Meet Matt

OK, WordPress users, do you know who this young man is? I didn’t either until I read a recent article in the Houston Chronicle and learned that he is Matt Mullenweg, a hometown boy who cofounded WordPress which is part of his highly successful company Automatic.

Interestingly, he went to Houston’s acclaimed High School for Performing and Visual Arts which happens to be the alma mater of one of my daughters. (Should I mention that it is also Beyonce’s?) After graduation, Matt attended the University of Houston but dropped out after a couple of years to go to work in San Francisco where WordPress got its start.

What is fascinating about the company is that it has no real corporate headquarters despite having more than 800 employees. As explained in the article, these people are in 69 countries so when you have a question the answer may come from a person in any one of a number of places.

So many tech folks have chosen Austin, Texas, as a base so it is surprising that Mullenweg returned to Houston. Evidently, he places value on family and friends here and appreciates the can do attitude that identifies this sprawling, unique big city. Too, the amenities Houston offers and the quality of life are hard to beat. Yes, summers get pretty warm, but the air conditioning is good!

Now, I don’t know everything about everybody in Houston, but I’m thinking Matt Mullenweg has a pretty low profile. That may be because he spends so much time traveling going from one country to another to communicate with his international staff.

As I read the article with his comments about how the web is changing and all that an individual can do without having to leave home, I am once again staggered by the genius of young tech entrepreneurs. And, like many others of his generation, Mullenweg is writing a book, the subject of which is distributed business. This is the way he has built a hugely successful enterprise and views it as the wave of the future.

After reading the Chronicle and other articles about Matt Mullenweg, I appreciate more the vehicle provided to so many of us who use WordPress to share our thoughts, experiences and photos. Prior it was just a service I chose because it was recommended by a guy at my local Apple store. Now I think of it as having been developed by the guy that could have lived next door and appreciate that he has chosen Houston as home base.

i so appreciate your visit and the comments you leave behind