Six Apart

Six Apart
Name	Six Apart
Type	Private
Industry	Software
Founded	2001
Founders	Ben Trott; Mena Trott
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Products	Movable Type; TypePad; Vox; LiveJournal (management)

Six Apart Six Apart is a software company founded in 2001 by Ben Trott and Mena Trott that developed influential blogging and publishing platforms during the early 21st century. The company played a central role in the evolution of online publishing alongside contemporaries such as Blogger (service), WordPress, LiveJournal, and MediaWiki, and interacted with major technology firms including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, AOL, and Automattic in product, acquisition, or competitive contexts.

History

Six Apart was established in the context of the early blogging movement, contemporaneous with projects like Blogger (service), LiveJournal, and Movable Type's rivals. Founders Ben Trott and Mena Trott launched the company after creating the Movable Type software, which attracted attention from communities around Technorati, Slashdot, and Kottke.org. The company expanded with services such as TypePad and acquired or partnered with platforms including LiveJournal and teams from Danga Interactive and Infomercial-era startups. In 2006–2008 Six Apart navigated strategic shifts during the rise of Facebook, Twitter, and cloud infrastructure providers like Amazon Web Services, culminating in corporate changes including mergers and partial acquisitions involving entities such as VideoEgg and AOL.

Products and Services

Core products included the self-hosted publishing engine Movable Type and the hosted service TypePad, competing with WordPress.com and Blogger (service). The company also developed the social blogging platform Vox and managed community properties such as LiveJournal after strategic transactions. Six Apart provided developer APIs and integrations with services like Technorati, FeedBurner, and Pingback-style protocols aligned with standards adopted by W3C. The product suite supported plugins and themes influenced by ecosystems around Perl and PHP, with interoperability considerations involving MySQL, Apache HTTP Server, and nginx-based deployments.

Corporate Structure and Leadership

Six Apart was led by founders Ben Trott and Mena Trott, with executives and board interactions involving figures from AOL, Google, Microsoft, and venture capital firms such as Accel Partners and Index Ventures. Leadership transitions occurred as the company negotiated investments, strategic partnerships, and acquisitions; notable executives had prior or subsequent roles at organizations including Automattic, TypeKit, and Tumblr. Corporate governance reflected common startup practices of the era, including board composition with representatives from strategic partners and investors like Battery Ventures and Union Square Ventures.

Business Strategy and Partnerships

Six Apart pursued a mixed strategy of open-source software distribution and hosted services, positioning Movable Type for professional publishers while offering TypePad to consumers and small businesses in competition with WordPress.com and Blogger (service). Partnerships and alliances included content and advertising collaborations with AdSense, DoubleClick, and media properties such as The New York Times and Wired (magazine), and technology integrations with Amazon Web Services and content delivery networks used by platforms like Flickr and YouTube. Strategic transactions involved merger and acquisition activity touching companies like VideoEgg and assets that connected to communities on LiveJournal and other social platforms like MySpace.

Legal Issues and Controversies

Six Apart's products were implicated in debates over open-source licensing and community control, paralleling controversies seen in cases such as Oracle Corporation's litigation surrounding Java (programming language). The company navigated licensing disputes and community backlash related to development decisions that affected ecosystems similar to those around WordPress and Drupal. Operational incidents touched on platform stability and moderation policies reminiscent of disputes at LiveJournal, Twitter, and Facebook, prompting discussions involving privacy advocates from organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and regulatory attention comparable to matters before agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission.

Impact and Legacy

Six Apart influenced the architecture and business models of blogging and publishing platforms alongside WordPress, Blogger (service), and LiveJournal, contributing to standards and practices adopted by W3C-aligned web technologies and open-source communities exemplified by SourceForge and later GitHub. The company's products shaped professional publishing workflows used by media organizations including The Guardian, BBC, and The New York Times, and informed social features later popularized by platforms like Tumblr and Medium (website). Alumni from Six Apart went on to roles at Automattic, Twitter, Facebook, and startups backed by firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, extending its influence across the broader internet ecosystem.

Category:Software companies Category:Blog hosting services Category:Companies established in 2001