When Automattic acquired Cloudup in 2013, two of the most exciting parts of the announcement was replacing the WordPress media library with Cloudup and the ability to co-edit posts similar to Google Docs. We discussed the concept in early 2014 and readers were concerned about owning their data. Two years later, the WordPress media library and…
In this birthday celebration episode of WordPress Weekly, Marcus Couch and I are joined by Automattic CEO, Matt Mullenweg. We covered a lot of ground with Mullenweg discussing the following topics: Update on O2 the successor to the P2 theme Memorable moments of the last 12 years Update on the WordPress history book Status of…
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced today that the company has acquired WooCommerce, WordPress’ most popular e-commerce platform. The plugin recently passed seven million downloads and stats from BuiltWith show that WooCommerce is dominating global e-commerce platforms, powering roughly 30% of all online stores. This is Automattic’s largest acquisition to date, bringing 55 new employees into…
In March 2014, WordPress.com opened its marketplace to new theme authors. Prior to that time, new sellers were added via invitation only. A year ago there were only 300 themes available to WordPress.com users, but after having the marketplace open to new authors that count is up to 345. Recently the submission form disappeared from…
If you’re thinking about applying to work for Automattic, you might want to read this article first. Dave Martin, Creative Director at Automattic, published an in-depth look behind the scenes of the remote hiring process for the design and growth portion of the company. He explains the five step process in detail which gives future…
In August of 2013, Automattic was criticized for its role in taking down Oliver Hotham’s website after the Straight Pride UK group filed a DMCA takedown notice with WordPress.com. In the Guardian article, WordPress.com admitted that the takedown notice was an abuse of the law. In November of 2013, Automattic announced that it teamed up…
In this week’s episode of WordPress Weekly, Marcus Couch and I are joined by Wade Foster, CEO and Co-founder of Zapier. Zapier is a service that acts as an integration point for more than 300 applications. During the interview, Foster tells us how the company was founded, how Zapier works, and why it’s different from…
Since Automattic was founded in 2005, it has acquired several businesses, services, products, and people. In August, the company will be 10 years old and I thought it would be interesting to see if the acquisitions the company has made are still around. The list is organized from earliest to latest. Gravatar Gravatar stands for…
If you own or operate a business and need a Terms of Service, Privacy, or various other legal documents, check out the Legalmattic repository on Github. In 2014, Automattic open sourced all of its legal documents, including its DMCA takedown notice. If you choose an Automattic legal document as a foundation to write your own,…
This past weekend, 250 professionals gathered in Phoenix, Arizona for Pressnomics, a three-day event focused on entrepreneurship in the WordPress economy. During the last day, attendees had the opportunity to watch Pagely CEO Joshua Strebel interview Matt Mullenweg. Although the session wasn’t recorded, the audience tweeted out the highlights of the interview, and discussion continued…
A couple months ago, Automattic made headlines with its public dismissal of Janet Jackson’s spurious claims of trademark and copyright infringement. Jackson is now a fixture in the company’s Hall of Shame, along with others who have issued abusive takedown demands. Automattic considers these a threat to freedom of speech and has even taken to…
Matt Mullenweg announced today at Web Summit in Dublin that Automattic has acquired Code for the People, a UK-based WordPress development agency and longtime WordPress.com VIP partner. The acquisition adds all six members of the company, including co-founders Simon Dickson and Simon Wheatley, to the WordPress.com VIP team. “It’s a fairly natural transition for us,”…
In this episode, Marcus Couch and I are joined by Andrea Middleton who manages WordCamp Central. She tells us what it means to be a “dot organizer” within Automattic and what her day to day duties are managing WordCamp Central. We discuss whether the WordCamp Guidelines allow for differentiation between WordCamps. Middleton explains the various…
In this weeks show, Marcus Couch and I are joined by the founder of BruteProtect, Sam Hotchkiss. We learn the circumstances which lead to the birth of BruteProtect and how it operates. Hotchkiss explains the details of the acquisition with Automattic and how it will be rolled into Jetpack. While some people are not happy…
The parent company of BruteProtect, Parka, LLC has been acquired by Automattic for an undisclosed amount. BruteProtect is a service providing brute force login protection for thousands of WordPress sites. The BruteProtect plugin will be phased out and rolled into Jetpack and will remain free to use. The services offered by BruteProtect pro are now…