Jun 10
9
I’m Wild About Matt Mullenweg
by Julie Broad
We’re BAAAAACK!!!
Engage Today 2010 in Calgary was an absolutely incredible weekend. After last year with Richard Branson, Stephen Covey, the Dalai Lama, and so many other great minds from the world it seemed impossible that this year’s event could even compare. And really it didn’t. The two events were totally different.
Last year was an incredible experience. This year, it was a useful and practical event full of tools and ideas to implement into business. And I loved every minute of it!
It was an event of big ideas not necessarily big names.
But one of the big names to me was Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress.
Here’s a little overview on Matt I found on YouTube:
With the wisdom you’d expect from an experienced and successful 62 year old man, not a 26 year guy, he quietly and humbly explained how WordPress came to be. And what his vision is for the future of WordPress and for business in general. It was such a compelling and inspiring story. It demonstrated the power of having a strong and clear vision and surrounding yourself with people who share your vision.
Some of the key points that I want to share with you from Matt’s talk include:
- We can build things together that are far greater than anything we can do ourselves. It’s about community and creating a strong community where everyone can own, contribute and improve what they are working on. WordPress has only 60 employees but nearly 1,500 contributors to the software. That is the power of open source and community.
- Companies need missions that are about more than money. He has changed how we communicate in the world. That kind of change doesn’t happen when you’re thinking about money. And if you need proof, I think you can look to Matt’s car which I believe he said was a 1988 Chevy.
- Always trade the short term for the long term. He is willing to spend money and time on something today that has no immediate payoff because it has a very strong long term benefit. And he had countless examples of where this is the case in his life, acquisitions WordPress has made and in how he treats the growth and development of his employees. He is focused on the future not on the short term rewards.
- Finally – measure the outputs not the inputs of the people on your team. He feels the old working system of 9 to 5 is dead. Employers that recognize the needs of their employees to work at their highest productivity times and in a flexible work environment can harness the best talent. It’s not about the hours worked it’s about the results.
Matt’s vision for community, better communication and technology’s role in our future is compelling and inspiring. With 250,000,000 wordpress blogs in the world, he is making a big difference in our world and I have a feeling the Matt Mullenweg story is just beginning. Pretty incredible.
Over the next couple of weeks I will share some of the other insights I gained from the conference … and not to worry you die hard real estate folks … there were PLENTY of great real estate lessons learned at this business conference! The majority of attendees were successful real estate investors … and several of the speakers are great real estate investors too! I have some golden nuggets to share, I promise. Stay tuned …
