Business Roundup Week Ending October 27

Automattic Bets Big on the Future of Messaging

• Automattic has aquired Texts, a universal messaging app, for $50M.
• Texts unifies communication across WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, iMessage, Signal, and includes interesting AI integrations.
• Mullenweg: “Self-publishing, commerce, and messaging covers a good chunk of all human activity, and they’re also three areas where I think an open-source solution is necessary for the long term.”
• Texts currently has a waitlist for free access, or skip the wait with a paid subscription ($15/mo or $150/yr)/
• Could a universal messaging tool like Texts streamline your communication?
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/24/23928685/automattic-texts-acquisition-universal-messaging
• https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/10/24/texts-joins-automattic/

What does a $1 Million WordPress Site Look Like?

• An excellent video interview from Jamie Marsland with Tom Willmott and Adrian McShane from HumanMade about the rebuild of TechCrunch.com.
• $300,000 for design work for visual appeal and performance.
• $200,000 for infrastructure for traffic capacity and speed.
• $500,000 for development and content migration.
• Hear the story of how project goals evolved during through the 6+ month process, increasing scope and budget.
• https://www.pootlepress.com/2023/10/how-techcrunch-spent-1-million-rebuilding-their-website/

WordPress Global Sponsorship Program Raises Costs for 2024

• To support the expansion of in-person events, the WordPress Community Team has increased fees for the 2024 Global Community Sponsorship Program.
• Gold sponsorship levels rose from $130k to $145k, Silver $95k to $115k, Bronze $80k to $90k.
• So far in 2023, in-person events have rebounded: 270 dormant meetups reactivated, 500k+ active participants in events, 60+ WordCamps this year (up from 20 in 2022).
• Have you reconnected to the in-person WordPress community? What are you waiting on?
• https://wptavern.com/wordpress-global-sponsorship-program-raises-costs-for-2024-to-support-expanding-in-person-events

Worth a Look

State of the Word, Live from Madrid on December 11

• https://wordpress.org/news/2023/10/state-of-the-word-2023/

Post Status Black Friday / Cyber Monday WordPress Deals are Here! Check out the list (or add your deal if you have one).

• https://poststatus.com/2023-black-friday-cyber-monday-wordpress-deals/

OpenAI Ventures into Chip Development to Meet Their High Demand

• https://www.neatprompts.com/p/openai-ai-chip-development-implications-possibilities

HTTP/3 and the Future of the Web

• https://deliciousbrains.com/is-http-3-the-future-of-the-web/

This article, Business Roundup Week Ending October 27, was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.