Anil Dash
Born 1975 · Age 50
American technology executive, entrepreneur, writer and Prince scholar; Head of Glitch and VP of Developer Experience at Fastly; longtime advocate for humane, ethical tech.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in the United States
Anil Dash was born to Odia parents from India and grew up near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Worked as independent technology consultant
Early career work as an independent technology consultant concurrent with starting his blog.
Launched personal weblog dashes.com (anildash.com)
Started his long-running personal weblog (dashes.com), later known as anildash.com, as an independent technology consultant.
New media developer at The Village Voice
Worked as a new media developer for The Village Voice (job ran 2001–2003).
Became first employee of Six Apart
Joined Six Apart (makers of Movable Type, TypePad and Vox) as the company's first employee; later served in executive roles and as vice president until 2009.
Won SEO contest for 'nigritude ultramarine'
Won a contest that required contestants to get top Google ranking for the made-up phrase 'nigritude ultramarine'.
Public speaking and media appearances expand
Began/continued frequent speaking engagements and media appearances (Wired, New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, SXSW, Aspen Ideas Festival).
Left Six Apart (vice president until 2009)
Concluded tenure as vice president at Six Apart and moved into Gov 2.0 and advisory roles.
Director of Expert Labs (Gov 2.0 project)
Became director of Expert Labs, a MacArthur-backed Gov 2.0 project to digitize civic participation and research social media's impact on policymaking (served 2009–2012).
Led MacArthur-backed research work on social media & policymaking
Expert Labs work included MacArthur Foundation–backed research into social media's effects on policymaking.
Advisor to the Obama White House Office of Digital Strategy (began)
After Expert Labs work, served as an advisor to the Obama White House Office of Digital Strategy (timeframe: after 2009).
Co-founded ThinkUp (with Gina Trapani)
Co-founded ThinkUp, a social media aggregation and analysis tool; later served as CEO. (Company transitioned/go-for-profit in 2012.)
Joined boards and advisory roles (ongoing activity)
Served and continues to serve as advisor/board member for organizations including Stack Overflow (board service ~a decade), Data & Society (founding board 2013–2021), Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Markup, DonorsChoose, Project Include, and the Lower East Side Girls Club.
Webby Awards honoree for personal blog
anildash.com was an honoree in the Personal Blog/Website category of the 2010 Webby Awards.
Concluded director role at Expert Labs
Ended leadership role at Expert Labs (2009–2012).
ThinkUp goes for-profit (business model shift)
ThinkUp transitioned to a for-profit model in an attempt to decentralize the social web (reported March 26, 2012).
Time named @anildash a best Twitter account
Time magazine named @anildash one of the best accounts on Twitter; noted as the only person retweeted by both Bill Gates and Prince.
Began/continued role as Wired contributing editor and columnist
Served as a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Wired (dates across the 2010s; recurring role).
Public stance and critique of NFTs
Co-created early NFT-like system (Monegraph) in 2014 but later publicly criticized mainstream NFT practices (notable Atlantic essay in 2021).
Co-created Monegraph (early NFT implementation)
Collaborated with Kevin McCoy to create Monegraph (originally 'monetized graphics'), a blockchain-based system for verifying original digital artwork — later regarded as an early NFT implementation.
Personal: Lives in NYC with wife and child
Resides in New York City with wife Alaina Browne and their son Malcolm; personal details frequently noted in profiles.
ThinkUp shuttered
ThinkUp announced it was shutting down operations (June 13, 2016).
Appointed CEO of Fog Creek Software
Anil Dash was appointed CEO of Fog Creek Software (December 2016).
Talk: Evolving a mature software company (Business of Software)
Spoke at Business of Software (talk titled 'On Evolving A Mature Software Company').
Featured speaker / lecturer at universities and festivals
Lectured at Harvard, NYU, Berkeley and addressed events including SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival (ongoing across career; notable appearances in mid–late 2010s).
Made Glitch more community-focused and publicly critical of industry excesses
As CEO, emphasized humane, inclusive company culture and public critiques of tech business models and ethics (ongoing leadership theme).
Public recognition as Prince scholar and cultural commentator
Recognized as a scholar of the musician Prince and quoted/featured in press for this expertise; cited in NYT and cultural coverage.
Collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on Spotify playlist
Collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on one of Spotify's most popular playlists in 2018.
Fog Creek renamed to Glitch
Fog Creek Software rebranded itself as Glitch, named after its flagship product (announcement September 25, 2018).
Launched podcast 'Function with Anil Dash'
Started 'Function with Anil Dash', a podcast about technology's cultural effects co-produced by Glitch and Vox Media. The show ran for two seasons (2018–2020).
Glitch workers sign collective bargaining agreement (first in tech)
Glitch (under Dash's leadership) and its union reached a collective bargaining agreement — reported as the first such agreement in the tech industry. (Sources vary on exact month/year; widely reported in 2021 about a March agreement.)
Ended tenure as founding board member at Data & Society
Served as a founding member of the Data & Society board of directors from 2013 until 2021 (stepped down in 2021).
Published Atlantic essay on NFTs
Authored 'NFTs Weren't Supposed to End Like This' in The Atlantic, critiquing contemporary NFT usage while describing early intentions with Monegraph.
Appointed Head of Glitch and VP of Developer Experience at Fastly
Following Glitch's integration with Fastly, Dash assumed the roles of Head of Glitch and VP of Developer Experience at Fastly.
Glitch acquired by / became part of Fastly
Glitch became part of Fastly in 2022; Dash served as CEO of Glitch until the acquisition and transitioned into roles at Fastly.
Webby Lifetime Achievement Award (with Kevin McCoy)
Received the Webby lifetime achievement award (shared with Kevin McCoy) for contributions to the development of NFTs.
Authored developer- and industry-focused posts for Fastly
Published multiple Fastly blog posts and thought leadership pieces about developer experience, security, and edge compute as Fastly VP (2022–present).
Continuing role as VP Developer Experience, Fastly
Continues to lead Fastly's Developer Experience and Compute product teams, writing and speaking about developer tools and web infrastructure.
Active Fastly blog author and public commentator
Continues to publish industry commentary for Fastly on security, AI, and developer experience (Fastly blog posts through 2024–2025).
Key Achievement Ages
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