AuthLab Connect 2025: Two Days with the People Behind the Brand

WPManageNinja empowers 1.4 million businesses, and everyone knows we sponsor many major events every year. Today, though, we’re talking about the team behind it all, the AuthLab team. Our 110+ member team includes 60+ WordPress core contributors.

In 2025 alone, we shipped 141 product updates, published 676 blog posts, and responded to 32k+ support tickets. To celebrate all of this, we came together as a team last week. We named the program AuthLab Connect.

Before diving into the details, here’s a quick takeaway for skimmers.

What is Authlab Connect?

Each of our teams operates like an independent startup.

Within individual teams, developers focus on shipping releases, marketers continuously run research, and the support team stays busy solving customer queries every day. Everyone has a clear role and a strong sense of ownership.

Even though we often work together on integrations and cross-team collaborations, most of the time we’re deeply focused on our own products.

AuthLab Connect is where everything comes together. It’s the one place we zoom out, connect the dots across products, and see the full picture of what we’re building as WPManageNinja.

All year long, we work for our customers, but for these two days of the year, we take time for ourselves.

One moment that stayed with us came from a teammate who recently relocated to Germany and couldn’t be there in person this year. Even from miles away, AuthLab Connect still held a deeply personal meaning for him.

As he put it:

“Out of ~210 working days every year, these two days ALWAYS stand out to me. Not because (I mean, well, partially because…) you get a hefty amount, but more because you get to have two days of GENUINE fun away from the very familiar surroundings, setup, and usual topics of communication. Can’t tell you how much I am missing authLab Connect this year. May everyone have a safe ride, loads of fun, money, music, food, and photos.”

– Shaugat Ashraf Khan, Deputy Marketing Lead, Fluent Forms

It was a simple message, but it captured something important. AuthLab Connect isn’t just an internal program or an annual event. It’s a shared experience. One that stays with you, wherever you are.

The Team

AuthLab Connect 2025 brought together 110+ team members, each playing a distinct role in how we build, support, and grow our products.

This structure means our products don’t change hands or lose context. The same teams that build features also stay close to feedback and support realities. That continuity leads to faster fixes, more thoughtful updates, and tools that improve steadily instead of unpredictably.

We’re not a massive team of a thousand people. But it has taken us nearly ten years to build the team we have today.

Even though the journey was long, we managed to ensure one important thing along the way: our entire team thinks in the same direction. We share a similar mindset, the same values, and a common way of approaching problems.

This team wasn’t built overnight or by accident. It was built carefully and intentionally. That’s why we’re not just a team that works together; we’re a carefully chosen, highly synchronized team.

AuthLab Connect 2025

AuthLab Connect 2025 was especially important for all of us because it came right after one of the busiest and most successful years we’ve ever had.

We shipped major product launches. Rolled out a large number of meaningful updates. From the marketing side, we welcomed a wave of new users who discovered and started using our products.

This year mattered because the company has grown. Not just in numbers, but in responsibility. More users. More products. Higher expectations. And behind all of it, a larger and more diverse team is carrying the work forward together.

Looking Back to The Humble Beginning

Authlab Connect is part of a tradition for us; a moment to reconnect with our core values. The very first segment of AuthLab Connect is dedicated to our backstory, and since forming the team, we’ve been doing this consistently every year.

Each year, we bring the entire team together at a great location. We follow several recurring programs, and this is also where we hold our annual general meeting. When this program first took place in 2016, there were 10 to 15 of us. This year, that number has grown to over 110.

The backstory begins with a photo from our very first day, our CEO and VP of Engineering sitting together, sketching out the blueprint of the company. 

From there, it moves through key milestones: the launch of our first product, Ninja Tables; the launch of Fluent Forms, FluentCRM; and a collection of beautiful moments captured year after year.

What these milestones represent is more than growth. Each product evolved under long-term ownership, guided by teams who stayed with it beyond launch. We didn’t move on after shipping; we stayed close, learned from real usage, and kept improving what we started.

Leadership Message

This session always brings everyone onto the same page. It’s a moment to slow down, listen closely, and reconnect with what we’re building together.

The discussion was focused and thoughtful, giving us room to think clearly and talk honestly about what lies ahead. There was no rush to impress, only a shared effort to understand priorities and move in the right direction.

The Growth

2025 was the year long-term work turned into visible momentum. Growth came from many directions, but two product launches defined the pace and focus of the year.

Two Launches That Defined 2025

FluentCart was our most ambitious product to date.

Its journey started in 2019 and evolved through years of planning, rebuilding, and internal testing. We used it ourselves before releasing it publicly, making sure it could handle real business workflows at scale. 

When FluentCart launched in 2025, it represented patience, confidence, and our belief in building a simpler, stronger eCommerce foundation inside WordPress.

FluentAffiliate came from consistent user demand.

For years, our community asked for a native affiliate solution that fits naturally into the Fluent ecosystem. In 2025, we delivered exactly that. FluentAffiliate launched as a direct response to how our users run and grow their businesses.

Together, these launches marked a turning point, one driven by long-term ambition, the other by deep listening.

Growth Beyond Releases

Beyond launches, our reach expanded rapidly. Our YouTube content grew by nearly 200%, now serving more than 350k viewers. Product adoption continued across the ecosystem, with multiple tools crossing major active installation milestones.

Product adoption followed the same curve. We crossed milestones that once felt far away:

• 600k+ active installations for Fluent Forms
• 500k+ active installations for FluentSMTP
• Strong early adoption of new products introduced this year
• A growing ecosystem used daily by businesses of every size

And taken together, the picture becomes even clearer: Our products now support over 1.4 million active websites globally.

What made this year different wasn’t just scale. It was an alignment. Teams shipped, supported, and communicated at a level that matched the responsibility of serving millions of users.

By the end of 2025, growth wasn’t just a metric. It was a shared direction. And all these directed us to our mission and vision for 2026.

Our Vision for 2026

This year, our agenda is clear.

That’s the question we ask before every product update, every feature decision, and even before publishing a blog post or a video. If our product, content, or any action doesn’t answer YES to that question, we don’t move forward.

In 2026, we are focusing heavily on AI innovation across our plugins. Many of our tools already include AI-powered features, and this year we’re scaling those efforts. The world is changing fast, and small businesses need to keep up. Our job is to help them do that—by bringing practical, accessible AI directly into the tools they already use.

This year, we’re also committed to building a more dynamic organization. We’ve always aimed to deliver flexible products, responsive support, and useful content. In 2026, that’s not optional; it’s a mandate. 

AuthLab Connect reinforced a promise we made to ourselves: to move with more agility, keep learning, and take stronger ownership at every level.

Sustainable Growth Over Profitability

This has been our motto from day one. Yes, we have needs. Yes, profitability matters to keep things running. But it has never been our priority. A sustainable growth is.

We focus on how many new users we can help this year. Then, next year, we aim to help twice as many. We believe in long-term user trust and responsible scaling.

As our CMO puts it:

Add value to users’ lives, and they’ll do the marketing for you.

That belief guides everything we do.

In 2026, we’ll double down on product efficiency, strengthen customer support, and push customer satisfaction even higher. We’ll continue onboarding new users by adding real value to their businesses.

That’s what growth over profitability means to us.

Speed and Efficiency

After growth, the next focus was speed and efficiency.

This year, it’s not just a goal, it’s a mandate. We need to build more efficiently and move faster. As a brand, we’re committing to this promise: in 2026, users will receive every service, update, and support response faster than they did last year.

Until now, we operated like a group of startups working in parallel. From this point forward, we’re moving as one fast-paced startup: aligned, focused, and built for speed.

And the foundation is already there.

In 2025 alone, we shipped 141 product updates. That means, on average, our users received an update every three days. Speed has always been part of how we work. Now, we’re making it intentional, structured, and scalable.

Which brings us to what that pace led to next: the awards and the awardees of 2025.

The Awards

After talking about the future, it was time to pause and acknowledge the people who made this journey possible. Some contributions quietly keep everything moving, while others stand out through impact, consistency, and ownership. This session was about recognizing both.

We began by recognizing Noteworthy Contribution in Development (2025), celebrating teams that handled multiple major product efforts in parallel with focus, efficiency, and strong ownership.

The recognition then extended across the company. Noteworthy Contributions were acknowledged in Marketing, Support, Motion & Graphics Design, UX, Documentation, and Web Design, highlighting consistent impact and dependable work across teams.

Next, the Outstanding Contributors of 2025 honored teams from Development, Marketing, Support, and Motion Graphics Design for sustained performance and collaboration throughout the year.

The Punctuality Award recognized consistency and discipline, reminding us that reliability still matters.

We also celebrated the Outstanding Organizers of 2025, appreciating the teams whose coordination and execution made everything run smoothly.

Every award reflected the same belief. We win as teams, through shared effort, trust, and collective ownership. With the individual awards complete, it was time to recognize teams.

Team Awards

The Outstanding Product Launch of the Year – 2025 was awarded to FluentCart. As a team effort, it stood out as one of our most balanced, well-executed product launches to date.

The Outstanding Development Team of the Year also went to the FluentCart Dev Team. Their work introduced a new era of eCommerce in WordPress by delivering a fast, performance-focused solution built with a long-term vision.

The Outstanding Marketing Team of the Year was the Fluent Forms Marketing Team, who crossed the 600K milestone and helped solve form-related problems at scale for users worldwide.

Finally, the Outstanding Product Team of the Year award went to FluentCart once again. A large, committed team that worked for years to solve real user problems and bring a complex product to life.

It was a moment of reflection, pride, and appreciation. One that reminded us that everything we build starts with people.

The Token of Appreciation

Some of our colleagues crossed an important milestone this year: five years with WPManageNinja.

Like every year, we recognized this moment by gifting the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max to five of our valued teammates who have dedicated five meaningful years of their lives to the organization.

It’s a small gesture compared to the impact they’ve made, but acknowledging contribution has always mattered to us. Maybe that’s why many of our colleagues have been with us for over 10 years, because long-term commitment is seen, respected, and appreciated here.

Profit Share

Then it was time to distribute the profit our team generated throughout the year.

We believe in transparency, so we shared a portion of our profits with every team member across the organization. This has always been part of how we think about growth at WPManageNinja.

From the very beginning, we’ve followed a single motto as an organization:
“Making users’ lives better as we make our lives better too.”

That belief shaped this gesture from our early days, and it still does. It worked then, and it’s part of why we are where we are today.

Every contributor received their share of the profit. Even our newest team members were included. This isn’t just a startup tradition for us; it’s a commitment to fairness, shared success, and a healthy work–life balance as a team.

When the company grows, everyone grows with it.

The Fun Time Begins

Once the formal sessions wrapped up, the energy shifted. This was the part everyone looked forward to. No presentations, no metrics, no roadmaps. Just people spending time together.

AuthLab Connect isn’t complete without this phase. It’s where conversations loosen up, laughter takes over, and the bond between teammates grows stronger.

Team Photos

Team photos are always a highlight.

From full group shots to casual clicks between teammates, every photo captured something genuine. Smiles came easily. Jokes were shared. These weren’t staged moments. They were real memories being frozen in time.

Years from now, these photos will still tell the story of how far we’ve come together.

Food, Nature, and Atmosphere

Good food and a peaceful environment change everything.

Meals became long conversations. Nature slowed us down. Away from screens and schedules, people connected naturally. The surroundings gave everyone space to relax, recharge, and enjoy the moment.

It reminded us how important it is to step outside routine and simply be present.

The Cultural Night

Cultural Night brought a special kind of energy.

Music, performances, and laughter filled the room. Teammates surprised everyone with talents we rarely get to see during workdays. Some performed. Others cheered. Everyone enjoyed it.

It was not about being perfect. It was about expression, confidence, and celebrating the diversity within our team.

Pool Party

The pool party was pure fun.

No structure. No plan. Just music, water, laughter, and endless splashes. People who usually meet through tasks and tickets were suddenly laughing side by side.

It was carefree, energetic, and unforgettable.

Team Activities and Games

Games brought out a different side of everyone.

Teams formed quickly. Friendly competition kicked in. People strategized, laughed, and celebrated small wins together. These activities reminded us how naturally teamwork happens when everyone feels connected.

It was a collaboration without pressure, and it felt great.

Fun Quizzes

The quizzes were a crowd favorite.

Some tested how well we knew each other. Others were just meant to make everyone laugh. Unexpected answers and playful reactions kept the energy high.

It was light, fun, and exactly what the moment needed.

Bike Rides

The bike rides were calm and refreshing.

Riding together through open paths gave everyone time to slow down and take in the surroundings. Conversations were easy. The breeze, the quiet, and the shared experience made it memorable.

It was a simple moment, but one that stayed with everyone.

Back to Work Next Day

The next day, we packed our bags, said our goodbyes, and headed back to work.

But something felt different.

We returned to our desks with lighter minds and fuller hearts. The conversations continued, the jokes carried over, and the sense of togetherness stayed with us. AuthLab Connect did what it was meant to do. It reminded us why we do what we do and who we do it with.

The work resumed. Tickets came in. Code was written. Campaigns were planned. Content went live. But behind all of that was a renewed sense of purpose. We were not just individuals working in our own lanes. We were one team, moving in the same direction.

AuthLab Connect ended, but its impact did not. It lives on in how we collaborate, how we move faster, and how we support one another through the year ahead.

And with that, it was back to work. Stronger, clearer, and more connected than before.