Matt Mullenweg, WordPress co-founder and CEO of Automattic, was recently featured on the Hired Podcast, a show that focuses on exciting things in the world of work life and company culture. Cameron Moll, founder of Authentic Jobs, hosts this short 27 minute interview, which many of you may enjoy.
As Mullenweg tells the story of how Automattic was created, he said, “I wanted to create a place that I wanted to work…I wanted everything that I did in life professionally and personally to promote open source software.” Moll asks a lot of great questions to uncover the company culture at Automattic and find out how employees collaborate. His interview includes some interesting topics:
- A quick overview of how WordPress was born
- How Automattic was created
- Why Mullenweg recently switched roles with Toni Schneider
- Open communication and collaborative process for Automattic employees
- Why Automattic uses trials for hiring
- How company size impacts growth
- Establishing company culture with remote workers
One particular part that I found to be interesting was how Mullenweg had initially kept Automattic artificially small during the early days, for fear of losing the efficiency and excitement the company had developed. During the interview he says that he was surprised by how Automattic has been able to maintain the same culture while expanding to offer more prompt attention to every aspect of its products and support. When discussing the organization’s growth, Mullenweg says, “Nothing great I’ve ever done has ever been alone. It’s always been with other people.” He offers an inside look at how Automattic is different, its unique hiring process and the preeminence of customer support.
If you’re interested in WordPress or want to take a closer look at the principles that have driven Automattic’s success as a product organization, check out the Hired Podcast interview with Matt Mullenweg.
Interesting trivia question, Who was the first employee of Automattic? Wasn’t Matt! He was the third one as he mentioned in the podcast. Five years from now, I wonder how many companies will be out there that are 100% remote.