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00:00JOHN MAEDA, GLOBAL HEAD OF COPY ADDITIONAL DESIGN AND INCLUSION AT AUTOMATIC. BREAD STONE IS WITH ME HERE AS -- BRAD STONE IS WITH ME HERE AS WELL. JOHN, WHY GO TO AUTOMATIC, OF ALL THE OPTIONS OUT THERE? AND I'M SURE YOU HAD OPTIONS. JOHN: WELL, I MET THIS MAN, MATT, WHO GOT ME SORT OF THINKING ABOUT HOW I MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW IMPORTANT OPEN SOURCE IS. I HAVE BEEN SO INSPIRED UNDERSTANDING WHAT HE AND HIS COMPANY STANDS FOR, AND IT MADE ME WANT TO FIGHT FOR OPEN SOURCE. BRAD: JOHN, YOU SPENT TWO AND A HALF YEARS ON SAND HILL ROAD AT KLEINER PERKINS. TELL US ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE. WHAT DID YOU LEARN? JOHN: IT WAS AMAZING. I HAD HEARD OF WHAT VENTURE CAPITAL DOES. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT DID, AND I GOT TO SEE, IT MAKES THESE SMALL LITTLE COMPANIES FLY AND TAKE OFF. IT'S LIKE BEING IN A SPACESHIP FACTORY. EMILY: SO, OBVIOUSLY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WHAT YOU DECIDED TO DO. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STUFF YOU DID NOT DECIDE TO DO? WHY NOT GO TO A KLEINER COMPANY? WHY NOT STAY IN VENTURE CAPITAL? JOHN: WELL, ONE THING I LEARNED THAT KLEINER PERKINS -- AT KLEINER PERKINS, IS THAT A VENTURE CAPITALIST CAN SERVE THE ENTREPRENEURS BEST IF THEY HAVE BEEN ENTREPRENEURS THEMSELVES. I LEARNED THAT FROM MIKE ABBOTT. SO I REALLY HAVE TO UNDERSTAND MYSELF. I HAVE BEEN COACHING ALL THE STARTUPS, BUT I DON'T PLAY BALL MYSELF, SO I HAD TO PLAY BALL. BUT I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT FELT CLOSE TO ME. AND IN THE 1980'S, WE TALKED ABOUT OPEN SOURCE AT M.I.T. ALL THE TIME, WHEN I WAS AT M.I.T. BACK THEN. AND HERE WAS A YOUNG MAN TELLING THE OPEN SOURCE IS IMPORTANT, THAT GOING BACK DECADES AGO TO WHEN I WAS MAYBE MORE PURE, I GUESS, AND I THOUGHT, I WANT TO FIGHT. LET'S GO. BRAD: BY SOME ACCOUNTS, 25% OF THE WEBSITES ON THE WEB ARE ON AUTOMATTIC TECHNOLOGY, WORDPRESS. BUT IT FEELS LIKE PEOPLE ARE GRAVITATING MORE AND MORE TO SOCIAL NETWORKS, CONTRIBUTING AND ADDING CONTENT ON SITES LIKE TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE IS OF THE INDEPENDENT BLOG, AND WHAT CAN YOU DO AT WORDPRESS TO NURTURE THAT? JOHN: WELL, I THINK THE FUTURE IS QUITE CLEAR. THE WALLED GARDENS. ARE GETTING BIGGER. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE. IF YOU RECALL, IN THE 1990'S WHEN THE WEB WAS COMING OUT, THERE WAS THAT MENU ITEM, VIEW SOURCE, WHERE YOU COULD LOOK AT SOMEBODY ELSE'S WEBSITE, COPY IT, AND IMPROVE IT. IF IT WAS NOT FOR THAT, THE WEB WOULD NOT HAVE EXPANDED. SO WITHOUT THE VIEW SOURCE APPROACH, THE WEB CANNOT APPROACH -- EXPAND AND GET MORE DIVERSE, SO I THINK WORDPRESS IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE IT EVEN MORE BETTER, IS THAT A WORD, EVEN BETTER THAN IN THE PAST. AND THAT INVITED ME TO COME AND GIVE IT A GO. EMILY: MEDIUM IS A COMPANY THAT IS OF COURSE DISRUPTING THINGS IN THIS SPACE. YOU DID WRITE A MEDIUM POST EARLIER THIS YEAR ABOUT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN TECHNOLOGY, AND I'M CURIOUS, AS NOW SORT OF AN OUTSIDER-INSIDER, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CONTINUED CHALLENGES ARE? WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED? JOHN: WELL, I THINK THE BIGGEST PROBLEM TO ADDRESS IS REALIZING IT IS AN ECOSYSTEM CHANGE, A SHIFT. WE USED TO MAKE SOFTWARE JUST FOR NERDS. AT M.I.T. WE HAD A PHRASE, RTFM, READ THE "BLANK" MANUAL, FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF. BUT NOW TECH IS USED BY EVERYONE, SO WE HAVE TO HAVE THE ABILITY OF EVERYONE TO MAKE SOFTWARE. THAT'S HAPPENING AT EVERY COMPANY TODAY. BRAD: EMILY MENTIONED MEDIUM. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIUM HAS BEEN FROM A DESIGN SENSE? YOU COULD QUESTIONED THE IMPACT IT HAS HAD AS A BUSINESS, BUT ITS DESIGNED SENSIBILITY SEEMS TO HAVE PERMEATED A LOT OF MEDIA SITES. JOHN: IN SILICON VALLEY, IT IS CLEARLY A FAVORITE. ALSO, THEY DID THE RIGHT THING OF SAYING, I WANT TO MIX THINGS REALLY EASY TO USE -- MAKE THINGS REALLY EASY TO USE. IN DESIGN YOU CAN EITHER STRIP AWAY FUNCTIONALITY AND MAKE SOMETHING LESS POWERFUL, OR MAKE IT POWERFUL AND EASY-TO-USE. WORDPRESS IS POWERFUL, BUT HOW DO YOU MAKE IT EASY TO USE? THAT IS WHAT MATT WOULD LIKE ME TO LEAD WITH, WITH THE DESIGNERS. EMILY: THE BIG APPLE EVENT IS COMING UP, WHERE WE ARE EXPECTING NEW IPHONES, NEW APPLE WATCHES, BUT NO MAJOR HARDWARE DESIGN CHANGES, AT LEAST THIS CYCLE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE NEW PRODUCTS COMING, AND HOW MIGHT A LACK OF A DESIGN CHANGE IMPACT INTEREST IN THE PRODUCT? JOHN: WELL, I MEAN, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT 2011 AND WHAT THE WORLD LOST, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT APPLE, HOW IT WAS BUILT AROUND ONE PERSON'S VISION, I THINK DESIGN, THE LEAD THAT APPLE HAS HAD IS DIMINISHING, AND IT'S UP TO OTHER COMPANIES TO TAKE UP WHAT JOBS, BELIEVED IN WHICH IS THAT DESIGN IS THE CORE. IT CAN BECOME A CULTURAL INSPIRATION, VERSUS JUST EASY TO

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