In this very special episode, we’re talking to Matt Mullenweg - the CEO of Automattic and the Co-Founder of Wordpress. Matt is a legend of remote work and entrepreneurship, and this conversation doesn’t disappoint!
Many of you know Matt Mullenweg, but what you may not know is that Wordpress (the open source blogging platform that he co-founded in 2003) now powers over 40% of the internet. You read that correctly -- 40% of the entire internet.
After briefly reviewing the arc of Matt’s entrepreneurial journey, we discuss how remote work evolved with Wordpress, as well as his brief stint with a designated office space. Wordpress is one of the largest and most successful remote companies in the world, so digging into the beginnings of Wordpress and scaling was a particularly unique insight.
One of the insights was the importance of a balanced work, and top down encouragement to lead healthy and balanced lifestyles. For example -- giving back and supporting your community is something Automatticians are encouraged to do.
We also discuss at some length Open Source vs proprietary software, what this means for the future of the internet and freedom of speech and expression in an internet dominated society. That could likely have been its own. Hopefully it will be!
This discussion was particularly interesting because of Matt’s success and notoriety as influence on the internet, but I was struck by how kind and thoughtful Matt was. The team at Automattic are aiming to democratize the internet, and they practice what they preach!
Matt’s advice to Entrepreneurs: “you have to be very comfortable being misunderstood for a long time. And that long time could sometimes be a decade.”
To look for openings at Automattic, see the positions on We Work Remotely, or go to they page for all of the live positions: https://automattic.com/work-with-us/