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How WordPress Powers 43% of the Internet | Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder and CEO, Automattic
Manage episode 493863078 series 3489338
Today’s guest is Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder of WordPress, which power over 43% of all websites on the internet, and founder of Automattic.
Our conversation gets into the internet in the 2000’s, the early days of the company, and the decisions and philosophies that set them up for success 20 years later.
We talk about open source software, why Matt’s such a big proponent of it, and how Automattic built its business model as one of the first SaaS companies.
Matt shares how to build a community around your product, the concept of “Conscious Capitalism”, what he learned running one of the first distributed teams, and lessons on optimism from Walt Disney.
Timestamps:
(3:48) WordPress: Powering 43% of the internet
(8:30) Outcompeting Reid Hoffman’s startup in the early days
(14:03) Why open source wins over the long-term
(16:21) Business models in open source
(21:12) Starting Automattic in 2005, one of the first SaaS companies
(28:45) Spending most of Automattic’s Seed round on servers
(33:36) How to use Community + Word of Mouth for early growth
(38:38) Matt’s current situation with WP Engine
(43:30) How to give back in open source
(53:55) Best practices from 20 years of a remote company
(59:59) Lessons on optimism from Walt Disney
(1:12:33) How AI is changing coding
(1:16:09) How Automattic created an internal employee secondary market
(1:23:51) How open source increases longevity
(1:26:08) Matt’s favorite classical thinkers
Referenced:
Matt’s Blog
Bay Lights in SF
Matt's favorite quote from Rudy Francisco
Maintenance by Stuart Brand
We are as Gods by Stuart Brand
Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cohen
Follow Matt
Follow Turner
Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week.
100 episodes
Manage episode 493863078 series 3489338
Today’s guest is Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder of WordPress, which power over 43% of all websites on the internet, and founder of Automattic.
Our conversation gets into the internet in the 2000’s, the early days of the company, and the decisions and philosophies that set them up for success 20 years later.
We talk about open source software, why Matt’s such a big proponent of it, and how Automattic built its business model as one of the first SaaS companies.
Matt shares how to build a community around your product, the concept of “Conscious Capitalism”, what he learned running one of the first distributed teams, and lessons on optimism from Walt Disney.
Timestamps:
(3:48) WordPress: Powering 43% of the internet
(8:30) Outcompeting Reid Hoffman’s startup in the early days
(14:03) Why open source wins over the long-term
(16:21) Business models in open source
(21:12) Starting Automattic in 2005, one of the first SaaS companies
(28:45) Spending most of Automattic’s Seed round on servers
(33:36) How to use Community + Word of Mouth for early growth
(38:38) Matt’s current situation with WP Engine
(43:30) How to give back in open source
(53:55) Best practices from 20 years of a remote company
(59:59) Lessons on optimism from Walt Disney
(1:12:33) How AI is changing coding
(1:16:09) How Automattic created an internal employee secondary market
(1:23:51) How open source increases longevity
(1:26:08) Matt’s favorite classical thinkers
Referenced:
Matt’s Blog
Bay Lights in SF
Matt's favorite quote from Rudy Francisco
Maintenance by Stuart Brand
We are as Gods by Stuart Brand
Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cohen
Follow Matt
Follow Turner
Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week.
100 episodes
All episodes
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