Anil Dash
Born 1975 · Age 51
American technology executive, entrepreneur, writer and Prince scholar; longtime blogger and advocate for humane, ethical technology. CEO of Glitch (Fog Creek rebrand) and VP of Developer Experience at Fastly after Glitch acquisition.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in the United States
Anil Dash is born to Odia parents and grows up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
First experience with computing (family Commodore)
At about age five his father brings home a Commodore computer, sparking early tinkering with code and creativity.
Alleged first company launched after high school
Sources claim Dash launched his first company the day after high school graduation (sourced from profiles; date approximate and confidence low).
Launched personal weblog dashes.com
Dash launches his long-running personal weblog (dashes.com, now anildash.com) while working as an independent technology consultant.
Independent technology consultant
Works as an independent technology consultant while running his blog.
New media developer at Village Voice
Joins Village Voice Media as a new media developer (position lasted 2001–2003).
Proposed rel-payment microformat idea
Early advocacy for open web standards including a rel-payment microformat idea to standardize payment links on websites.
Joined Web Standards Project (steering committee)
Active in WaSP to promote web standards and interoperability.
Joined Six Apart as first employee
Becomes the first employee of Six Apart (makers of Movable Type, TypePad and Vox); later serves in leadership roles through 2009.
Won 'nigritude ultramarine' SEO contest
Won a high-profile SEO contest which required getting top Google ranking for the made-up phrase 'nigritude ultramarine'.
Served as vice president at Six Apart (through 2009)
Held executive-level responsibilities at Six Apart, championing blogging tools and community.
Married Alaina Browne
Anil Dash and Alaina Browne are married.
Advisor to White House Office of Digital Strategy (Obama)
Served as an advisor to the Obama White House's Office of Digital Strategy (timeframe around 2009–2012).
Joined Stack Overflow board (approximate start)
Served on the board of Stack Overflow for roughly a decade; exact start/end years approximate in sources.
Founded/director of Expert Labs (MacArthur-backed)
Became director of Expert Labs, a Gov 2.0 initiative backed by the MacArthur Foundation to link public expertise with policymakers.
Webby Awards Honoree (Personal Blog/Website)
Dashes.com is named an honoree in the Personal Blog/Website category at the 2010 Webby Awards.
Partnered in Activate Consulting
Worked with Michael J. Wolf in Activate, a media and technology management consulting boutique.
Became Wired contributing editor / columnist
Served as monthly columnist and contributing editor for Wired (noted duration around 2011–2012).
Birth of son Malcolm Browne Dash
His son, Malcolm Browne Dash, is born (7 lb 2 oz).
ThinkUp becomes a widely cited privacy/self-hosting project
ThinkUp attracted attention as an open-source social analytics tool emphasizing data portability and user control before its hosted shutdown in 2016.
ThinkUp goes for-profit
ThinkUp (social media aggregation/analysis tool he co-founded with Gina Trapani) transitions to for-profit operations (TechCrunch story March 26, 2012).
Recognized by Time as a top Twitter account
Time named @anildash one of the best accounts on Twitter (widely cited recognition for his social media presence).
Monegraph / NFT concept publicly recognized
Monegraph is later cited as an early implementation of NFTs; Dash later critiques market misuse.
Work exhibited in museum contexts (New Museum / Rhizome involvement)
Dash's collaborative digital art/curatorial work connected with Rhizome and New Museum exhibitions (dates aggregated; museum exposure associated with Monegraph work).
Early NFT sale experiment (Quantum transaction)
The first experimental NFT 'Quantum' was transacted for the contents of Dash's Namecoin wallet (approximately $4 worth at the time).
Co-created Monegraph and minted 'Quantum' (early NFT)
Collaborated with Kevin McCoy at Rhizome's Seven on Seven to create Monegraph and tokenized McCoy's 'Quantum' on Namecoin—an early demonstration of an NFT model.
Founded Makerbase (creator directory)
Launched Makerbase, a directory connecting creators, apps, and tools; later merged into Fog Creek/Glitch initiatives.
Makerbase merges into Fog Creek/Glitch initiatives
Makerbase content and community efforts were integrated into Fog Creek's developer community work.
ThinkUp service shut down
ThinkUp (hosted service) is shuttered and hosted users were refunded (June 13, 2016 announcement).
Guest on 'On Being' (podcast/interview)
Appeared on Krista Tippett's 'On Being' to discuss technology's moral implications (recorded Nov 2016).
Appointed CEO of Fog Creek Software
Named CEO of Fog Creek Software in December 2016 to focus on community/developer products (later rebrand to Glitch).
Gave 'Toward a More Humane Tech' lecture (NCSU)
Public lecture advocating ethical, human-centered technology design (North Carolina State University, March 2017).
Collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on a Spotify playlist
Worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda on a popular educational throwback mixtape/playlist (widely circulated in 2018).
Spoke at major conferences and university stages
Appeared at forums including Aspen Ideas Festival, SXSW, and lectured at Harvard, NYU, Berkeley (dates aggregated across years).
Fog Creek rebrands to Glitch
Fog Creek Software is renamed Glitch after its flagship collaborative coding product (announcement Sep 25, 2018).
Launched 'Function with Anil Dash' podcast
Started Function, a podcast about technology's effects on culture, co-produced by Glitch and Vox Media; ran two seasons (2018–2020).
Glitch grows to host millions of user-created apps
Under Dash's leadership Glitch scaled as a creative developer community hosting millions of user-created web apps (aggregate estimate).
Function podcast concludes after two seasons
Function with Anil Dash ran for two seasons (2018–2020) and concluded.
Glitch signs collective bargaining agreement with union
Glitch voluntarily recognized its workers' union and signed a collective bargaining agreement — reported as the first such CBA in the tech industry (March 2, 2021 coverage).
Published Atlantic essay on NFTs
Wrote 'NFTs Weren't Supposed to End Like This' in The Atlantic, critiquing contemporary NFT markets versus original intent.
Joined/serves on Electronic Frontier Foundation board (public association)
Listed as a board member/affiliate with organizations defending digital rights (EFF involvement publicly noted; appointment timing varied in sources).
Glitch acquired by Fastly
Fastly acquired Glitch (May 2022) to bolster developer tools and edge computing offerings; exact acquisition terms not publicly disclosed.
Webby Awards Lifetime Achievement (with Kevin McCoy)
Awarded a Webby lifetime achievement honor jointly with Kevin McCoy for pioneering work related to early NFTs/Monegraph.
Became VP of Developer Experience at Fastly; Head of Glitch
Post-acquisition Dash took an executive role at Fastly overseeing Developer Experience and continued as Head of the Glitch brand within Fastly.
Published critical essay on venture capital culture ('VC QAnon')
Wrote essays critiquing venture capital's influence on tech culture and politics, contributing to public debate in 2023.
Continues as Head of Glitch and Fastly VP
Listed in public profiles as Head of Glitch and VP of Developer Experience at Fastly; continues public advocacy for humane tech.
Podcast appearance: 'There Are No Girls on the Internet'
Guest appearance discussing evolution of the early internet and modern tech challenges (listed on his About page among recent appearances).
Key Achievement Ages
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