real ultimate waffe (.net)

I recently passed my seventh anniversary as an Automattician. That’s more than one fifth of my life.

We’re going to hit 200 employees very soon. That’s more than five times my age.

Coincidence? Almost certainly.

One of those seven years was definitely coincident, though, with working closely with someone who would have been one of those 200 people if only he hadn’t decided Automattic was too cool for him.

You can learn all about that voyage of discovery in his new book:

To research how distributed companies work, Scott Berkun joined Automattic in 2010 and led the company’s newly formed Team Social, where Andy, Beau, and I caused as much trouble as possible. The fruit of that research is The Year Without Pants, which strikes a nice balance between exposing the skeletons in Team Social’s closet (including the sordid affairs of one Michael D Adams) and documenting how Automatticians communicate and get things done.

Even if you’re not interested in those hot mdawaffe pics, you should check it out for the insider’s view of Automattic’s culture.

And speaking of hot mdawaffe pics:

Raanan and I surprised Scott at his Launch Party. It was great seeing Scott again and helping him ring in the new book with style.

I’m pretty sure the party was only the eighth time Scott and I had ever met in meatspace (a.k.a. “real life”). A good friend, my former boss, and a formative teacher of mine, Scott and I have only ever seen each other eight times. If you don’t understand how that’s possible, read the book.

PS: We’re hiring.