Merging Vision, Community, and Technology With Anil Dash

Screaming in the Cloud

This episode features Anil Dash, VP of Developer Experience at Fastly, who returns to the podcast to share the integration of Glitch within Fastly post-acquisition. Anil shares how Glitch has continued flourishing under Fastly's umbrella, highlighting both platforms’ seamless acquisition and mutual growth. Anil shares the technical and cultural collaboration that has allowed Glitch to maintain its identity and mission while contributing to Fastly's broader goals. The episode highlights the power of community in tech, the importance of maintaining core values in mergers and acquisitions, and the advancements both Glitch and Fastly are making in the developer space.

Show Highlights:

(00:00) - Introduction.

(01:59) - Glitch's role within Fastly's infrastructure and services.

(02:16) - Comparison of AWS and Glitch’s approach to community building.

(05:40) - Anil’s ongoing enthusiasm for Glitch beyond typical post-acquisition experiences.

(08:53) - Fastly’s unique capabilities and impact on the internet.

(14:35) - Fastly’s technical infrastructure and its performance advantages.

(20:42) - WebAssembly’s implementation and significance at Fastly.

(23:59) - Comparison of Glitch and Fastly’s developer engagement and pricing models

(25:18) - Ethical responsibilities and building a healthy tech ecosystem are important.

(27:50) - Importance of creating lasting and sustainable technologies.

(30:24) - Anil discusses Fastly's work culture and its influence on employee innovation and engagement.

(34:26) - Anil discusses Glitch's thriving post-acquisition integration into Fastly.

(38:26) - The critical role of Fastly's infrastructure in supporting major open-source platforms and decentralized networks.

(39:26) - Closing remarks and where to find more about Anil’s work.

About Anil:

Anil Dash is the vice president of developer experience at Fastly, where he leads the team behind Glitch, the friendly developer community where coders have collaborated to create and share millions of web apps. Anil advises startups and nonprofits, including Medium and the Lower East Side Girls Club. An accomplished writer and artist, Dash has contributed to Wired and The Atlantic and collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on one of the most popular Spotify playlists in 2018.

Links referenced:

Anil’s Personal Website: https://www.anildash.com/

Glitch’s website: https://preview.glitch.com/

Sponsor:

Panoptica Academy: https://panoptica.app/lastweekinaws