approach to product development.

As the co-founder and CEO of WP Umbrella, he’s focused on solving the actual day-to-day frustrations of WordPress professionals. His agency background gave him a clear view of what needed fixing.

From Agency Pain Points to Product Design

Before WP Umbrella existed, Aurelio was managing WordPress sites for clients. The maintenance work felt repetitive and needlessly time-consuming.

"We were spending more time chasing issues and checking uptime than doing valuable work."

Most tools promised automation but didn’t deliver. They were bloated, slow, or overly complex. That frustration sparked the first version of WP Umbrella.

"The first thing we built was PHP error monitoring. Because no one else was doing that well."

It began as an internal tool, not a product. But once others started using it, demand grew. Today, thousands of freelancers and agencies rely on it.

"We’re still a small team. But that’s the point. We want to build the kind of product we’d want to use."

Staying Focused, Saying No

WP Umbrella is deliberately simple. Aurelio avoids the temptation to chase every feature request.

"Developers don’t want a 300-feature dashboard. They want speed, reliability, and clarity."

For them, speed isn’t a bonus, it’s essential.

"If our dashboard takes five seconds to load, we’ve already failed."

That mindset means turning down ideas that don’t align with core use cases.

"We’d rather be a really sharp knife that only does three things, but does them well."

Breaking Things to Make Them Better

Unlike the WordPress culture of extreme backward compatibility, WP Umbrella is willing to change things, even if it breaks something.

"We made a decision early on: we are not WordPress. We don’t need to keep things working forever."

If a feature doesn’t work or becomes clunky, they remove it. Fast iteration beats cautious stagnation.

"If we lose a few users because we made something better, that’s fine. We’d rather lose users than keep bad UX."

Their users, mostly developers, get it. They’d rather see improvements than endless compatibility.

Support Isn’t a Department

At WP Umbrella, support is handled by the same people building the product.

"We do support ourselves. No support agents."

This creates a tight feedback loop. Repeat issues become development priorities.

"If you complain about something twice, it becomes a ticket for the dev team. That’s how we prioritise."

Retention isn’t about tricks.

"If you make someone’s life easier every week, they’ll keep paying. It’s that simple."

From Monitoring to Protection: Why Patchstack Made Sense

For a long time, Aurelio viewed security as outside WP Umbrella’s core focus.

"We always saw ourselves as a monitoring company, not a security company."

That changed. As their user base grew, so did expectations. Agencies didn’t just want alerts, they wanted protection.

"People were telling us: I don't want to install another plugin just for security. I want monitoring and security in one place."

Rather than building their own solution from scratch, they integrated Patchstack’s virtual patching engine.

"We now have more than 2,000 websites protected through our Patchstack integration."

This wasn’t just about ticking a box. It was about removing friction.

"You click one button, and it's activated. You don’t even need to install the Patchstack plugin."

Aurelio’s view is that real security should feel invisible:

"You don't need to make dashboards with red buttons. Just protect people in the background."

The integration has been a success, not just technically, but in terms of adoption.

"It’s been one of our most adopted features. And it's been super stable."

Security wasn’t bolted on. It was built in, and done in a way that aligns with the rest of the product’s philosophy: no clutter, no noise, just things that work.

"It’s not a cost. It’s an investment. You protect the work you’ve done."

Curious about the full scope of WP Umbrella’s Patchstack integration that helped them generate additional revenue within the first month and convert 4.5% of sites to Patchstack? Read the case study here. 

For Anyone Building Products

Aurelio’s advice for developers launching tools? Start small.

"Don’t spend a year building the perfect thing. Build something small. Test it. Talk to people."

Ignore the competition. Solve one real problem really well.

"Focus on one specific use case. Solve it better than anyone else. That’s how you win."

And most importantly:

"The only way we’ve grown is by talking to users. Every day. That’s the cheat code."

Framing Value Over Cost

Some hosts are reluctant to invest in extra security, not because they don’t see the value, but because they don’t want to add a cost per user.

"If your client has a €20,000 WooCommerce store, you’d be foolish not to add a €5 insurance layer."

Whether it’s backups, real-time protection, or error alerts, for him, they’re safeguards, not nice-to-haves. Agencies that see it that way don’t hesitate to pay.

Charging More Isn’t Greedy. It’s Necessary

Many agency owners charge too little, and feel guilty about recurring fees. Aurelio disagrees.

"You’re saving your client’s business. They rely on you. So don’t feel guilty."

If you’re watching uptime, fixing bugs, and stopping issues before they escalate, you’re doing real work that keeps the site running.

"A few euros per site, per month – that’s not a scam. That’s just smart business."

Profitability Requires Focus

WP Umbrella is profitable, not because of shortcuts, but because they stay lean and focused.

"We’re not burning VC money. We’re not chasing growth for its own sake. We just sell a good product people keep using."

From day one, the goal was retention, not headlines.

Always One Step Ahead

They try to stay one step ahead of what users will want.

"You have to think six months ahead. What’s going to make their life easier?"

It’s a quiet, steady approach. Test. Learn. Build. Ship. Repeat.

"That’s how you build trust. Not by promising magic. By showing up and delivering."

Build Smart. Monitor Smarter.

If you manage multiple WordPress sites, WP Umbrella offers a faster, more focused way to monitor performance, catch errors early, and keep everything running smoothly, without unnecessary extras.

And if you're a host or a management platform serious about security, Patchstack helps you stay ahead of threats with automatic protection, real-time alerts, and the most active vulnerability research community in WordPress.

Whether you’re building or hosting sites, the right stack saves time, reduces stress, and keeps things running.

Curious about integrating Patchstack into your stack? Book a discovery call.