How WordPress Powers 43% of the Internet | Matt Mullenweg, Co-founder and CEO, Automattic

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.

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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 (automattic.com)
Wordpress (wordpress.com)
Matt’s Blog (ma.tt)
Bay Lights (illuminate.org/projects/thebaylights) in SF
Innocence Project (innocenceproject.org)
Vesuvius Challenge (scrollprize.org)
Plastic List (plasticlist.org)
The Giving Pledge (givingpledge.org)
DAFFY (daffy.org)
Pessimist Archive (x.com/PessimistsArc)
Matt's favorite quote (goodreads.com/quotes/8302061-perhaps-we-should…) from Rudy Francisco
amazon.com/Maintenance-Everything-Part-One/dp/… by Stuart Brand
We are as Gods (weareasgods.film) by Stuart Brand
Marginal Revolution (marginalrevolution.com) by Tyler Cohen

Follow Matt
Twitter (x.com/photomatt)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/mattm)

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Twitter (twitter.com/TurnerNovak)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/turnernovak)

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