Distributed, with Matt Mullenweg

On this episode of the Distributed podcast, we dig into the good, the bad, and the history of Automattic meetups. More Subscribe to Distributed at Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

The latest episode of the Distributed podcast pairs Dylan Field, Figma's CEO and Co-founder, and guest host Connie Yang, Head of Payments Design at Stripe. Join a discussion on design, instilling remote culture, and the digital economy, including Field's perspective on the role of design in technology. “We've gone from a physical economy to a digital economy. I don't think these are new trends or new things that happen but now, all of a sudden it happened all at once, and accelerated massively,” he says.More Subscribe to Distributed at Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

Whether making their start as a solo blogger on their own beat, or growing up in a thriving newsroom, journalists must forge their own unique work life as they write the first draft of history, as Matt says in the latest Distributed podcast episode with Erica Pandey, business journalist and writer of the What's Next newsletter at Axios. This fast-paced conversation covers a lot of ground, from Erica's own journalism career, to how she works with her Axios colleagues across bureaus. She balances Axios' Smart Brevity style with authoritative reporting on complex topics, seeking multiples perspectives, from data to experts to people on the ground.  Says Erica, “One of my greatest joys is being able to talk to people.” The lively conversation centers on how we're all returning to work after so much change and adaptation, including the rise of hybrid workplaces.More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

Matt Mullenweg joins Shane Parrish on The Knowledge Project podcast to talk about companies that are distributed from the beginning, and some of the benefits that means for its people. "Part of our model of distributed work also provides a fair amount of autonomy in how people get their work done," Matt said. "I like that it creates a lot more objectivity and focus around what the actual work is."More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

Matt welcomes Sid Sijbrandij, Co-Founder and CEO of GitLab, another pioneering company with Open Source origins and a long-running commitment to a completely distributed workforce.  Sid and Matt settle into a conversation about how GitLab’s six values are reinforced in 20 ways at the fully-remote company.  GitLab, now with more than 1,300 employees, updated its values over 300 times in the last calendar year.  “They have to be reinforced,” says Sid, “and be alive in that way.”More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

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Automattic’s General Counsel, Paul Sieminski, recently joined the Technically Legal podcast to talk about how legal work can thrive in a fully distributed company. “It’s aimed at a legal audience, and I love to remind my fellow layers how much value we can add to a distributed organization,” said Paul of his appearance on the podcast.More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

Matt shares several such pivotal moments in an episode full of stories and insight from the growth of Automattic, and of his own journey and leadership evolution, with Mike Maples Jr., host of the Starting Greatness podcast.More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

Join us for the latest episode of Distributed, as Matt Mullenweg interviews Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter and Square. They discuss how both companies have embraced remote collaboration, the underrated value of deliberate work, and how questioning preconceived models from the get-go can change everything. More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

As audio and video conferencing surge worldwide, Matt talks through the science of sound with Davit Baghdasaryan, the CEO of Krisp, a fast-growing company offering AI-powered noise cancellation technology for removing background noise on any conferencing platform. Krisp’s technology, including its proprietary deep neural network krispNet DNN, processes audio securely on the user’s computer.

Are companies setting up their managers for success? What are BICEPS? How do you assemble your colleagues like a management Voltron? Lara Hogan is the founder of Wherewithall, a firm that specializes in management and leadership training. She’s the author of Resilient Management, a must-read for anyone who is a manager, wants to become one, or generally just wants to learn how to be a better teammate.

"We have introduced so many frictions to people’s lives by forcing them to move." Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, studies the future of work -- specifically the changing geography of work. What happens to cities, to immigration policies, and to issues around gender equity when more companies let people work from anywhere?

Is working from home a breakthrough for introverts? The answer, of course, is not so simple. Morra Aarons-Mele is the host of The Anxious Achiever podcast for HBR Presents from Harvard Business Review, and founder of award-winning social impact agency Women Online and its database of women influencers, The Mission List. She’s also the author of Hiding in the Bathroom: How to Get Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home). To learn more about Aarons-Mele’s work, go to womenandwork.org.

Matt Mullenweg speaks with neuroscientist Dr. Adam Gazzaley, co-author of the book The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World, about how our brains work, particularly during times like the current pandemic. How does the brain handle internal and external stimuli, and what do we know about the effect of practices like meditation, exercise, nutrition, and sleep?

On a recent episode of Sam Harris's excellent Making Sense podcast, Matt shared insights for managers and companies who are currently exploring remote work for the first time.

The world has dramatically changed in just a few weeks. As companies around the world shift to remote work, how do we navigate this crisis? Distributed host Matt Mullenweg talks to Vanessa Van Edwards, bestselling author, speaker, and founder of Science of People, about how we communicate with our friends, family, and coworkers during a time when Zoom and Slack are our primary tools for understanding each other.

For our first episode of the year, host Matt Mullenweg talks to Jason Fried, the CEO of Basecamp. Jason runs a semi-distributed company that’s been making project management software for 20 years. He’s accumulated a wealth of wisdom about how trusting employees and treating them with respect can yield long-term success. For more, go to Distributed.blog.

To close out the year, our host Matt Mullenweg is joined once again by Automattic’s Mark Armstrong to discuss the state of distributed work as we transition into a new decade. Matt discusses his key takeaways from his 2019 conversations on the podcast, and reflects on his year as the CEO of a growing distributed company. m For more, go to Distributed.blog.

Anil Dash didn’t like the direction the web was going, so he joined a tech company that promised to take web development back to its indie roots. That company became known as Glitch, a semi-distributed company based in NYC. In this episode, Matt and Anil talk about the good old days of blogging and how the ideals of those pioneers inform the way Glitch treats its employees and its product. For more, go to Distributed.blog.

On this episode of the Distributed podcast, we get an insider’s look at the Grand Meetup, Automattic’s annual weeklong all-staff event, where employees have an opportunity to collaborate, learn from one another, and hang out face-to-face. Folks from across the company share what makes this gathering so special, talk about social cohesion in the context of a large distributed company, and reflect on what’s great (and what’s tough) about the distributed lifestyle. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by the Automattic Editorial team and Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, Michael Simonelli, and Meghal Janardan. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

InVision CEO Clark Valberg needed a tool to help his distributed team collaborate on design projects. So he created it — and it became the company’s flagship product, one that every Fortune 100 company now uses. In this episode, Clark joins our host Matt Mullenweg to discuss how he built his distributed company, and how that structure informs InVision’s collaborative-design products. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by the Automattic Editorial team and Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, Michael Simonelli, and Meghal Janardan. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Because of their background in working with disabled and marginalized people, attorney and activist Lydia X.Z. Brown has a deep understanding of how different workplace environments can best serve diverse workforces. Today they join our host Matt Mullenweg to discuss what distributed companies can do to make workflows and working conditions more inclusive. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

When hiring managers interview a candidate for a high-level role, they want to be sure that the person they choose will be productive and able to work well with their prospective team. But what if the hiring process takes place over video chat? A growing number of companies outsource the vetting process to a company like Toptal, a freelance marketplace. Toptal’s CEO Taso Du Val joins us on this episode of the Distributed podcast, with Matt Mullenweg. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Stephen Wolfram started out on an academic career path, but eventually realized that founding a company would allow him to pursue his scientific work more efficiently. He’s served as a remote CEO of Wolfram Research for the last 28 years. In this episode, Stephen shares with host Matt Mullenweg — another remote CEO — his perspective on the value of geo-distribution, and the processes his partially-distributed company uses to make world-changing software. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Sonal Gupta leads Automattic’s Other Bets division, a team that develops experimental products that hover around Automattic’s core business. She relies on her legal background in order to clearly communicate the team’s new ideas to the rest of the company. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Our host Matt Mullenweg gets together with an old colleague, Scott Berkun. Scott’s an author and tech industry veteran who in 2013 wrote a book about his experience with distributed work at Automattic. Now he’s catching up with Matt to talk about what’s changed since they worked together back in the day. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Our host Matt Mullenweg gets together with Cate Huston, Automattic’s Head of Developer Experience, to talk about the kinds of engineers that excel in distributed environments, and how companies can create the conditions that help engineers thrive. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Our host Matt Mullenweg sits down with leadership coach Leo Widrich to talk about how distributed workers can build emotional resilience and stay connected. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Our host Matt Mullenweg sits down with design leader John Maeda for a discussion about how creative collaboration happens in a distributed context. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Upwork's Zoe Harte discusses how she helps run a blended team of full-time and freelance employees. Then Upwork's Han Yuan shares his insights on the “soft” skills engineers need to work effectively in a distributed world. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

Automattic editor Mark Armstrong turns the interview table on our host, Matt Mullenweg, to discuss how Automattic became one of the biggest fully distributed companies in the world. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

A distributed work skeptic shares her concerns with the model along with recent blockchain innovations. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

How VR might empower remote workers with high fidelity communication. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

How changing the way we think about work can give workers freedom and flexibility. For more, go to Distributed.blog. Produced by Mark Armstrong and the team at Charts & Leisure: Jason Oberholtzer, Whitney Donaldson, Cole Stryker, Levi Sharpe, and Michael Simonelli. Theme music by Jason Oberholtzer. Cover art by Matt Avery.

I created a company with no offices. Now it's time to share what I've learned.