Today’s guest is Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder of WordPress, which powers over 43% of all websites on the internet, and founder of Automattic.
Our conversation explores the 2000’s internet, the early days of Automattic, and the decisions and philosophies that set them up for success 20 years later.
We talk open source software, why Matt’s such a big proponent of it, how Automattic built its business model as one of the first SaaS companies (that now owns companies like Tumblr and WooCommerce), and how AI is changing engineering.
Matt also shares how to build a community around your product, “Conscious Capitalism”, what he learned running one of the first distributed teams, and lessons on optimism from Walt Disney.
Thanks to Ramp for supporting this episode. It's the corporate card and expense management platform used by over 40,000 companies, like Shopify, CBRE and Stripe. Time is money. Save both with Ramp.
Sign-up for Ramp and get $250 here.
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 running a remote company
(59:59) Lessons on optimism from Walt Disney
(1:12:33) How AI is changing coding
(1:16:09) Automattic's internal employee secondary market
(1:23:51) How open source increases longevity
(1:26:08) Matt’s favorite classical thinkers
Referenced:
Automattic
Wordpress
Matt’s Blog
Bay Lights in SF
Innocence Project
Vesuvius Challenge
Plastic List
The Giving Pledge
DAFFY
Pessimist Archive
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
Twitter
LinkedIn
Follow Turner
Twitter
LinkedIn
Subscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week.
