We're excited to announce that Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of the popular blogging platform WordPress, will be on the Disrupt stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024.
When Mullenweg first started working with WordPress, he was a 19-year-old jazz enthusiast and photographer living in Texas. He noticed that the blogging software he was using was stagnant. So we decided to branch out from the existing project and build our own open source platform. .
The first version of WordPress was released in May 2003. From its humble beginnings, it has expanded into a near-ubiquitous content management system powering many of the web's most prominent publishers, including TechCrunch. According to some calculations, it is used by over 40% of websites.
Mullenweg is also the CEO of Automattic, which provides hosting and other commercial services on WordPress, and was valued at $7.5 billion in 2021. Among other things, Automattic operates spam filtering Akismet, e-commerce plugin WooCommerce, and blogging platform. Tumblr (acquired from Verizon). Mullenweg also invests in startups through Audrey Capital.
As WordPress and Automattic have grown and Mullenweg has become one of the leading voices on open source software, they have also faced similar controversies. For example, they have struggled to turn Tumblr into a sustainable business and have been embroiled in a legal battle with another WordPress hosting company, WP Engine, in recent months.
So when Mullenweg joins us next week on the Disrupt stage at Disrupt 2024, we'll have plenty to discuss about his journey as a founder, his challenges, and what's next for WordPress and the web. This is a conversation you don't want to miss!
Secure your tickets now and take advantage of low ticket prices. When the doors open at Moscone West in San Francisco on October 28th, all ticket prices will increase.
