After searching the web for an entrepreneur to write this blog about, it soon came upon me that WordPress had to have a creator. Before this year, I had never heard of WordPress as I am not really one to blog or read them. As I’ve explored it more and more however, WordPress has fascinated with me with all that it has to offer.
Matt Mullenweg was born in Houston, Texas and attended The University of Houston before he dropped out to pursue a job. Essentially, a blogging site’s software that he used to use was discontinued. Instead of trying to find a new one, Mullenweg and his friend decided to build a new platform on top of the software that was defunct. Little did they know that they were about to start a site that would change the way people blog.
The first version of WordPress was created in 2003, right before Mullenweg dropped out of college. He was recruited by CNET to work on WordPress for them where he made continuous improvements to the site and gained many users. He left CNET after a few years to focus on WordPress full time and by 2011 the site had accumulated 50 million blogs. Obviously, the increase in traffic lead to WordPress needing more people to manage it. Presently, over 900 people work for Automattic, the company that oversees WordPress. Mullenweg is the current CEO of Automattic and is still heavily involved in WordPress. Thousands of companies and schools use it, as well as 41 countries, making it a highly profitable enterprise that rakes in millions yearly.
Matt Mullenweg is another example of a college dropout that had a plan and never gave up. Who would have thought that creating something as simple as a blog site could have so much success? Mullenweg revolutionized the way people now blog and as a result is a millionaire.
It’s amazing how many different kinds of social media there are in the world today. Revolutionary websites formed around blogs have created new ways of communicating. There have been several very successful young entrepreneurs that are capitalizing on this market. I don’t see an end in sight for this market. Social media has only just begun to show us what it is capable of.
Wow that is so interesting! I was surprised how many people are currently using WordPress. As someone who had not used this website outside of an entrepreneurship class, there is a lot to learn about it. His story is different from many and is probably encouraging to those people who don’t know if college is for them.