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great moments in hr
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great moments in hr
automattic
AllThingsD's Kara Swisher admits her bias in interviewing Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg: Not only does her site use his blogging software, but she admits to having a "personal mancrush" on the programmer. He is perhaps the first straight guy to receive such treatment from Swisher, who is, provably, a mean lesbian. I think it's the hair: Mullenweg stole the retro-fauxhawk look from yours truly, I believe. Swisher does ask Mullenweg, "How do you make money at this?" But she's too crushed out to point out that Mullenweg already has made money, at least for himself, by selling a chunk of his company to investors. A digest of the interview: More »
Matt Mullenweg charms pants off Kara Swisher, copies my hairdo
AllThingsD's Kara Swisher admits her bias in interviewing Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg: Not only does her site use his blogging software, but she admits to having a "personal mancrush" on the programmer. He is perhaps the first straight guy to receive such treatment from Swisher, who is, provably, a mean lesbian. I think it's the hair: Mullenweg stole the retro-fauxhawk look from yours truly, I believe. Swisher does ask Mullenweg, "How do you make money at this?" But she's too crushed out to point out that Mullenweg already has made money, at least for himself, by selling a chunk of his company to investors. A digest of the interview: More »
live coverage
True confessions of the world's busiest websites
Do not want fail? Why then, can has win, say the folks behind the curtains at Flickr, Digg, Media Temple, and StumbleUpon. Six of them showed up at a panel organized by Kevin Rose to explain how to make websites that stay online, more or less. Being a not very clever gossip, I just listened in for the quips. Oh, and the drama. Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg almost didn't make it. Check out how his fellow panelists updated the lineup right before he showed up. More »
blogging for dollars
Filthy rich Matt Mullenweg calls rival "dirty"
Automattic, Matt Mullenweg's blog-tools startup, is readying an upgrade to its WordPress software this week. Anil Dash of Six Apart took the occasion to let WordPress users know they can upgrade to his company's Movable Type instead. It's a move straight out of Oracle's handbook. But Mullenweg freaked out, calling the post "desperate and dirty." Dash responded by charging Mullenweg with "slander." Some are under the delusion that this nerdfight is about software. It's not. It's about money. More »
matt mullenweg
Automattic founder proves exasperatingly boring
The "life change" Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg Twittered about? Not, as we suspected, a big-ticket purchase funded by his company's recent $29.5 million financing round, some of which reportedly went into the founder's pockets. Instead, he tells Valleywag, it was the purchase of ma.tt, his new domain name. Buying a .tt domain, based in Trinidad and Tobago, costs foreign registrants $500 a year, and requires an international wire transfer. Only in Silicon Valley would the purchase of a domain name be considered a "life change." I've learned my lesson: Mullenweg is far too boring to gossip about.
jackpot
How much money did Matt Mullenweg make?
Automattic has been tight-lipped about how much of the blog software maker's $29.5 million financing round went into the pockets of founder Matt Mullenweg. In November, TechCrunch said that "most" of a new round would go to buy out Mullenweg and other shareholders, in an effort to dissuade them from selling the company. To the Wall Street Journal, Automattic only conceded that "some" money went to the founders. But Mullenweg himself has not been so coy. More »
venture capital
With $29.5 million, Automattic cashes out some insiders
Automattic, the maker of WordPress blog-publishing software, has raised $29.5 million from the New York Times Co. and existing ventures.Not all of the money went straight into the company's coffers, however: Some insiders with vested options sold shares in the round. This is perhaps the most notable example of a new trend: Startup employees profiting from their stakes before a sale or IPO. Reports, however, miss the most tantalizing details: Anyone know who cashed out — founder Matt Mullenweg? CEO Toni Schneider? — how much they sold, and if they're buying any new cars?
deals
Did Harde give Mullenweg the business?
Business advice, that is. Despite Paul Boutin's entreaties, I find I just can't leave Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg alone. Neither, apparently, can acquisitive buyers. TechCrunch reports that Automattic, maker of the popular WordPress blog software, just turned down a $200 million offer. Interesting timing, considering that Mullenweg was spotted just last week at David Hornik's Hawaiian funconference, The Lobby, having a very close chat with Harde. In the moment when the two were spotted by gutter-minded gossips having a tête-a-tête, was Harde advising Mullenweg on whether or not to take the offer? And, in the process, helping score an exclusive for TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington? (Photo by True Ventures)
i hate it here
Leave Mullenweg alone!
I'm not going to make one of those crying videos, but as Valleywag's Very Special Correspondent (read: over the hill) I need to stomp a heel down. Why are we reporting that two people I've never heard of were reportedly touching each other in public? I had to look up who Mullenweg is. I think we use his software. Or we did, or we're going to, or something. Anyway, he's from Houston. That means he infuriates San Franciscans merely by existing, which makes him cool with me. The lady in question turns out to be the PR genius who emailed me the most ridiculous embargo demand ever. That backfired perfectly, so everybody won. Commenters say we shouldn't print this rumor 'cause it's cruel. Worse than that, it's dull. Call me back when one of them runs Google and films a three-way on the Boeing. (Photo by True Ventures)
geek love
Is Matt Mullenweg getting Harde?
When David Hornik pitched VCs and entrepreneurs on his tropical funconference, The Lobby, part of the sell was that the whole affair was to be off the record. Ha! Good one, David. Turns out what happens in Hawaii only stays there long enough to launch itself toward our inbox. Take for example, what struck some attendees as a budding romance between TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde, the former Fox executive Michael Arrington hired to run his blog's business end, and Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress. Now, TechCrunch runs on WordPress, so it's possible that Mullenweg was just giving Harde blogging tips. But witnesses to their late-night canoodling at the bar say that wasn't the kind of pointer in question.Update: More »
silicon valley users guide
How to punish with a petty past-tense post
Blogs are, fundamentally, about writing in the now, embracing the 24-hour news cycle, and keeping everything up to date, right? Wrong. Not, that is, when you can dredge up an incident in the past, dress it up as news, and pawn it off on your readers to score points. This week, both TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg dug up old stories to relight the flame on old feuds. More »
3:57 PM on Wed Aug 15 2007
By Owen Thomas
1,229 views,
8 comments
Latest by elvenjewel: @guffman32: Sorry, Calcanis has some real stiff competition in that arena from up and coming hip hop star Steve Ballmer. more »
conflicts of interest
Wallstrip, the CBS-owned stocks videoblog, interviews Toni Schneider, CEO of Automattic, the blog software maker. Host Lindsay Campbell, as always, asks Schneider whether he's "long" or "short" a number of hot topics. Schneider shorts Facebook and Apple's iTunes, but, curiously, says that he's long Meebo. Curiously, because the Web-IM startup's buzz is mild at best, and Schneider, in the clip, doesn't disclose that he's an investor in Meebo through True Ventures, the venture-capital firm where Schneider moonlights as a partner. (While we're disclosing, I should mention that Schneider's company hosts my personal website, Ditherati.)
Automattic's Toni Schneider touts an investment
Wallstrip, the CBS-owned stocks videoblog, interviews Toni Schneider, CEO of Automattic, the blog software maker. Host Lindsay Campbell, as always, asks Schneider whether he's "long" or "short" a number of hot topics. Schneider shorts Facebook and Apple's iTunes, but, curiously, says that he's long Meebo. Curiously, because the Web-IM startup's buzz is mild at best, and Schneider, in the clip, doesn't disclose that he's an investor in Meebo through True Ventures, the venture-capital firm where Schneider moonlights as a partner. (While we're disclosing, I should mention that Schneider's company hosts my personal website, Ditherati.)
web infinity plus one
Web Infinity Plus One SloshCon: Thanks, sponsors!
Are you coming to this Thursday's Web Infinity Plus One SloshCon? Of course you are! It's free and there's an open bar! More »
web infinity plus one
Valleywag Web Infinity Plus One Conference -- Next Thursday!
No joke, we're holding a Web Infinity Plus One Conference at the House of Shields a week from today! The top room's reserved and the sponsors are ponying up for the bar tab. The deets: More »
remainders
Remainders: LiveJournal loves popups is so sorry
- The Guardian confirms: Bloggers are loudmouths, and Glenn Reynolds has an opinion. [Guardian]
- Blog platform Automattic bypasses the usual startup interview question: "But how will you make any money?" [Business 2.0]
- Sick of dumb corporate names? Salon is old-school sick of dumb corporate names. [Salon, 90s]
- Slate performs a mental autopsy of Stefan Eriksson's crashed Ferrari (half-pictured). [Slate]
- Use Firefox, get banned from LiveJournal: The site's new terms of service give them the right to kill your account if you use
a pop-upan ad blocker. UPDATE: The lawyers snuck that in, and LiveJournal's gonna fix it. [Slashdot and LiveJournal Support]
automattic
We're not seeking funding.
"About" page for Matt Mullenweg's startup, Automattic for quite some time according to SiliconBeat):
More »
wordpress
Yep, he took funding.
As speculated, well, just before noon, Matt Mullenweg took funding for his startup, Automattic. The company owns Matt's blogging service, WordPress.com, as well as a spam filter and forum software. More »
wordpress
