Balancing Growth and Open Source: The Automattic Challenge

The Evolution of Open Source in the Tech Industry

A significant shift has occurred within the technology sector regarding open source software over the past sixteen years, beginning with the establishment of Automattic by Matt Mullenweg. Automattic is a prominent commercial supporter of WordPress, the open source content management system.

Microsoft, formerly critical of open source – with leaders once labeling it as detrimental – has now become a leading global contributor to the movement.

Companies like Elastic, Confluent, and GitLab demonstrate that startups can achieve commercial viability while building upon open source projects.

The Unexpected Success of Open Source

The widespread adoption of open source has even surprised long-time advocates. Mullenweg, also the CEO of Automattic, noted the use of Chromium by both Brave and, remarkably, Internet Explorer as a prime example.

He likened this development to achieving peace in the Middle East, highlighting how previously unimaginable collaborations are now commonplace.

WordPress: A Leading Open Source Platform

WordPress and Automattic are central to this evolving landscape. The project boasts a thriving community, with approximately 1,000 active core contributors dedicated to its development.

Furthermore, a substantial group of 55,000 extenders create themes and plugins, significantly expanding the platform’s capabilities.

With over 28 million websites powered by WordPress, it accounts for roughly 40% of all websites, establishing it as one of the most widely deployed open source platforms globally.

Future Growth and Community Engagement

Mullenweg envisions even greater expansion for WordPress, predicting a doubling of its current scale in the years ahead.

This ambitious goal necessitates careful nurturing and evolution of the developer community, alongside empowering open source contributors to assume leadership roles within the WordPress ecosystem.

Challenges have arisen during transitions, such as the introduction of Gutenberg, but Automattic remains committed to fostering community engagement.

The company anticipates that the next sixteen years will witness even more rapid growth than the previous period, driven by this dedication to its community.

A Diverse Landscape of Contributors

The WordPress ecosystem thrives not through the dominance of a single entity, but through the collective efforts of organizations both large and small. Many businesses dedicate resources – code and developer time – to the project, frequently aligning with the principles of Mullenweg’s Five for the Future program.

This initiative encourages companies utilizing WordPress to allocate 5% of their resources towards its ongoing development and improvement.

there’s nothing automattic about balancing commercial growth with an open source developer community

While Automattic stands as a significant contributor within the WordPress community, numerous other companies play a vital role in its success. A substantial portion of these are domain registration services, including GoDaddy and Bluehost.

These companies leverage customer acquisition from domain registrations to promote WordPress hosting solutions.

A Broad Spectrum of Businesses

Beyond the major players, a multitude of smaller businesses populate the ecosystem. These primarily consist of design agencies and developers specializing in paid plugins.

Yoast, for example, is a prominent SEO tool utilized by over 12 million websites, representing one such successful plugin developer.

The Role of Individual Contributors and Sponsorship

Thousands of individual developers also contribute to WordPress. Despite the common belief that open-source work is entirely voluntary, many communities embrace the concept of “sponsorship.”

This involves commercial entities, like Automattic, financially supporting open-source developers to enable them to work on projects full-time.

A 2020 survey conducted by the Linux Foundation and The Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard revealed that over half of core and frequent contributors to open-source projects receive financial support for their work.

This funding comes either from their employer or a third-party sponsor.

Interestingly, the proportion of sponsored developers is somewhat lower within the WordPress community, estimated at around one-third.

WordPress benefits from a wide range of contributors.
Sponsorship plays a key role in supporting developer efforts.
The ecosystem is more diverse than often perceived.

Initial Advantage in WordPress Development

The WordPress project benefits from contributions from numerous individuals and organizations. However, Automattic demonstrably holds a leading position in guiding the community’s direction, despite the fact that many contributors are not directly financially supported by the company.

A key factor in WordPress’s initial success was its development without an immediate focus on commercialization. The project predated Automattic by two years, as previously discussed, meaning no single company’s leadership was inherent in its origins. Matt Mullenweg was a co-founder, and a highly visible advocate for the project.

Following Automattic’s establishment, several other startups appeared capable of assuming leadership roles within the community. For example, WP Engine, a hosting provider, was founded in 2010 and experienced rapid growth, securing approximately $300 million in funding, as reported by Crunchbase.

Automattic established a lasting advantage early on by acquiring the WordPress.com domain, serving as a complement to the open-source project’s WordPress.org. This ownership conferred significant and enduring influence within the community.

Toni Schneider, former CEO of Automattic, recalls, “We were the first to market, securing the domain name, and our service gained traction. Subsequent attempts to replicate our success ultimately proved unsuccessful.”

Automattic spearheaded major development initiatives, coordinated development efforts, and organized events like meetups and conferences. However, the company also exercised caution to avoid overwhelming the community with its commercial ventures.

Schneider explains, “We deliberately focused solely on hosted WordPress solutions, allowing other businesses to explore alternative offerings. This approach, while slower than aggressive expansion, fostered a robust and diverse ecosystem that is now remarkably resilient.”

This strategy proved effective. Even companies operating as direct competitors within the WordPress ecosystem generally maintain positive relationships.

Monica Ohara, Chief Marketing Officer for WordPress.com, states, “We collaborate with numerous companies that might be considered competitors. Matt frequently emphasizes the importance of expanding the overall market, rather than solely focusing on our own market share.”

Ohara continues, “There are instances where customers choose to migrate from WordPress.com, and we actively assist them in transitioning to another hosting provider.”

Challenges to Leadership within WordPress

Despite substantial investment in the WordPress ecosystem, Automattic doesn't consistently garner a reputation as a purely positive influence.

Expansions of the company’s product portfolio – of which there have been numerous instances – frequently trigger opposition, as independent businesses perceive a potential threat from Automattic’s growing presence. Recently, the launch of “Built by WordPress,” a service offering website creation directly to customers, generated criticism and widespread anxieties among freelance design professionals who feared negative impacts on their livelihoods.

While disagreements are commonplace within the competitive landscape of open-source commercial ventures, significant dissent has also arisen concerning WordPress’s design and underlying code.

The Gutenberg project, a comprehensive redesign of the WordPress publishing interface initiated in 2017, provoked considerable criticism from prominent community developers. This also led to a temporary reduction in the number of project contributors, with some developers choosing to leave or establish alternative WordPress versions, such as ClassicPress.

Ghost, a separate open-source publishing platform and company that debuted its software in 2013, experienced some growth concurrently. Established by a former Automattic employee, it adopted a similar dual model of open-source development and for-profit operation.

The core of the contention surrounding Gutenberg lay not in the addition of new features, but in its fundamental redefinition of the publishing system’s core principles. Since its inception in 2003, WordPress had been engineered to publish HTML to the web. The simplicity of HTML made the content management system accessible to a broad user base.

This ease of use was a key driver of the platform’s widespread adoption; however, organizations utilizing WordPress increasingly required more advanced rich-media presentation capabilities – something the original editor wasn’t equipped to handle. Gutenberg aimed to resolve this, providing richer content “blocks” while inevitably increasing the editor’s complexity.

Discussions surrounding Gutenberg were often heated (with one individual suggesting it be “a plugin for masochists”), yet Mullenweg and Automattic persevered. Later, some contributors noted that he had been subtly indicating Gutenberg’s direction for years.

“Matt often possesses a vision that others wouldn’t anticipate needing,” explains Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the executive director of the WordPress project. “Gutenberg exemplifies this. We were utilizing PHP, a widely-used web programming language, and then he proposed transitioning to JavaScript and rewriting the CMS – known for its HTML foundation – to be block-based, employing a WYSIWYG [‘what you see is what you get’] approach.”

Chomphosy believes that without a singular, driving leader, Gutenberg might not have materialized – or at least, not as promptly and effectively.

“A community-managed approach would undoubtedly have yielded different outcomes. However, there’s merit in having someone dedicated full-time, or with a clear vision, to drive progress and also absorb a significant amount of negative feedback,” she states.

Many open-source projects struggle to reconcile debate with decisive action. While maintaining a democratized structure and openness to community involvement, many projects ultimately empower a “BDFL” (benevolent dictator for life) to maintain momentum when consensus proves elusive.

This can result in lasting divisions and community conflicts, as seen within the Python language community following the development of a version incompatible with existing code.

WordPress has largely avoided such schisms, but its increasing size and scope make future departures more conceivable.

The Rise of Open Source Leadership

Following challenges stemming from the Gutenberg debate, Automattic brought Chomphosy on board in 2015. She was subsequently promoted to her present position in 2019, tasked with bolstering the organizational framework within the WordPress open source environment.

Currently, her team comprises over 60 individuals dedicated exclusively to the management and coordination of the community.

The Importance of Sustaining Partnerships

“The presence of a sustaining partner such as Automattic is crucial for anyone initiating an open source community,” Chomphosy explained. “The administrative tasks essential to enabling open source development are extensive and complex.

The work my team undertakes to maintain momentum isn't merely wide-ranging; it also involves a significant amount of detailed, foundational administrative effort, often unseen by those outside the project.”

Addressing the Organizational Gap

A common difficulty for many open source projects lies in the fact that most contributors initially join as developers or designers. Few are inclined towards management or leadership roles. Chomphosy’s team is actively working to address this imbalance.

“WordPress distinguishes itself by actively training leaders in the methods of open source management, mirroring the work that I perform. This involves a roughly equal split between leadership development and WordPress upkeep, a practice rarely observed elsewhere,” she stated.

Ethical Communication as a Cornerstone

“We emphasize that individuals learning to lead within an open source structure do so grounded in the principles of ethical communication. This foundational aspect is integral to our approach.

This commitment ensures responsible and constructive collaboration throughout the WordPress ecosystem.”

The team focuses on developing leadership skills within the open source context.
A significant portion of their work involves essential administrative tasks.
Ethical communication is prioritized in leadership training.

The Web's Future: Automattic and the Open Source Vision

Matt Mullenweg, along with Automattic, harbors ambitious goals for the evolution of online publishing. He foresees WordPress eventually surpassing the prevalence of platforms such as Facebook, thereby revitalizing the open web. He maintains that WordPress possesses the potential to become the foundation for the majority of websites globally.

Such assertions frequently invite considerable debate.

David Heinemeier Hansson characterized this as “a nasty, monopolistic goal” in a tweet responding to an interview where Mullenweg contemplated achieving an 85% market share.

Mullenweg countered by stating: “A broader articulation of my objective is that 85% or more of the world’s websites should be powered by open source content management systems.” He further elaborated: “Considering the multitude of choices available and the web’s inherent lack of coercion, a platform attaining such scale would signify the creation of something truly exceptional – an unparalleled product/market alignment.”

Notably, there is little skepticism regarding the possibility of open source dominating the consumer web. This potential has largely been fostered by the shortcomings of proprietary companies in filling this niche. While companies like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify have generated substantial revenue – often exceeding that of Automattic – their expansion is constrained by the need to cater to specific, profitable sectors rather than adopting WordPress’s broader scope.

A shift away from closed platforms is also proving advantageous for WordPress.

Nick Gernert, CEO of WordPress VIP, observes: “A significant degree of trust has been placed in a limited number of entities, like Google and Facebook.” He continues, “While this isn’t inherently negative, the resulting consolidation has led to scenarios such as the AWS and Parler situation, or instances of platforms removing users. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but we are witnessing a growing need for accountability on the platform and internet levels regarding the amount of trust we place in a few key players.”

Gernert anticipates: “We expect to see organizations taking greater control over their digital channels, not abandoning other platforms, but prioritizing the development of owned platforms.”

All members of the Automattic team recognize the value of platform diversity. Even walled gardens serve a purpose – they offer an accessible and straightforward entry point to the internet. However, excessive dependence on platforms, according to Chomphosy, ultimately restricts users.

“I believe platforms that are exceptionally user-friendly can hinder the development of essential 21st-century skills. When these skills become neglected, it can significantly limit individuals – both professionally and in their interactions with technology,” she explained.

“The open web provides an opportunity to re-engage these skills. It encourages critical thinking about issues like copyright versus copyleft, and the evaluation of information validity – aspects often absent on closed-source platforms.”

These are compelling ideas, and they are typical of the sentiments expressed by Automattic employees, potentially contributing to WordPress’s ultimate success: it is populated by passionate advocates.

Paul Maiorana, the CEO of WooCommerce, referenced a quote by Walt Disney: “We don’t create films to generate profit; we generate profit to create more films.” He added, “This philosophy is central to our company’s operations. Our mission is the driving force behind our existence.”

This mission is boundless in scope. Mullenweg draws inspiration from Geoffrey West, a renowned biologist who proposed that cities can expand indefinitely, while companies are more akin to finite organisms.

“A significant part of my work involves transforming WordPress into something resembling a city,” Mullenweg stated. “Companies inevitably cease to exist. Cities endure. Networks of interconnected elements can be established, and once they reach a certain scale, they become remarkably resilient.”

While invulnerability represents an ambitious objective, Automattic’s aspirations may well be realized, fueled by the strength of its dedicated community, as it strives to build interconnected ecosystems of products and concepts. The focus on these neighborhoods within WordPress will be explored further in the next section of this TC-1.