Mr. T
So, based on emails from colleagues as well as strangers, it seems that there’s some general confusion about the difference between my company, Automatic, and Matt Mullenweg’s company, Automattic. But there needn’t be any.
To help with the confusion, I’ve created this simple matrix:
| Automatic | Automattic |
| Founded in 2003 | Founded in 2005 |
| Builds content management apps and weblog software | Builds content management apps and weblog software |
| Built a bunch of web-apps for clients and colleagues | Worked on their weblog software |
| Never released their PHP-based weblog software, but talked like they were going to | Released their PHP-based weblog software in 2003 |
| Raised two siamese cats | Raised millions in VC funding |
This matrix also illustrates how much difference an “extra something” can make to a company. Maybe it’s the extra “t” in the name. Maybe it’s timing. Maybe it’s taking a risk instead of playing it safe and just paying bills.
Congratulations to Matt for taking the chance. He went for it and it paid off. Let’s see how far he can go.
