I’m a 22 year-old software engineer and entrepreneur living in Palo Alto, CA, which is the Times Square of Silicon Valley except that there are no lights or people and everything closes at 7:30. I’m best known for cofounding Firefox, an open-source and non-profit web browser developed by thousands and downloaded by over a half-billion people worldwide. I also wrote Firefox for Dummies.
I grew up in Miami, FL and began dabbling in software at age 3, although it wasn’t official until I took a job with Netscape at 15. Since people always complain that high school is too normal and comfortable and non-alienating, I decided to make it interesting by working across the country at a place with people much older than me and being driven there by my mother in her purple PT cruiser. It was very embarrassing—the product Netscape was shipping, I mean. I spent many summers working on the widely reviled versions 6 and 7 of its namesake browser and some other projects that, for the safety of the general public, were never released.
Books have been written on why Netscape failed: Microsoft, the IPO, the AOL acquisition, the fact that it’s built on a toxic wasteland. My own experience suggests it was a nasty cocktail of hubris, laziness, greed and apathy that much of the software industry seems drunk on. Maybe the trichloroethene played a role. But some developers were so immersed in their own technology that they couldn’t even imagine it through someone else’s eyes; others were simply too lazy or too arrogant to bother. As the family tech support, I’ve had the chance to see software through the eyes of four generations. It always looks the same: tantalizing potential masked by opaque geekspeak, countless settings and bizarre questions that no sane person should ever have to think about. Or, as my family likes to say: computers suck.
After high school, I moved permanently to California to attend Stanford. As a freshman, I created a new kind of phishing defense codenamed PwdHash in collaboration with Professor Dan Boneh. Our paper on the software was published in the 2005 Usenix Proceedings, and in August 2006, after much help from some friends, the program won ComputerWorld’s Horizon Award.
At Stanford, I taught computer science as a freshman to a small room full of large students. On the first day, I asked if any of them had heard of Firefox (called Firebird at the time). Only one hand went up, and it might have been mine.
Much has changed since then. In 2006, Interbrand named Firefox one of the top ten brands in the world alongside Apple and Starbucks; over 15% of the world’s Web users are using it. About a tenth of all Firefox downloads come through SpreadFirefox, an initiative I conceived and cofounded in 2003 with Asa Dotzler as a way to launch Firefox on a shoestring budget via word of mouth. The site has since been emulated over a dozen times through efforts like SpreadOpenOffice, SpreadKde and SpreadBread. According to last quarter’s statistics, Firefox still trails bread. We will get there.
Wired magazine also nominated me for its Renegade of the Year award opposite Jon Stewart, Howard Stern and the Google founders. I lost to Howard Stern. Somehow, I think this is better than winning.
In July 2007, I sold my company (Sequoia-backed Parakey, Inc) to Facebook, where I’m currently employed.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Hey Blake I wanna share some change the world ideas with you.
Lunch on me?? Where ever you are. I’m in Vanouver BC Canada
Eamil me back
Thanks Bil Coughlin
October 20th, 2006 at 12:57 am
hey cool… you are famous… :D well thanx dudes for ff
November 1st, 2006 at 9:34 am
nice work dude.. love the browser!
November 1st, 2006 at 2:28 pm
You rock my world Blake! Thank you for everything you have done for free culture and a friendly web.
November 2nd, 2006 at 11:57 pm
Good luck with Parakey and remember, whenever you are on top of your game, someone who is starving and waiting for their break is right behind and eager to succeed.
Stay humble, hardworking and creative and you will continue to deliver.
November 3rd, 2006 at 6:31 am
You Rawk! Many, many thanks to you Ross, and to your thousands of cohorts. Looking forward to Parakey.
All the best.
November 8th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Hiho! Gratz for all the good work with firefox. Do you have some pics to post about parakey?
[]s
Leonardo Ribeiro Rodrigues da Rocha
A GNU/Linuxer from Brazil ;D
November 10th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Greetings from Europe and Greece in specific, where your fame has reached thanx to November’s issue of Spectrum ;)
As student of electrical and computer engineering myself I found that article very interesting.
I think I’ll copy some ideas and business models from you! (Although in Greece we usually import technology instead of producing it ourselves..)
How did the name “Parakey” come up? You are probably aware that “para” (παρα) is a greek word. It has various meanings, I suppose it was selected for the meaning “close to, under the province of somebody”.
Btw, what about some anecdotal rumours that circulate in some articles, about the use of ancient greek to ..program computers??
:))
November 10th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
I just thought that since the rumours circulate in articles, they can’t be anecdotal :P
November 10th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Hey Blake!
I can’t wait for Parakey to come out. I read the article about it in the “Spectrum” and it sounds really convenient! If you ever need a graphic designer, let me know. (;
Amazing job on Firefox, too. It’s the best!
November 12th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Speaking as an older guy — who’s been involved with computers since before the WWW even came into being — Ive attempted to work with just about any browser you can name.
Firefox is the first browser that I consider to be a ‘full-partner’ in my working life.
Thanks to everyone involved.
John Harnick
Norfolk County, ON, Canada
November 14th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Wow! I just found out today who you are. I admire your hardwork (and the work of your fellow partners of course). I can’t believe I’ve been using Firefox for more than two years now and I never learned about its creators.
I’m a big fan of Firefox. I use it all the time. And thank you for keeping it free.
–Farid Harhad
November 16th, 2006 at 6:40 am
Congratulations Blake ;)
I just got the spectrum magazine and read about parakey! Can’t wait for getting the source and contributing to this project!
Good luck with the Free Web OS.
Niz from Tokyo!
November 16th, 2006 at 8:18 am
Like Farid Harhad (14/11/2006 - 21:48), I found out who you are today.
I have been using Firefox for about 3 years (I have not used MS IE since 2002!!) and all I can say is thank you so much for what you do. Truly remarkable! :D
I am a budding programmer and you are an inspiration.
KK
November 17th, 2006 at 8:23 am
Hi,
Keep the good work going! Eagerly waiting for parakey..
QSM
November 19th, 2006 at 2:17 am
hey Ross, i like your idea of parakey and i am waiting for it.. :)
and you simply ROCK!!
November 24th, 2006 at 1:50 am
Read the spectrum yesterday. Am bowled over by your vision. Waiting for Parakey and yes..a review will be posted on my blog. Without doubt!
November 26th, 2006 at 9:57 am
i’ve gone through the spectrum magazine….oh u r simply great….genious
All the best for ur dream project–PARAKEY
i like that idea..
December 25th, 2006 at 1:14 am
Who begins dabbling in software at age 3?
At age 3 I was only dabbling with my own poo, although by 5 I had progressed on to the dogs’ poo!
December 26th, 2006 at 3:36 am
Saw an article about you in the latest TIME, i.e how you are giving MS IE a hard time with ever great firefox, all i can say “Big things come in small packages” :)
Asim
December 28th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Blake, I like to thank you for giving a seminar to us at SFSU this past spring 2006. It’s a motivation and an inspiration for many of us, especially me. I hope you don’t mind coming back again for another one in 2007.
–Saan
December 29th, 2006 at 6:56 am
Beware of fame. Maybe it’s too late for you, you seem to be absolutley drowned i fame and all the subsequent futilities that come with it, whether you want it or not.
December 29th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Right on Blake. Keep fighting the good fight. Peace.
December 30th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Hi Blake!
I would like to have a chat with u thru’ the internet.
I am a 16 yr old guy living in India.
You are a guy who might be of high status - so as to not chat with me. I would like to be your friend.
My profile is at: http://www2.blogger.com/profile/10659322517512511479
January 1st, 2007 at 6:34 pm
wow dude above seems creepy,watch out,Blake.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Its one of the greatest contributions to Open Source world.
I read your article on spectrum.its inspirational.
The idea of parakey is simply fantastic..
Thank you for Firefox !
Good Luck for your future project!
January 8th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Hi..
U simply rock buddy…Firefox is just too good!! I read the article in Spectrum..really liked the concept of Parakey…Waiting for it..
January 11th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Good luck with Parakey. It sounds like an excellent idea, and like you are just the guy to make it work.
Any thoughts about CES?
January 20th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Hey Blake - what’s your take on search engine censorship? In particular of course, Google?
January 31st, 2007 at 12:33 am
Impressive! Young man (3 yrs older than me), who made my favorite web browser. ;) Good luck and greetings from Poland!
February 16th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
You are a great guy
See you at the top.
March 31st, 2007 at 3:07 am
Hey Blake!
Great Work! I am 22 and a student! I just rue if i was 21 I wish i could at least challenge you. No,i don’t hate FF , I love it.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Blake! The new Firefox is way~~~ better than IE7!!!!!
April 18th, 2007 at 8:55 am
33.
Blake,
Congratulations on a job well done! I’m a 68 years young retired engineer and enjoying computers and the internet as much as if I were 18. Firefox is a dream come true. I’m promoting it religiously.Thanks!!!
But…
I’m still using Hotmail and my editing tools don’t show when using FF2x. Am I doing something wrong?
Please advise.
May 18th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Hey I’m you! You are me! Same name! I wish I would have thought of FireFox. I guess you are the more successful twin. Maybe you can give me lots of money for being cool. kthxbye.
-Blake
June 6th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Man!
This is not only inspiring, but enlightening!
Thank you!
June 13th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Happy b’day Blake!! Have a blast! :)
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:48 am
Hey Blake: I saw you for the first time on that recent TLC special on “Making Millions on the Internet”. You and the other millionaires had great tips for starting a web-based business. I think it would be cool if you wrote a book on your whole experience from start to present. I’m especially interested in how you thought up the idea, how you approached DOING IT… did you do tons of planning and then dive in? Or just dive in? etc. If you could go back to the beginning, you would of??? etc. Stuff like that.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
HOla Blake te escribo desde Argentina para felicitarte por la venta de Parakey, inc. a Facebook, espero resulte todo bien.
SAludos
July 24th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Nice to know about you. Take care.
July 24th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Greetings Blake,
What I love about the above is the photos on a knotty pine background. It has all the homey values of 1950 merged with the promise of the future.
Your Parakey idea is very much needed & of far reaching value.
I taught myself to use a computer & start an internet business a few years ago. I am now 60 & really enjoy helping others my age do the same.
“What a wonderful world” this can be if we share our positive talents. I am so impressed by your ability to do just that at your age. If I can be of any help to you please contact me.
Best Regards,
Jane Langdon
www.uniqueshoppes.com
Update …
I have used K-Meleon http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/
and
currently use NetCaptor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetCaptor
and
tell my friends to use Firefox & NetCaptor
but
I have yet to find a browser that “thinks like a woman”
( I never “browse” the internet - I “devour” it )
August 5th, 2007 at 1:10 am
A very proud Gulliver Alum! congrats on all your success. If you are ever in Colorado, we would love to take you skiing or snowboarding…
namaste
Shawn
August 29th, 2007 at 10:05 am
is this eric ross’s dad?
September 27th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
hii blake..
wew,, you’re so cool man..
ganbatte kudasai!!!
keep fighting!! (^0^)/
October 6th, 2007 at 3:09 am
I’m really impressed with your exploit, Blake. Will you mind sharing with me how you feel at 22? I’m your age and working on IT projects here in Nigeria. The odds are there though, but we’r pushing.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Gr8 work champ, all the best…
February 25th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Blake your profile has been really very impressive.could you please tell me about how do i start developing a small browser for my Enggineering project.if you could give some tips and tell me what development tools i shoul use then i would be grateful to you.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
WAO! i was thinking that mozilla was made by a old man, but it`s amazing see that i was wrong!!! you are a genius i think…I have your age and I don`t know what i`m going to do with my life!!
it`s a great honor for me if you send me a mail, only saying hello ;D
Thank you, for mozilla!