347: Matt Mullenweg — Powering the Internet

Ever wondered about what the Internet runs on? On this episode, we meet the man whose organization powers a significant part of the Internet Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress and Automattic. Matt shares his story of how he grew Automattic and the inspiration behind WordPress. Despite the organization being worth over $1 billion today, WordPress was never intended as a money-making tool, but rather as a way of democratizing publishing so that anyone could share information. Matt shares more about the practices that keep his remote companies functioning efficiently and effectively, as well as some of the shortcomings of a decentralized approach to organizational structure. Tune in to also find out more about Matt's vision for the future of WordPress. Key Takeaways: [:26] Ari introduces his guest for this episode — Matt Mullenweg. [:40] Automattic and WordPress are extremely remote companies — was that part of Matt's vision when he started out in 2003? [1:36] Did Matt feel the technology at that time was a limitation? [1:49] How did Matt connect with the people he worked with initially? [2:35] WordPress has democratized information. Was Matt an idealist when he first started out? What were his goals for WordPress? [3:59] Matt speaks to the monetizing aspect of WordPress. How did he figure out the commercial aspect of the business? [6:28] What are some other products that have come up along the way and how did they come about? [7:24] How much coding does Matt do these days? [9:30] How did the structure of Automattic develop? Were there situations where the structure of the organization didn't work out well? [12:23] Ari and Matt discuss some technology tools and how they have contributed to their businesses. [16:06] What are some areas where decentralization didn't work out well in Matt's organization? [17:02] What does Matt's hiring process look like? [19:08] What does Matt spend most of his time on? [22:06] How many people in his organization has Matt met? [24:46] How far in advance does Matt plan ideas? [25:40] Matt shares more about the three-year plans that teams have. [27:34] What is Matt's stated vision for the company, and how has that changed over time? [28:20] What helps make Matt calm and grounded? [29:38] What does Matt do with his time outside of WordPress? [32:19] Matt is hoping to achieve more routine in his life. He explains more. [33:40] What are some sectors Matt is focused on in his investment portfolio? [34:21] What are Matt's top three pieces of advice to be more effective? [37:43] Has Matt ever encountered any pushback as the founder of WordPress? [40:11] Find out more about Matt and his work on his blog or social media. Mentioned in This Episode: Less Doing Less Doing Podcast Less Doing on Facebook Ari Meisel on Twitter Ari Meisel on Instagram Join the Less Doing Labs at Lessdoinglabs.com/moredone Matt Mullenweg Matt Mullenweg on Instagram Matt Mullenweg on Twitter WordPress Automattic Gravatar Dark Horse: Achieving Success through the Pursuit of Fulfillment, by Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas Slack Voxer Trello P2 Theme bbPress Reddit BuddyPress "The CEO of Automattic on Holding 'Auditions' to Build a Strong Team," by Matt Mullenweg for Harvard Business Review Calm App Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (And World Peace), by Chade-Meng Tan

You can listen to 347: Matt Mullenweg — Powering the Internet online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

347: Matt Mullenweg — Powering the Internet is an episode from The Less Doing Podcast with Ari Meisel: The Best Life Hacks And Productivity Tips For Less Doing, More Living.

This episode is 41:33 long.

This episode was published on Nov 14, 2018.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Less Doing Podcast with Ari Meisel: The Best Life Hacks And Productivity Tips For Less Doing, More Living when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.