and another thing: im not mad.

Jason Lefkowitz

and another thing: im not mad. please dont put in the newspaper that i got mad

Inc Hit Piece

When Inc Magazine reached out to have David H. Freedman (website powered by WordPress) write a feature piece I was excited because though Inc wasn’t a magazine I have read much since I was a …

Matt Mullenweg (ma.tt)

Jason Lefkowitz

Just a bit of free comms advice: when a critical press story about you arrives, you will be tempted to take to your blog to rebut it line by line. This is a very bad idea you should resist at all costs

Jess👾

@jalefkowit If that shithead listened to ... Basically anyone's advice, he wouldn't be in the situation he is.

Jason Lefkowitz

@JessTheUnstill Yeah, I assume his PR people are as frustrated as his lawyers

Jason Lefkowitz

Why?

1. It just draws more attention to the original story, which was the last thing you wanted, remember?

2. If you try to rebut it at a high level, you'll look like you're hiding something. If you try to get into the weeds, you'll look petty and nitpicking. You can't win.

3. Getting some bad press is an inevitable side effect of being a public figure. Trying to stop it all makes you look like King Canute ordering the tide to not come in.

If the story got something factually wrong, publish a correction. Otherwise, anything you say will only make things worse.

Psy Chuan :therian:

@jalefkowit i knew before i even checked that this would be Matt Mullenweg

Jason Lefkowitz

One of the core rules of crisis PR is: listen closely to what every fiber of your being is screaming you should do. Then put that guidance in a lead box and sink it to the bottom of the ocean, because the emotionally satisfying choice is never the wise one

Jason Lefkowitz

@PsyChuan The guy is really turning himself into a top notch case study

Psy Chuan :therian:

@jalefkowit if you don't want to be portrayed as a baby having a hissy fit perhaps do not behave in that way

Jason Lefkowitz

@PsyChuan This toot should be framed and hung on the wall of every office of every CEO

Jeremy Kahn

@jalefkowit

> Once again, Inc is unable to distinguish between revenue and valuation.

Vibes very like "I bet you, the Sandy Hook PTA, think AR stands for 'assault rifle'; you're obviously not qualified to speak on gun control”

Jason Lefkowitz

@trochee He has this habit lately of lapsing into business-speak, which I interpret as a sort of confession that it's been a long time since he talked to anyone who is not in the investor class

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@jalefkowit I've seen this so many times in tech.

There's a point where the CEO should have all coms rugby tackled away from them. I always have a tiny smigen of sympathy for a second. Then I remember that for some folks like that they stopped listening to the person that could rugby tackle their coms away from them.

Like Matt needs to be put in the naughty corner with all his toys taken away.

Joe Brockmeier (@jzb)

@jalefkowit It is so incredibly hard to get people, *especially* those suffering from Founderitis, to listen to good PR advice. So frustratingly hard.

Mullenweg's continued insistence that he doesn't control the foundation/trademarks is also silly. No one believes that the other two board members are going to vote you out or oppose anything. It's a fiction.

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@jalefkowit I'm so glad I went back to just doing HTML and simple css for my website than wordpress.

So much simpler and less worrying, especially now.

Jason Lefkowitz

@onepict These are the moments when the really good PR people earn their money, because it takes guts to look the person who signs your paychecks in the eye and say "I know you really want to do this. I know you think you HAVE TO do this. But you shouldn't."

A smart CEO will take note when one of their advisors challenges them like that. But there are lots of not-smart CEOs, and lots of not-good PR people who are happy to let the boss set themselves on fire if they want.

Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

@jalefkowit each time it happens I cringe.

Even when I've been on the opposing side of a Campaign.

It's one thing when it's a small firm, but a large organisation, with investors?

Like can no one do proper crisis PR? Surely the investors can. Apparently not. ‍️

Jason Lefkowitz

@onepict I've been wondering where Automattic's investors are in all this myself, because this drama can't be good for their investment. They profit directly from Automattic's central role in the community. If Automattic gets replaced or sidelined, they are the losers.

It's possible that they are quietly lobbying Matt, and he just doesn't want to listen. It's also possible that this all kicked off because they pressured him to start turning Automattic's central position into more tangible revenue. Who knows?

This will all make an interesting book, someday.

Grrrr, Darth Moose Shark

@onepict @jalefkowit Esther, if I ever do anything public ever again in my life*, and you tell me to shut up, I'm gonna shut up.

*v. unlikely

Jason Lefkowitz

@grrrr_shark @onepict Everyone needs a person in their life who can tell them "you need to shut up right now" and have them listen