Matt Mullenweg: Operating System for the Open Web

My guest today is Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of Automattic. Automattic is known for Wordpress, which powers a third of the internet. Matt and I talk about the democratization of the web, the early days of Wordpress, and how he makes sense of the incredible scale of the company. We dive into the benefits of writing online, talk about inbound vs. outbound opportunities and the open web. Then we discuss why Automattic bought Longreads, the content triangle, and the Caro books. Finally, we talk about his love for sci-fi, why writing is the ultimate long-now activity, and what’s next for Wordpress. I hope you enjoy this episode.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY “MONDAY MUSINGS” NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP WITH THE PODCAST. SHOW TOPICS LINKS: Find Matt online:

Twitter

Website

Automattic

Other mentions:

Ben Thompson

Write of Passage

Longreads

The Content Triangle

The Years of LBJ by Robert Caro

SHOW NOTES 1:56 Democratizing the web, building an operating system for the open web, how Matt thinks about everything in terms of communication, and the tradeoff between powerful and intuitive

9:33 How Matt makes sense of the incredible scale of Wordpress, commodification in the age of social media, and building communities

18:57 The difference between inbound and outbound opportunities, how to reverse engineer your goals, and what Matt thinks about Ben Thompson’s Stratechery

26:26 The democratization of the means of distribution, what Matt was writing about at age 19, and the acceleration of evolution through the internet

35:23 Why Matt and Automattic bought Longreads, Robert Caro’s The Years of LBJ, and the feeling of not having anything important to say when you’re starting out

43:54 What Matt thinks about the content triangle, the good and bad ways of collaborating, and why iteration is the way to improve your writing

49:50 How a healthy comment section is like a good dinner party, why default settings are important, why Matt likes reading sci-fi, and why writing is the ultimate long-now activity

SUBSCRIBE TO MY “MONDAY MUSINGS” NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP WITH THE PODCAST.