Web Designer / Developer & Strategy
Andrew Nalder is the founder of What the Heck, with more than 20 years of experience in business, ecommerce, marketing, and web. He has built and sold a multi-million-dollar marketing communications business, founded his own online retail brand, and now helps businesses create websites that are practical, search-friendly, and commercially useful.
Andrew Nalder is the founder of What the Heck and brings more than two decades of hands-on business, sales, marketing, ecommerce, and web experience to the table. He is not just someone who builds websites - he understands how businesses actually work, how they grow, and where they often get stuck. That commercial grounding shapes the way he approaches every project.
Before launching What the Heck in 2015, Andrew built and led Dpod, taking it from a small $350,000 digital print business to an $11 million marketing communications company. Over 14 years, the business expanded into print, creative, video, photography, and web development before being sold to Image Centre Group. That experience gave Andrew a strong foundation in growth, operations, branding, customer engagement, and the real-world pressure of running a business.
Since then, Andrew has worked across a wide mix of industries including retail, software, business equipment, automotive, clothing, and character merchandise. He also founded The Toy Box, giving him first-hand ecommerce experience from the operator’s side, not just the agency side. That matters, because it means he understands the practical side of online selling - product structure, customer experience, conversion, fulfilment pressures, and the ongoing work required to make ecommerce perform properly.
At What the Heck, Andrew works with businesses that want more than a nice-looking website. His focus is on building sites that are clear, credible, easy to use, and commercially useful - whether that means generating better enquiries, improving search visibility, supporting sales, or giving a business a more professional presence online. Public profiles for What the Heck describe his work across web design, ecommerce, SEO, branding, email marketing, and related digital strategy, with platform strengths in Shopify and Webflow.
Andrew also spent time as a finance adviser at Finance New Zealand, which added another layer to his business experience. It sharpened his understanding of the numbers behind business decisions and gave him further insight into what owners actually need from marketing and digital investment - not fluff, but outcomes that make sense commercially.
What sets Andrew apart is that he combines strategy, business nous, and delivery. He can help uncover what makes a business different, turn that into a clearer offer, and then build the digital tools to support it. His style is practical and straight-talking. No jargon, no overcomplication, and no interest in building websites that look good but do nothing.