It was just about a year ago I blogged about leaving Houston and driving across the country to join CNET. It ended up being one of the best moves of my life. Since moving to the Bay Area I’ve had incredible oppurtunities and met a whole tribe of amazing people. For what I’m passionate about, I really believe this is the best place in the world to be.
For me the last year has really been about learning. From school in Houston to CNET to the explosive growth of WordPress and Ping-O-Matic, it’s been an incredible ride. There have been plenty of mistakes along the way, but all-in-all I don’t mind because that’s when I learn the most. At CNET I was lucky enough to be surrounded by veterans of the industry whose success and perserverance through the thick and thin of creating what we know as the web had a deep impact on me. CNET also gave me incredible flexibility to work on WordPress, and has embraced WP all over their organization, it was really the ideal gig.
However in the back of my mind I was wondering if I could focus on my passions full-time, to put more daytime hours into the community and projects that have changed my life already. I don’t need much, and working on WordPress full-time is my idea of heaven. I gave notice (they’ve been incredibly supportive).
I could say this was a hard decision, but the truth is I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.
Watch this space, I’ll have plenty more to talk about in the next few weeks. I’m very excited about the things happening with WordPress.com, WordPress.org, bbPress, a WordPress non-profit, Ping-O-Matic, and a few projects so shiny they don’t even have names yet.It’s a little scary to be leaving the safety net, but nothing worth doing in life is without risks.
My last day at CNET is Friday, October 21.
If there is ever going to be a time in my life to take big risks and reach for the brass ring, now is it.
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Matt Mullenweg is one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the Web, Inc.com’s 30 under 30, and Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web. 
Curly | October 21st, 2005 @ 12:05 am |
Dear Matt,
I pay respect to you and your decision. Where most people set aside their own dreams and ideas because of the risk and loss of their so-called safe environment, it is only more to appreciate when one does what he believes in.
One man can make a difference and for a revolution… 1 is the magic #.
Good luck, I already look forward to what you will bring this world.
Curly
Roy Schestowitz | October 21st, 2005 @ 12:20 am |
Good luck, Matt. I truly believe you made a bold and wise decision. Independence is what a young talent like yourself truly needs.
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David | October 21st, 2005 @ 1:10 am |
I wiss you best of luck Matt!
Anthony | October 21st, 2005 @ 1:20 am |
Best of luck man. In Ireland we have a saying for when people who make decisions like this: “fair balls to ya”.
Gabriel | October 21st, 2005 @ 1:28 am |
Congratulations!!!
w00t.
seriocomic | October 21st, 2005 @ 2:31 am |
Good luck Matt.
I to have just left a job after 10 years to go it on my own, and so I can empathise with those ‘letting go of the safety net’ fears.
Just believe in what thousands of people already know – that you are a talented little freak that will go far in what ever you do.
Chris G. | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:01 am |
Good for you Matt. Good luck and can’t wait to see what you have coming up!
semantic | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:05 am |
It’s difficult to push at one boundary without the opposing pressure having an effect, so learning from the whole experience is a necessity, and it is to your credit that you take any failings on board and grow from them.
There was once another youth who found himself in the vanguard of a revolution, a lad of great potential. His personal success, would never have been possible without good mentors. A good mentor has a lifetime of learning from the mistakes of many; find yourself a few guardian angels who understand your goals, and wring them mercilessly for every ounce of knowledge they can bestow.
Have a great last day, and on Monday, have an even better first day.
MrCorey | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:14 am |
I just happened to read your post on the day you’re leaving CNET. Good luck in your future of dream catching! What a great thing you’re doing. Yes, the risks are worth taking!
Arjun | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:20 am |
Dear Matt,
Wishing you the very best !
It must have been a difficult decision to make, but.. the below quotes from Confucius very very true..
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
~Confucius
regards,
Arjun
Daniel B. | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:44 am |
Good luck Matt!
Josh | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:53 am |
Good luck, Matt. It’ll be interesting to see where Wordpress goes next
Daniel | October 21st, 2005 @ 4:05 am |
Good luck, Matt!
Eelco Voogd | October 21st, 2005 @ 4:19 am |
Hi Matt,
You’re still in your own “flow”. That is good, Keep making the right decision and surprise the world with even more nice and usable technology. We are happy with it ( http:/www.innberg.com/deli ) runs it and we hope to contribute shortly to the world with some of our own w2.0 concepts.
I wish you all the luck.
Regards from Holland!
Eelco Voogd, innberg.com
Geren | October 21st, 2005 @ 4:31 am |
Cool deal, Matt! I just know that this is going to work out great — for you, and for the whole Wordpress and blogging community!
wantmoore | October 21st, 2005 @ 4:56 am |
It definitely takes a great leap of faith to be so bold. We (the WP community) are lucky to have someone as dedicated and passionate as you are about what you do. Thanks Matt.
Nick | October 21st, 2005 @ 4:56 am |
Congrats on your success and best of luck with your future and decisions!
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Alec | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:06 am |
You go, boy! Grab life by the nads, and have some fun with it all! Can’t wait to see what comes of it…
Josh Pigford | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:12 am |
Hey Matt. I too just quit what, a year ago, was “my perfect job” so I could do my own thing full time. It’s a big (scary) step…but there’s nothing more rewarding.
Chris | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:25 am |
Good luck to you Matt!
Neil | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:49 am |
Matt–
Best of luck on this huge step. Here’s hoping it leads directly to more improvements in Wordpress and related projects–I’m a huge fan!
mariano | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:59 am |
Matt, good luck.. and looking forward to see your new proyects
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rob | October 21st, 2005 @ 6:19 am |
Hey Matt,
Best of luck! You’re right, there comes a time when you’ve just got to take that leap and go for it. If you stumble, there will always be good companies to work with (or for), but if you succeed you open up an entire new world and make your own rules. Good luck
Jeff | October 21st, 2005 @ 6:34 am |
Matt,
So few people can stare at their dream and then take the steps necessary to make it happen. I too applaud your cajones and intelligence at taking the chance. Aside from running your own business – and by extension your life – you’ll never have to wonder “what if?”
As a published author and freelance writer, I’ve been doing the self-employed thing for nearly 14 years now and I wouldn’t trade away a day of it.
ENJOY!!
Dougal Campbell | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:03 am |
Good luck, Matt!
I know what it’s like to leave a decent job in order to pursue happiness. It’s scary, but sometimes you just have to make that leap of faith.
Can’t wait to hear about the trail you’ll be blazing next!
Usayd | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:13 am |
Good luck Matt, my best wishes to your future. It is really great that you’re going to do something which you would enjoy the most.
Pankaj Narula | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:18 am |
Matt
Bayarea is just the place to take risks. As Mark Andreeson puts it “[Being in tech and not being in Silicon Valley] is like trying to be in the movie business not in LA or trying to be in national politics and not be in D.C.”
All the very best for the future. Looking forward to see increased activity on your dream projects.
Pankaj
Mike Little | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:19 am |
Congratulations Matt!
I don’t doubt you will have some very exciting times ahead.
I wish you every success.
Mike
Scott Berkun | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:21 am |
Go Matt!
Chris Pirillo | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:39 am |
“You can do iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”
Marc | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:43 am |
As long as you’re not eating top ramen every night, I’d say that it’s good to follow your dreams.
That’s wonderful for you that you’ll get to work on your passions full-time and wonderful for us (the community), because it will feed into WordPress and your other projects.
Good luck!
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eston | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:53 am |
I wish you luck, Matt, and hope that all goes well. How does WordPress make any money at all, aside from donations?
TomServo | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:57 am |
Today’s my last day at work too! Here’s to quitting!
Carthik | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:01 am |
Good Luck, Matt. What seem to be tough decisions to others often are the most obvious to one’s self – I hope this is the case with you.
To happiness!
Michael Heilemann | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:02 am |
Good for you! I’m looking forward to hearing more about your plans.
shoepal | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:20 am |
Congrats and best of luck!
dennis | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:22 am |
best of luck matt!!
Joe Clark | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:23 am |
Mazel tov, kiddo.
Mark J | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:33 am |
This is beyond creepy. Last night, I swear I was pondering what it would take to get you to essentially be a full-time WordPress “employee” and how awesome that would be for the project. That was at about 2am EST last night… about 45 minutes before you posted this. I have goosebumps, man.
The obvious question is: how are you going to eat? They may be a bit personal, but I’m just curious as to how sustainable being a full-time WordPress contributer is for you, economically, especially in SF with the cost of living being what it is. Does WordPress generate enough revenue for you to live off of? Are you going to go the Kottke route? Are you going to take on part-time gigs to make rent?
I’m really excited for you, and not just because of the benefits that WordPress and the WordPress-related projects are going to see. Doing what you love is an incredible thing.
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Swaroop C H | October 21st, 2005 @ 8:57 am |
All the best for your new adventures
Mathias | October 21st, 2005 @ 9:02 am |
Respect, Matt! You’re living my dream.
courtney | October 21st, 2005 @ 9:14 am |
Congrats, Matty! I look forward to seeing what you can *really* do now that you are concentrating on this full time.
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Podz | October 21st, 2005 @ 9:32 am |
Congratulations and I hope fortune smiles on you
Ian | October 21st, 2005 @ 9:33 am |
Good luck to you Matt. I’m sure you have many exciting things lined up and look forward to seeing what you can do when you can devote your full attention to it.
Paul | October 21st, 2005 @ 9:48 am |
Best of luck Matt, I am sure you made the right decision. I along with others can’t wait to see what you have instore for the world
Might I suggest world domination?
Jason | October 21st, 2005 @ 11:00 am |
Kudos Matt! Keep pursuing your dreams.
ryan king | October 21st, 2005 @ 11:23 am |
Kick some ass.
David | October 21st, 2005 @ 12:27 pm |
Matt,
I’m new to WordPress. I’ve been studying PHP and MySQL over the past year and implementing into my soon-to-be-up-and-running site. I stumbled upon WordPress a few days ago, since I hadn’t seriously considered adding blogging to my site until I learned how easy it could be. I’m totally jazzed about WordPress and what it has to offer over Blogger. So the idea of someone like yourself being committed to this open source project to the extent that you are is exciting and inspiring to me. Thank you so much for being the gutsy, passionate guy that you are.
Sincerely,
David
Will Pate | October 21st, 2005 @ 12:34 pm |
Way to go Matt!
david | October 21st, 2005 @ 12:35 pm |
Best of luck!
Owen | October 21st, 2005 @ 1:27 pm |
Congrats! 3 months ago I quit my job, moved to SF, and started working for myself. Best decision I’ve ever made.
Owen
Richard MacManus | October 21st, 2005 @ 2:21 pm |
Good luck with the new ventures Matt! You’ve got a fantastic base from which to innovate further and I fully expect you to be in a position to fund the next Ning.com in 10 years time
Also it was great to meet you at the geek dinner a couple of weeks ago.
cheers, Richard
Dante | October 21st, 2005 @ 2:46 pm |
Christ on a pogo stick!!
I wish you the best. We’ll have to meet up sometime in SF.
tim | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:13 pm |
God bless Matt.
Jeff | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:23 pm |
I totally get your office
Jay Fienberg | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:37 pm |
Congrats Matt!
(Now I can feel even more confident about recommending that Wordpress be part of some new sites / services I’m helping launch.)
Firas | October 21st, 2005 @ 3:38 pm |
Way to go! Best of luck.
John | October 21st, 2005 @ 4:33 pm |
Good luck to you Matt! What a truly exciting adventure for you. I just sent one of my kids off to college to start her adventure and I’ll just post here what I told her – do what you love. The money will come. Maybe not as fast as some other ways, but it will come. But you get to have your life with it as you go. You get to do what your passionate about and what makes you leap out of bed in the morning and go to bed super late at night. There’s no way to measure all the good that comes from that. Sure there will be times when you become disillusioned and wonder what you are doing, but just go grab some chocolate, go for a walk, and shake it off. You’ll be glad you followed your passion. You’ve touched alot of lives already and many more to come. By the by, as an old guy using Wordpress I’m very, very impressed. I started with “gee this blogging thing would be fun”, moved to playing with Typepad (a very nice piece of software), got lucky and got a wordpress.com account, then found myself signing up for my own Wordpress hosted account and editing html on my own Wordpress 1.5 site! I’m happy to have found a venue to do something I enjoy – writing (we’ll let the jury decide on how well – but at least I’m having fun) – and Wordpress made that more fun and possible for me. Thx and best of luck to you in your new adventure!
Marcus | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:15 pm |
Great decision. Best of luck in what I think is the smartest and truly least risky decision you could have made!
Lori | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:25 pm |
Good luck Matt! Thanks for all of your hard work so far, and the work you plan to do in the future. It is greatly appreciated by many, including me
vanderwal | October 21st, 2005 @ 5:58 pm |
Congratulations Matt!!! Welcome to the free world.
Alexander Muse | October 21st, 2005 @ 7:38 pm |
If you ever want to raise any money just let us know… We are big fans back here in Texas!
Jasmeet | October 21st, 2005 @ 10:29 pm |
Good luck Matt! Can’t wait to see what comes of this!
Srijith | October 21st, 2005 @ 11:09 pm |
All the best Matt! Sure it can be unnerving and filled with uncertanities, but then wouldn’t life be too boring without these changes
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Philip Newborough | October 22nd, 2005 @ 8:25 am |
Good stuff! ’bout time too!
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MetaActive | October 22nd, 2005 @ 10:47 am |
Cool,all the best on your new and upcomming ventures.
Mike | October 23rd, 2005 @ 12:15 am |
What they all said. And, you’re welcome back in H-town any time. Good on you for taking the leap.
(So it was CNET that injured your thumb. Now it all makes sense….)
Claude | October 23rd, 2005 @ 1:01 am |
Matt,
Whish you all the best
best regards from France
Claude
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Nader | October 23rd, 2005 @ 5:58 am |
Good Luck to you! It’s great you’re committing to such a switch. You’ll see later how beneficial it was
Christopher | October 23rd, 2005 @ 9:12 am |
I’d give you a CNET Editor’s Choice award if I could post it here.
Good luck sir.
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Ethan | October 23rd, 2005 @ 12:20 pm |
Congrats, sir–this whole independent thing *is* pretty damned fine. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
James Farmer | October 23rd, 2005 @ 10:12 pm |
Congratulations Matt, am glad you are able to do it, here’s to a great ride!
Ulrich | October 24th, 2005 @ 1:23 am |
Best of luck to ya’ Matt. I know theres about a million people looking forward to see the wonders you come up with.
Robert | October 24th, 2005 @ 2:33 am |
Sounds exciting! Best of luck, Matt.
Zenith | October 24th, 2005 @ 5:55 am |
A brave move, I wish you the best of luck with it!
Iram | October 24th, 2005 @ 7:42 am |
**Hugs** and plenty of good-luck vibes! You’re absolutely positively awesome!
Rob Winters | October 24th, 2005 @ 9:51 am |
Best of luck Matt. Also looking forward to see what amazing new things you come up with when you dedicate your full day to WP
Oliver Zheng | October 24th, 2005 @ 10:07 am |
Good luck Matt. I support your decision and my gratitude to you and your work for the community is infinite.
Amit Gupta | October 24th, 2005 @ 10:20 am |
I know it must’ve been a bit hard decision to make, but hey, its life!! Only those who dare to leave the safety of the cocoon deserve to be successful!!
There’ll be sometime, someplace in future, again to be proud of!!
Goodluck Matt in your next adventure!! *thumbs up*
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Julie | October 24th, 2005 @ 9:52 pm |
Hey hot stuff,
I was, am, and always will be proud of you and have the utmost faith in your decisions. I won’t wish you luck because you already have the guts and heart and talent to do whatever you want in this world.
macewan | October 25th, 2005 @ 3:18 am |
Good luck to you Matt.
Jeff Watson | October 25th, 2005 @ 7:29 am |
Congratulations, and good luck.
Aloha,
Jeff
Steph_B | October 25th, 2005 @ 10:38 am |
All the best for your and remember – Life is so short, there ie no time to wasted… Go in you new dearection, because you can do it!!!
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Deirdre Saoirse Moen | October 25th, 2005 @ 11:28 pm |
Go you! Follow that bliss. I have faith that you’ll make something of it. Things like WordPress have totally changed some of our lives.
Jamie | October 27th, 2005 @ 11:24 am |
Matty –
Mister man, I’m so happy for you.
I’m very sorry, however, for the Astros. (heh)
Go Chicago!
Love, Jamie
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