Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of WordPress, the open source platform powering a staggering 43% of the internet. He also serves as CEO of Automattic—the parent company of brands like WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and Tumblr—which is worth over $7 billion, with over 1,700 employees across 90 countries. In this episode, he discusses some of the most controversial topics surrounding WordPress, Automattic, and the broader open source community.
What you’ll learn:
• Matt’s response to public criticism
• Why products like Meta’s Llama are “fake open source”
• How his team is turning around Tumblr after acquiring it for just $3 million (after Yahoo bought it for $1.1 billion)
• Why he mortgaged his home to fund San Francisco’s iconic Bay Lights project
• Matt’s philosophy: “Don’t just build a product; build a movement”
• Why open source matters: “If the Founding Fathers were around today, they’d be open source advocates”
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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-creator-of-wordpress-opens-up-matt-mullenweg
Where to find Matt Mullenweg:
• X: https://x.com/photomatt
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photomatt/
• Website: https://ma.tt/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Matt Mullenweg
(05:10) Matt’s career journey
(11:15) Bay Lights project and philanthropy
(17:28) How Matt got involved with open source
(23:25) Why products like Meta’s Llama are “fake open source”
(27:14) The future of open source and how to get involved
(35:25) Building a successful online community
(39:12) The WP Engine controversy
(50:24) Facing criticism and controversy
(55:29) Addressing community concerns
(01:08:29) Forking Advanced Custom Fields
(01:11:15) The role of social media and public perception
(01:16:43) Acquiring and reviving Tumblr
(01:24:25) Automattic’s acquisition strategy
(01:28:51) Final thoughts and future plans
Referenced:
• WordPress: https://wordpress.com/
• Automattic: https://automattic.com/
• CNET: https://www.cnet.com/
• Akismet: https://akismet.com/wordpress/
• Jetpack: https://jetpack.com/
• Toni Schneider on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonischneider/
• WooCommerce: https://woocommerce.com/
• Beeper: https://www.beeper.com/
• Day One: https://dayoneapp.com/
• Simplenote: https://simplenote.com/
• Pocket Casts: https://pocketcasts.com/
• Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/
• Audrey Capital: https://audrey.co/
• Stripe: https://stripe.com/
• SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/
• Calm: https://www.calm.com/
• August: https://august.com/
• Daylight Computer: https://daylightcomputer.com/
• Keys Jazz Bistro: https://keysjazzbistro.com/
• Joomla: https://www.joomla.org/
• Drupal: https://new.drupal.org/
• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
• Wix: https://www.wix.com/
• Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/
• Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/
• Gravatar: https://gravatar.com/
• The Bay Lights: https://illuminate.org/projects/thebaylights/
• The Bay Lights 360: https://illuminate.org/the-bay-lights-360/
• Ben Davis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-davis-sf/
• Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts: https://www.houstonisd.org/hspva
• Jack Dorsey: We’re Losing our Free Will to Algorithms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_8NganZSFI
• Marc Andreessen: https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/
• Bill Gurley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billgurley/
• An inside look at X’s Community Notes | Keith Coleman (VP of Product) and Jay Baxter (ML Lead): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-x-built-the-best-fact-checking-system-on-the-internet
• Llama: https://www.llama.com/
• WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking: https://ma.tt/2024/09/ecosystem-thinking/
• As Wall Street Chases Profits, Fire Departments Have Paid the Price: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/us/fire-engines-shortage-private-equity.html
• WordCamp Asia: https://asia.wordcamp.org/2025/
…References continued at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-creator-of-wordpress-opens-up-matt-mullenweg
Recommended book:
• Maintenance: Of Everything (in progress): https://books.worksinprogress.co/book/maintenance-of-everything/addenda/page/introduction
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
