Inc Hit Piece  Full Document Contents/Articles/Inc Hit Piece.md, Inc Hit Piece, Matt. > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: > - #OpenSource > - #WordPress > - #MattMullenweg > - #WPengine > - #IncMagazine > - #Journalism > - #Tech > - #EditorialIntegrity > Author: Matt Mullenweg > Source: Matt Mullenweg's personal blog (ma.tt) > Reference: [https://ma.tt/2024/12/inc-hit-piece](https://ma.tt/2024/12/inc-hit-piece) > date created: 2024-12-19 00:00 > > # Title: Inc Hit Piece > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## Table of Contents: - 📝 [Summary](#summary) - 📖 [Main Content](#main-content) - 🗒️ [Notes](#notes) - 📖 [References](#references) - 🗣️ [Paraphrase](#paraphrase) - 📰 [Newsletter](#newsletter) - ✅ [Action Items](#action-items) - 🧪 [Hypotheses](#hypotheses) - 📊 [Methodology](#methodology) - ❓ [Questions](#questions) - 🔮 [Future Research](#future-research) - 💡 [Implications](#implications) - 🧠 [Learning Styles Assessment](#learning-styles-assessment) - 📊 [Accessibility Assessment](#accessibility-assessment) - 🌍 [DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Assessment](#deib-assessment) - ✅ [Logical validity](#logical-validity) - 🔍 [DARVO Analysis Prompt](#darvo-analysis-prompt) - 🔍 [SEO Evaluation](#seo-evaluation) - 🎯 [Conclusion](#conclusion) ### References: - Mullenweg, Matt. "Inc Hit Piece." Matt Mullenweg's Blog, 19 Dec. 2024, [link](https://ma.tt/2024/12/inc-hit-piece). --- ## 📝 Summary: Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, responds to an article written by David H. Freedman for Inc Magazine, criticizing its editorial approach, factual inaccuracies, and bias. Mullenweg shares personal insights about his experience with the journalist and challenges the portrayal of his actions and Automattic’s operations. He also corrects various factual errors related to his company’s valuation, the WordPress Foundation's structure, and his dealings with WP Engine. --- ## 📖 Main Content: The article begins with a personal anecdote about Mullenweg’s attention to detail, specifically focusing on the quality of toilet paper at Automattic's offices. Mullenweg explains that his choice to use premium brands like Aesop soap and Who Gives A Crap toilet paper reflects the company’s commitment to a quality environment for employees and visitors. However, the piece misrepresents this moment, downplaying its context and exaggerating its significance. Freedman’s inaccuracies extend beyond this opening anecdote. The article erroneously reports Automattic’s valuation at $710 million, when the actual valuation from the last Series E round in 2021 was $7.5 billion. Additionally, it misrepresents WP Engine’s role in the WordPress ecosystem, suggesting Mullenweg’s actions stemmed from a vague disagreement about contributions to the open-source community. Mullenweg clarifies that the issue was more about trademark use and WP Engine's reluctance to follow open-source principles, not an unwillingness to contribute code. Another significant inaccuracy is the claim that Mullenweg controls the WordPress Foundation. Mullenweg sets the record straight, explaining that he is one of three board members, and the Foundation does not oversee the core software. The piece also incorrectly asserts that Mullenweg owns the WordPress trademark, when it is actually owned by the WordPress Foundation. These errors, along with others related to employee counts and historical events, undermine the article’s credibility. ### 🗒️ Notes: - **Factual inaccuracies**: - Automattic's valuation was incorrectly reported as $710 million instead of $7.5 billion. - WP Engine’s number of websites affected on September 25 was exaggerated to 1.5 million, while the actual number was closer to 745,000. - The article incorrectly states that Mullenweg controls the WordPress Foundation, which he does not. - The WordPress trademark is owned by the WordPress Foundation, not Mullenweg personally. - There is a mischaracterization of negotiations with WP Engine, which were primarily about trademark use, not contributions to the open-source community. - The history of WordPress's founding is inaccurate, with the timeline and details surrounding its creation distorted. - **Tone and bias**: - The article starts with a photo that makes Mullenweg appear "morose," which is considered a cherry-picked image meant to give a negative impression. - Throughout the piece, Freedman’s language portrays Mullenweg’s actions as dictatorial, despite his clarifications that his decisions were based on business and legal concerns. - The portrayal of Mullenweg’s leadership is critical, focusing on negative aspects without providing balanced coverage of his positive contributions to WordPress and open-source culture. - **Cherry-picking of quotes and photos**: - The inclusion of the bathroom anecdote and the choice of a "morose" photo serves to undermine Mullenweg's character and leadership style. - The article emphasizes conflicts with WP Engine and selective quotes from Mullenweg to reinforce the narrative of an authoritarian figure. - **Criticism of WP Engine**: - Mullenweg defends his stance against WP Engine, citing their use of WordPress trademarks without proper contributions to the open-source community. - WP Engine’s involvement in the broader WordPress ecosystem is challenged by Mullenweg, who believes their reliance on WordPress.org’s free resources undermines their commercial success. - **Public perception**: - Mullenweg suggests that while some community members have criticized his actions, others support his stance on protecting WordPress's open-source ethos. - The article’s portrayal of Mullenweg’s actions, especially around the WP Engine conflict, has led to debates about his control over the WordPress ecosystem and the ethics of his decisions. --- ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1. **Original Paragraph**: "I don’t identify with the term ‘dictator,’” he says. “A nicer way of saying it would be ‘enlightened leader.’” - **Paraphrase**: Mullenweg rejects the label of "dictator" and prefers to describe himself as an "enlightened leader," highlighting his leadership style. 2. **Original Paragraph**: "No, the negotiations, and what they were doing wrong, was abuse of the WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks." - **Paraphrase**: Mullenweg clarifies that the core issue with WP Engine was their misuse of the WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks, not their lack of open-source contributions. --- ## 📰 Newsletter: **Blurb**: In this issue, we dive into the latest controversies surrounding Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, as he responds to a biased feature piece by Inc Magazine. Mullenweg corrects multiple factual inaccuracies, explains his stance on open-source principles, and defends his actions regarding WP Engine. This article sheds light on the complexities of managing an open-source empire while maintaining integrity. Plus, learn how Mullenweg’s leadership style, despite the backlash, continues to influence the WordPress ecosystem. --- ## ✅ Action Items: - **Assess the conflict** between Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, considering its impact on the broader WordPress community and open-source principles. - **Evaluate the role of the WordPress Foundation**, ensuring its independence and transparent governance structures. - **Examine the ethical implications** of using open-source software in commercial ventures, especially in relation to the "maker-taker" problem. - **Consider the importance of media integrity**, particularly when it comes to fact-checking and editorial balance in articles about influential figures. --- ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - **Hypothesis 1**: As WordPress continues to grow, the pressure on Mullenweg to balance commercial interests with open-source values will intensify, potentially leading to further conflicts with competitors like WP Engine. - **Hypothesis 2**: If WP Engine succeeds in its legal battle, it could lead to greater scrutiny of trademark use in open-source software, prompting changes to how WordPress and other projects protect their brand. ### 📊 Methodology: - **Data Sources**: Review public legal filings, financial statements, and open-source contributions from companies like WP Engine and Automattic. - **Analysis Techniques**: Qualitative analysis of media portrayals, legal documents, and industry reactions to determine the broader impact of Mullenweg’s decisions on the open-source community. ### ❓ Questions: - How can open-source communities maintain a balance between commercial success and community contributions? - What legal precedents could arise from the WP Engine vs. Automattic lawsuit? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Investigate the long-term effects of Mullenweg’s actions on the WordPress community’s trust in corporate governance of open-source projects. - Study the influence of media portrayal on public perception of tech entrepreneurs and their leadership styles. ### 💡 Implications: - This situation highlights the need for clearer governance structures in open-source projects, especially in cases where commercial entities profit from community-driven software. --- ## 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: - **Visual Learners**: The article benefits from personal anecdotes and images but could be enhanced with infographics showing the timeline of events and impacts on the community. - **Aural Learners**: Consider adding an audio version of the article or a podcast discussion to expand accessibility. - **Verbal Learners**: The detailed explanations and personal reflections engage verbal learners, but the addition of more analogies could further enhance understanding. - **Logical Learners**: The piece presents a strong logical flow but could include more data to support claims about Automattic’s market dominance and WP Engine’s impact on the ecosystem. --- ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Ensure all images, especially those of Mullenweg, have descriptive alt text. - **Improve**: Integrate larger fonts for easier readability and provide a text-only version of the article for screen reader users. - **Contrast and Readability**: The article is mostly readable, but using higher contrast for text could improve accessibility for users with visual impairments. --- ### 🌍 DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Assessment: - **Inclusive Language**: The article uses clear language and avoids exclusionary terms but could benefit from additional references to diverse voices in the WordPress community. - **Psychological Safety**: The tone of the article risks alienating readers who support Mullenweg’s actions, making the community feel divided. More balanced coverage could ensure better inclusivity. --- ### ✅ Logical validity: The article contains several **logical fallacies**, including: - **Hasty Generalization**: The portrayal of Mullenweg as a dictator based on selective evidence and media portrayals. - **Appeal to Authority**: Citing the opinions of WP Engine without addressing the underlying legal and business realities. <!-- deep-read:sections end --> ## Highlights - no credible business publication would put Automattic’s valuation at $710 million, [our last Series E primary round was at $7.5 billion](https://ma.tt/2021/08/funding-buyback-hiring/). That was 2021 and we’d probably trade closer to $5B now with current multiples, but still the article is an order-of-magnitude off. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg121610x6xr59b6e8s6hpj)) - > And it all began when Mullenweg got very annoyed, very publicly, at a $400 million company called WP Engine. Once again, Inc is unable to distinguish between revenue and valuation. > On September 25, more than 1.5 million websites around the world suddenly lost the ability to make some routine software updates. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg134sjs2p5q8zevsr7xejj)) - I do not control the WordPress Foundation. I am one of three board members, so by definition am not in control. The other two board members could remove me at any time. Second, the Foundation does not oversee the core software, or the WordPress.org website! This is super clear in WPE’s legal filings, in the about pages of the respective websites, by talking to anyone who understands this. Really shoddy journalism. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg14jh9ww6adw8mmpx0099t)) - The WordPress trademark doesn’t belong to Mullenweg, it belongs to the WordPress Foundation. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg162w51py547vw8thphexx)) - Okay, now after saying Automattic is worth $710M and WP Engine is worth $400M, you’re now breathlessly quoting WPE’s PR slop claiming the WP ecosystem is $600B (it’s not, probably closer to $10-15B/yr) and then immediately pivot into saying that Automattic gets the biggest piece of that pie, something clearly not true based on our revenue versus everyone else in the ecosystem. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg16vkztz1jw2dvzbmtq96y)) - Inc Magazine already runs on WordPress, though they use a needlessly complex and expensive custom front-end instead of just serving the site natively. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg17k8kpv654y82tt9kd1pe)) - > Thesis eventually gave in. But many in the WordPress community were put off by what they saw as Mullenweg’s vindictive, bullying behavior, and some eventually even left WordPress for other publishing platforms because of it. It’s funny to talk about the last big controversy in WordPress world being in 2010, I think it actually speaks to our stability. Since 2010, when “some eventually even left WordPress”, the platform has grown market share from under 10% to 43%. I think in a few years we’ll look back at WP Engine as inconsequential as Thesis, and Heather Brunner as credible as Chris Pearson ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg18spja474fs4enk2hwgea)) - his Cernak character is quoted like he’s some authority or representative of a trend. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg198xt64k84p1r408k3pny)) - I know a lot of entrepreneurs follow me and I don’t want your takeaway to be “don’t talk to journalists” or “don’t engage with mainstream media.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jfg1a4as5cmz9nws4v9wrq3n))