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New Funding for Automattic

ma.tt

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Re: New Funding for Automattic

#11

Post by ryanSrich »

gerbal wrote: post #8

I just spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out what Automattic is and does. I gather they are in some way connected to wordpress, but beyond that I am baffled.

I had a similar reaction the first time I read about them. They've acquired a few apps / businesses as well. I think they do pretty much anything software / Internet related. They 'build products for the web' as it were.

Re: New Funding for Automattic

#12

Post by josefresco »

_sentient wrote: post #9

I know that Wordpress as a platform touches a ton of people, but I'm curious to see what sort of revenue Automattic must be doing on the paid side to justify a $1B+ valuation. I guess it's possible this has little to do with the company's earning potential, and everything to do with reach and influence.

I would argue that compared to it's competitors, WP has a more solid business model and actual revenue. See Tumblr for an example of a highly valued service, with great reach and "influence" but no revenue.

Re: New Funding for Automattic

#13

Post by actionscripted »

manishsharan wrote: post #5

Can a VC or a money guy please explain why a company that is so critical to web valued less than Tumblr ?

I have no idea -- this is just a thought. Perhaps it's because Tumblr as a platform controls its entire user base while WordPress has an OSS variant that allows anyone to work with their code beyond Automattic's control.

When you value Tumblr, it's everything. When you value Automattic/WordPress you're valuing their hosting and paid packages but perhaps aren't putting a figure to their OSS offerings?

I agree that it doesn't seem to make much sense.

Re: New Funding for Automattic

#16

Post by codelust »

It was also only a year ago I said “Automattic is healthy, generating cash, and already growing as fast as it can so there’s no need for the company to raise money directly — we’re not capital constrained.”

I was wrong, but I didn’t realize it until I took on the CEO role in January.

Find this to be really odd.

And it leads into this, which is at odds with the previous statement that they were growing as fast as they can. Did they discover any new avenues for growth that required a whole new raft of capital?

..and we realized we could invest more into WordPress and our products to grow faster

I love the company and Matt. Met him briefly in India many moons ago when he was attending a Wordcamp here.

Re: New Funding for Automattic

#17

Post by [deleted] »

ryanSrich wrote: post #11
gerbal wrote: post #8

I just spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out what Automattic is and does. I gather they are in some way connected to wordpress, but beyond that I am baffled.

I had a similar reaction the first time I read about them. They've acquired a few apps / businesses as well. I think they do pretty much anything software / Internet related. They 'build products for the web' as it were.

[deleted]

Re: New Funding for Automattic

#19

Post by westi »

pessimizer wrote: post #14
gerbal wrote: post #8

I just spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out what Automattic is and does. I gather they are in some way connected to wordpress, but beyond that I am baffled.

They are Wordpress, and wordpress.org. Also Akismet, Gravitar and Polldaddy.

Not WordPress.org, WordPress.org is a separate open source project supported by the WordPress Foundation (http://wordpressfoundation.org/).

Yes there is some overlap in people involved but Automattic / WordPress.com and WordPress.org are separate things.

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