I think it’s super important and we want to grow the social side of blogging.

No that hasn’t come up.

I think what makes Automattic still a “startup” is that the company’s vision (and Matt’s) is still one geared towards “doing good.” It’s a throwback to the culture that created the foundation and technologies that power the Internet. That culture is alive and well within Automattic.

“Never put a sling in the hands of Matt”

Our own modern day “David and Goliath” eh.. methinks you’re batting well above your average 😉

Hoping you find a solution to this.

Is community and the social aspects of Tumblr an important part of the acquisition or is that not a compelling aspect of Tumblr nowadays?

Great that Tumblr will keep Tumbling.

Automattic is still a startup — I’m sure there are deep-pocketed private equity firms that could have outbid us, but the most likely outcome then would have been an “asset” getting chopped up and sold for parts.

Hear, hear.

First, they chose to find a new home for Tumblr instead of shutting it down. Second, they considered not just how much cash they would get on day one, but also — and especially — what would happen to the team afterward, and how the product and the team would be invested in going forward. Third, they thought about the sort of steward of the community the new owner would be. They didn’t have to do any of that, and I commend them for making all three points a priority.

Yes. Unusual for such a huge firm to take such a thoughtful approach. You reached the right people inside Verizon and must have made a hell of a persuasive case. Companies this huge don’t take actions this thoughtful on their own.

Makes sense! Compared to Verizon we are all lemonade stands :o(). Congratulations again.

I applied to Automattic once for an Enterprise Growth Engineer and I was surprised when you responded.

Again excited about what you guys are doing. Keep up the good work!

Good question, and I’m sure people wouldn’t define us as a startup. But we are still independent, and tiny compared to the internet giants which typically have tens of thousands of people.

But my primary question was how / why you would label Automattic as a startup? Per Wikipedia you have around 900 employees and have been in business for almost 15 years. Seems like its thats beyond the startup business

Again I was just curious. And i’m a long time WordPress user (circa 2005 )

This is wonderful for the Tmblr and AutoMATTic teams! Excited to see how the community will benefit from the union of these great groups!