Matt Mullenweg is a University of Houston dropout and the founder of Automattic. Automattic is the company behind internet products such as Jetpack, Simplenote, Longreads, Vaultpress, and more. You may not recognize any of these services, but I left out Automattic’s most essential product: WordPress. WordPress is a free and open source system that allows people to create their own webpages, but you probably knew that already. After all, it is used by over 31% of the web, and that includes this site. Mullenweg originally created WordPress as a blog-publishing system when he was just 19 years old. WordPress was a quick success, especially since its competitor, Moveable Type, placed greater restrictions on licensing terms in 2004. In 2005, Mullenweg quit his job at CNET to focus more on WordPress and other related projects. He then formed Automattic, created many new brands, and expanded WordPress to incorporate other types of web content. Mullenweg is, without a doubt, one of the most influential people on the internet.
While it has been 17 years since he created WordPress, Matt Mullenweg is still the CEO and president of Automattic. One thing that impresses me about his is how much he values his customers. He greatly considers the values of WordPress users when developing the brand further. Mullenweg has also structured Automattic with a remote working culture. He believes that this allows his employees to create the most productive and creative environment for themselves. From what I have seen of him, Mullenweg also seems to be very humble and active in his online communities. I feel as though Matt Mullenweg’s entrepreneurial traits are what helped him succeed in his ventures.
Wow, I had no idea how rich the history of WordPress was! I believe your showcasing of Matt Mullenweg’s humble trait is really important to understanding the nature of a true entrepreneur. Many entrepreneurs are great speakers, presenters, persuaders, salespeople, innovators, undertakers, and experimenters, but few are notably humble. Being humble about your success is not only a sure sign of actively implementing your Christian faith into everyday life, but also a virtue that those secular and religious should embody when going about daily activities. Great job binding the story of WordPress with the basic principles of being a Christian entrepreneur.
It is always interesting to me when it comes to success stories that did not start traditionally. It is cool and inspiring when people take risks and deal with uncertainty in unique ways. Many people when met with hardships give in, and give up. It is nice to see the opposite of that and going from dropout to success, solely by pursuing an idea.