I was already impressed with WordPress but after having lunch with Matt Mullenweg today, I'm even more so. Within all the hype surrounding Web 2.0 and blogs, Mullenweg has insight, intelligence and perspective that belie the fact he's 22-years-old. Our chat, which included a sun-drenched walk down Yonge St., touched on a variety of topics, ranging from WordPress's strategic plans and why Microsoft isn't evil to the future of newspapers and why software should be free. I'll post more on Friday when my column in the National Post appears. Maybe we can get him to participate in our mesh conference?
Tags: WordPress, Matt Mullenweb

According to new Ipsos Insight study, the global online population climbed just 5% in 2005, compared with a 20% jump in 2004 - while expections for 2006 are, at best, modest. While some markets are still seeing robust growth, Ipsos believes adoption in Canada and the U.S. (72% and 71% regular usage respectively) may have plateaued. For high-speed service providers in North America, the Ipsos report suggests they need to migrate dial-up users, convince non-Internet users to venture into cyberspace and/or drive more sales of value-added services such as anti-virus and anti-spam. At the same time, it may provide the anti-net neutrality forces with more ammunition they need other sources of revenue such as downstream tollgates to remain viable if the number of subscribers isn't expected to climb.

Has Facebook missed the M&A boat? An executive with the social-networking service apparently told BusinessWeek the company is seeking a $2-billion takeover deal after turning down a $750 million offer earlier. Of course, you can ask for the stars and the moon but it's a mute point if no one makes the right offer. Facebook's apparent desire for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow does put the spotlight on the fine art of timing a deal. Skype (Niklas Zennstrom and Tim Draper) played the market perfectly by putting out the message the was company was for sale, setting a quasi-public price ($1-billion) and waiting for the suckers...er, I mean...buyers to emerge. It was a masterpiece performance. Vonage, on the other hand, has probably blown it. In a ideal world, it would have done an IPO when VoIP was red-hot a year or so ago. Instead - large losses, soft capital markets, etc. - Vonage waited. As a result, a $600-million IPO has turned into a $250-million S-1 filing that has mysteriously been collecting dust at the SEC. Does this mean Facebook isn't going to get $2-billion? Probably, but it depends on various factors: is there a buyer willing to pay the price, how does Myspace.com's growing success influence Facebook's value, etc. At the very least, the fact Facebook has tipped its hand in BusinessWeek means it wants a large audience to deliver its message or, as rumoured, it's been on the block for awhile and needed a new way to incite interest. It looks like they should have given Tim Draper a call before they hatched their exit plan.
   Facebook's plans are being picked apart in the blogosphere. Om Malik cites flat page views, reach and traffic trends while B2Day point holes at the $2-billion price-tag after doing some rough back of the napkin math. Michael Arrington, on the other hand, does not dismiss Facebook's desired valuation.