About Anil Dash

Hi, I'm Anil Dash. I’m a tech entrepreneur and writer, and someone who's trying to make technology more responsible. I've been creating Internet technologies for two decades, and writing on my blog here that whole time, focused on ensuring that technology's transformative impact on society, media, the arts, labor, government and culture is as positive as possible.

While my work is grounded in tech, it is deeply connected to policy, culture, art, labor, urbanism, social justice and other domains that tech has historically overlooked. You'll find plenty of digressions into policy, popular culture and media here on this blog as well. You can reach me at a@anildash.com.

Here's a long bio

Anil Dash is a technologist, writer and activist recognized as a leading advocate for making innovative technology that is ethical and inclusive. A Webby Awards lifetime achievement honoree, he has been CEO or founder of several pioneering startups including Glitch, the creative community beloved by developers, which was acquired by Fastly in 2022. He is also well-known as a leading voice in the tech industry, serving uniquely as both an analyst of cutting-edge innovations and a critical perspective on the risks and harms that can happen without accountability. As a writer, was a monthly columnist and contributing editor for Wired, has written for many more publications including The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, and Businessweek, and his personal blog has been cited in hundreds of academic papers over the last 25 years.

Today, Dash also serves as a board member for several vital social organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the pioneering nonprofit organization defending digital privacy and expression, and the Lower East Side Girls Club, which serves girls and families in need in New York City. Previously, Dash was an advisor to the Obama White House’s Office of Digital Strategy, and served for a decade on the board of Stack Overflow, the world’s largest community for coders. In 2009, he founded and led a MacArthur-backed research project carrying out pioneering research on social media's impact on public policy making. During his tenure as CEO of Glitch, the company became the first tech startup ever to voluntarily recognize its workers' union.

Described by The New Yorker as a “blogging pioneer”, and by the New York Times as a "Prince scholar", he has had a varied career as an artist and creator, co-creating one of the first implementations of the technology later known as NFTs, having his work exhibited in the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and collaborating with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda on one of the most popular Spotify playlists of 2018. Back when Twitter was relevant, Time named @anildash one of the best accounts on Twitter, and he is the only person ever retweeted by both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Prince, a succinct summarization of Dash’s interests. Dash has also been featured in a broad range of media ranging from the Aspen Ideas Festival to Desus and Mero's late-night show, and has guested on a surprisingly broad swath of your favorite podcasts.

Dash lives in New York City with his wife Alaina Browne and their child and two dogs. Like most people, he has never played a round of golf, drank a cup of coffee, filed a patent, or graduated from college.