John Lilly (computer scientist) explained

John Lilly
Known For:	Mozilla Corp. CEO (2008–2010) Venture capitalism
Occupation:	Board Chair, Code for America^[1] ^[2] Lecturer in Management, Stanford University

John Lilly is a venture capitalist^[3] and former CEO of Mozilla. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Open Source Applications Foundation and Code for America. He earned his B.S. in computer systems engineering and M.S. in computer science from Stanford University.^[4]

Career

Reactivity

Lilly co-founded^[5] and served the CTO for Reactivity, a start-up focused on consulting on technically difficult websites and incubating new companies.^[6] Cisco Systems bought Reactivity in 2007 for $135 million.^[7]

Mozilla

Lilly was the chief executive officer of the Mozilla Corporation from 2008 to 2010.^[8] The corporation, a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, coordinates development of open-source Mozilla Internet applications, including the Firefox web browser. Lilly, previously Mozilla's Chief Operating Officer, succeeded Mitchell Baker as CEO in January 2008.

In May 2010, Lilly announced he would step down as CEO.^[9] Lilly was succeeded by Gary Kovacs on November 8, 2010.^[10] Lilly left Mozilla's board of directors in March 2014, reportedly over the appointment of Brendan Eich as CEO.^[11]

Venture capital

Lilly joined the venture capital firm Greylock Partners as a partner in 2011. His investments include Instagram,^[12] Dropbox, Tumblr, Quip,^[13] and MessageMe.^[14] Lilly left the firm in January 2019 to dedicate himself more to activism, explaining "it’s crystal clear that 2019 & 2020 are crucially important years — certainly the most important time in a generation, but maybe much longer than that."^[15]

Further reading

• Web site: Mitchell's Blog. Mozillazine. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080112093801/http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/mitchell/archives/2008/01/mozilla_corporation_ceo_and_ch.html#trackbacks. 2008-01-12.
• News: Mozilla Names New Chief, but Reaffirms Open-Source Commitment. The New York Times. 8 January 2008 . Markoff . John .
• Web site: Q & A with John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla Corp. Physorg. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081201190346/http://www.physorg.com/news142061941.html. 2008-12-01.

External links

• John Lilly's Weblog

Notes and References

1. Web site: Fried . Ina . Code for America names new CEO . Axios . 26 May 2020 . en.
2. Web site: America . Code for . Board members . Code for America . 26 May 2020 . en.
3. Web site: Rosoff . Matt . A top investor nails why Microsoft is getting more respect in Silicon Valley these days . Business Insider . 26 May 2020.
4. Web site: John O. Lilly . Stanford Graduate School of Business . 26 May 2020 . en.
5. Book: Sutton . Robert I. . Weird Ideas That Work: 11 1/2 Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation . 2002 . Simon and Schuster . 978-0-7432-1212-0 . 87 . 26 May 2020 . en.
6. Book: Sutton . Robert I. . Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst . 2010 . Grand Central Publishing . 978-0-446-55847-1 . en.
7. Web site: Cisco Buys Reactivity Inc. for $135 Million. Tuan. Nguyen. February 21, 2007. November 25, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151126083222/http://www.dailytech.com/Cisco+Buys+Reactivity+Inc+for+135+Million/article6178.htm. November 26, 2015. dead.
8. Book: Oinas-Kukkonen . H. . Humanizing the Web: Change and Social Innovation . 2013 . Springer . 978-1-137-30570-1 . 203 . 26 May 2020 . en.
9. Web site: Lawson . Stephen . Mozilla CEO John Lilly plans to step down . Computerworld . 26 May 2020 . en . 11 May 2010.
10. Web site: Dignan . Larry . Mozilla names Gary Kovacs as chief exec . ZDNet . 26 May 2020 . en.
11. Web site: Lowensohn . Josh . Half of Mozilla's board reportedly resign over new CEO choice . The Verge . 26 May 2020 . en . 28 March 2014.
12. Web site: Carr . Austin . Investment Hunting With Greylock Partner, Instagram Backer John Lilly . Fast Company . 26 May 2020 . 4 June 2012.
13. Mehta . Stephanie . A Top Silicon Valley V.C. Explains Why Slack Drives Him Crazy . Vanity Fair . 22 April 2016 . 26 May 2020 . en.
14. Web site: Ludwig . Sean . MessageMe nabs $10M from Greylock, Google, & others to take on WhatsApp . VentureBeat . 26 May 2020 . 17 May 2013.
15. Web site: Schleifer . Theodore . The investment firm famous for its early bet on Facebook has been losing top talent . Vox . 26 May 2020 . en . 18 January 2019.