Requires WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg to step down from his management function have elevated in latest months amid his controversial combat and authorized battle with internet hosting firm WP Engine.
Mullenweg not solely intends to remain, he’s additionally desirous about how he plans to handle succession planning. He doesn’t wish to move on what he helped construct to a “committee,” however moderately to a different CEO who will proceed to behave as a steward to the WordPress neighborhood.
In a lately aired episode of Lenny’s Podcast, Mullenweg largely rehashed the drama surrounding his combat with WP Engine — an organization he believes has been benefiting from WordPress’s open-source nature to construct its enterprise with out contributing again sufficiently to the WordPress venture and neighborhood. WP Engine is constructed on WordPress.
Mullenweg additionally briefly commented on what he sees forward for WordPress’s future and that of Automattic, the dad or mum firm to the internet hosting firm WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and different companies.
Mullenweg identified that probably the most “iconic” corporations of our technology are these the place the chief has retained some majority in voting management, which is an element he considers in succession planning.
“…If or after I’m gone, I don’t wish to move it to a committee,” Mullenweg mentioned, talking of what he’s constructed with Automattic and WordPress. “I wish to move it to another person who may have a job much like mine, and actually type of attempt to be a steward.”
“And there in the end is a test and stability on that, as a result of, once more, the neighborhood may go away, they may fork the software program, individuals may change…,” he added, noting that the function was “much more being like a mayor than a CEO” in that the individual would in the end be accountable to others, like customers and people who are contributing to the venture.
Mullenweg additionally touted the function that Automattic itself performs to spice up adoption of WordPress, referencing how the free model of WordPress.com helped introduce greater than 100 million individuals to the software program.
“That sort of for-profit, non-profit, open supply, working in live performance — I feel is a very knowledgeable mannequin that we’re beginning to see much more corporations do,” he mentioned of the collaboration between Automattic and WordPress.org. “It’s really very thrilling to me that a number of the issues that had been controversial once we began — like open supply or distributed work — are actually the default for thus many thrilling new startups and this entire ecosystem.”