Wordpress Rocks and Matt Mullenweg is Wise
Megan Cole posted some poignant notes from Matt Mullenweg’s bit at the WebVisions pow wow in Portland last week.
I often talk (gush) about how much I enjoy Wordpress and much of WP’s success comes from the efforts of the wise young Mr. Mullenweg. Megan captured a list of tips from his spiel on “Scaling for your First 100,000 Users” which really applies to a broader scope than just software development - this is a community development and team building guidebook in one short list!
[Photo of Matt Mullenweg
at Gnomedex 2006 by Dave Olson]
Mullenweg’s 12 Rules:
1. You have to be the most passionate person involved.
2. Get off the computer - the act of writing things down on paper frees the mind, allows for the juices to really flow.
3. Obsess about the details, down to the space between two letters.
4. Do your own support. You have to be able to feel the pain of your users. Document everything. Make it as easy as possible for your users to contact you.
5. Blog every step of the way. Keep all of your users in the loop at all times - they will love you. Communicate with them and put them in the driver’s seat.
6. Have a great tagline. If you can’t describe what you are doing in less than 5 words, edit it, shave it down.
7. Frame everything you’re talking about in a context for your users. What are you going to do for them?
8. Get out of version 1.0 as fast as possible. Most people make their successes on something different from where they started. Be flexible. User feedback is the most valuable asset. Don’t let yourself be too led by your first users. Listen to the silent majority. Keep the majority in mind.
9. Track yourself.
10. Know what to do if you are successful.
11. Start strong, end strong. People don’t often remember what was in the middle.
12. Be a pain killer, not a vitamin.
Yup, wise counsel indeed - if Matt were a stock, I’d issue a “strong buy” advisory.
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