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death of print
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death of print
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 »
copyfight
The Pirate Bay's new blog platform inspired by WordPress.com censorship
BayWords is the new blog host from those lovable Swedish outlaws at The Pirate Bay. The blogging platform is built atop open-source WordPress code. Which is a little ironic, since TorrentFreak reports that the project was started after a WordPress.com user who linked to copyrighted material lost his account. As for the new site, almost anything goes. "As long as you don't break any Swedish laws in your blog, we will defend it," says The Pirate Bay's Peter "Brokep" Sunde. Looks I'll be spending the weekend reading up on Sweden's legal code.
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 »
sex trade
How Daddy's little girl became a pricey escort
The 2001 crash got one of my colleagues to cross the line. She had been bossing men around for next to nothing as a startup VP, so why not get paid more directly for it? She set up a basic website — thank you, Webmonkey — and listed it in three escort directories she found in the local alt.weekly papers. Eros Guide brings her well-off local clients, and richer-than-average visitors from out of town. But she learned an even better trick for landing the big fish. 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.
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 »
web apps
What to use instead of Evite (and five other popular but terrible websites)
Oh god, Evite. It starts with an email about a party with no information about that party, and then it gets worse. But in many cases there's no reason you have to use the most popular site. Here's what to use instead of Evite, YouTube, Blogger, Twitter, Digg, and MapQuest. More »
12:01 AM on Thu Oct 18 2007
By Nick Douglas
13,183 views,
10 comments
WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg takes open-source project Vanilla to task for including advertising links in its software. Of course, he doesn't note that he once ran paid links on WordPress.org until a commenter calls him on it. "My experience gives me unique insight into why this is such a bad idea," says Mullenweg, in an attempt to explain the omission. [Photo Matt]
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.)
SVUG #16: What's the easiest New Year's Resolution I can make?
PAUL BOUTIN — Why suffer a diet or slog through another article on "2007 Ways to Fast Forward Your Career?" SVUG has a five-minute Valley makeover you can start right now at your desk.
PAUL BOUTIN — Why suffer a diet or slog through another article on "2007 Ways to Fast Forward Your Career?" SVUG has a five-minute Valley makeover you can start right now at your desk.
to-do
To-Do tonight: I could have Google Danced all night
- Still not tired of partying at 111 Minna? Following up last night's WWDC party at the San Fran venue is, well, tonight's WWDC party at the San Fran venue. Mac developers and any and all fanfolk can skip right into this free event. [WebKit Open Source Party]
- Only attendees at the Search Engine Strategies conference can come to Google's fifth annual dance. Or people with forged SES badges and invitations. [Google Dance 2006]
- Yahoo's Ajax evangelist and WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg speak at tonight's BayCHI meeting in Palo Alto. Matt has a 12-step system, and it's not for getting off the Kool-Aid; it's for going from user #1 to user #100,000, something Matt did with both WordPress.org and WordPress.com. [BayCHI.org]
to-do
To-Do: Apple moi le deluge
- sv2600: The local chapter of the classic monthly hacker gathering takes place at 6 PM in San Jose. As far as cracking open your laptop there — safer than Defcon, less safe than the local Starbucks. [Friday]
- WordCamp kickoff party: Take the bus up Market to San Francisco's Embarcadero Center for a dinner and an afterparty at Hotel Vitale with the company behind WordPress. [Friday]
- WordCamp 2006: The conference attached to the party above, for users and makers of the WordPress blogging platform. [Saturday]
- WordCamp afterparty: All good conferences are excuses for parties. The finale to WordCamp is TBA, and this is its placeholder. [Saturday]
- Unofficial pre-WWDC #macsb dinner: IRC geeks dine before Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference. [Sunday]
matt mullenweg
Nerdfight! WordPress founder vs. Freewebs president
Gawker Media editors appreciate a good snarky nerdfight. So imagine our surprise when one shows up on the front door. WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg (pictured) and Freewebs president Shervin Pishevar snipe at one another in the comment thread for a post about Shervin. More »
wordpress
