4 ms·

I've often wondered how Mozilla's status as a non-profit affects its prospects. I've heard that its tough sometimes to recruit and retain because of the lack o

by vsl2 15y ago

I've often wondered how Mozilla's status as a non-profit affects its prospects. I've heard that its tough sometimes to recruit and retain because of the lack of lucrative exit possibilities for employees (e.g. IPO). Don't know if Chrome is going to overtake IE, but it would definitely be good to see it give it a go.

redthrowaway 15y ago
The types Mozilla tends to attract are likely to be FOSS crusaders, who care more about working on free software than lucrative exits. Also, exits are only a consideration for startup employees. 98% of programmers are working for corporations that have already had their exit, and so the primary considerations (as they are for employees everywhere) are salary, benefits, and options. I can't see Mozilla being too far behind the market on salary and benefits, and stock options tend to be pretty worthless for the average employees anyway due to blackouts and whatnot.
- wmf 15y ago
  Exactly. Nobody's going to get in on the Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Amazon IPOs either.
- zobzu 15y ago
  That's correct almost every Mozilla employee strongly believe in FOSS values, but not just that. They all believe in the Mozilla mission and manifesto, aka, each one I have meet so far wants an open web, and a fair future where we don't have any kind of vendor lock-in. Not only that, but also a choice on our privacy. If either MS, Google, or any such company gets a large percentage of the user base (75%?) again, the web is going to be locked and not very privacy oriented again. Don't think for a second that Google cares much. They don't do evil, but they'll do as bad as their business requires. They do use their quasi monopoly right now to promote Chrome and it works extremely well. Chrome is a very good browser but you may understand that such growth is not due to that alone, in fact, being a good browser is only a requirement, not the actual factor of the growth. Unfortunately it will be used to enforce Google control over the web.
gkoberger 15y ago
I'm a Mozilla employee. I don't think our lack of a future IPO has hurt us at all, as far as hiring goes. Mozilla pays really well, and we have quarterly bonuses to offset our lack of stock options. If a massive exit is what someone is looking for, I don't think Mozilla would be a good fit, anyway. Additionally, most employees work for Mozilla Corporation, which is a for-profit corporation owned by the non-for-profit. More info: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/careers.html http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/careers.html
- cpeterso 15y ago
  Does Mozilla have a marketing plan to win back Chrome switchers? Once an IE or Firefox user switches to Chrome, what would prompt them to reevaluate Firefox?
  - thristian 15y ago
    At the moment, they have a technical plan, working on the features and infrastructure that hold Firefox back. For example, they've put a lot of effort into reducing memory foot-print, into optimizing their 2D graphics stack, making it possible to have simple add-ons that work reliably across Firefox upgrades and even small things like "how much screen real-estate is taken up by non-web-content". Once they've paid off some of the technical debt they built up with long-term supported releases, and they have a product that will wow Chrome users, I'm sure you'll hear their marketing department kicking into gear.

by vsl2 15y ago

redthrowaway 15y ago

The types Mozilla tends to attract are likely to be FOSS crusaders, who care more about working on free software than lucrative exits. Also, exits are only a consideration for startup employees. 98% of programmers are working for corporations that have already had their exit, and so the primary considerations (as they are for employees everywhere) are salary, benefits, and options. I can't see Mozilla being too far behind the market on salary and benefits, and stock options tend to be pretty worthless for the average employees anyway due to blackouts and whatnot.

wmf 15y ago
Exactly. Nobody's going to get in on the Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Amazon IPOs either.
zobzu 15y ago
That's correct almost every Mozilla employee strongly believe in FOSS values, but not just that. They all believe in the Mozilla mission and manifesto, aka, each one I have meet so far wants an open web, and a fair future where we don't have any kind of vendor lock-in. Not only that, but also a choice on our privacy. If either MS, Google, or any such company gets a large percentage of the user base (75%?) again, the web is going to be locked and not very privacy oriented again. Don't think for a second that Google cares much. They don't do evil, but they'll do as bad as their business requires. They do use their quasi monopoly right now to promote Chrome and it works extremely well. Chrome is a very good browser but you may understand that such growth is not due to that alone, in fact, being a good browser is only a requirement, not the actual factor of the growth. Unfortunately it will be used to enforce Google control over the web.

gkoberger 15y ago

I'm a Mozilla employee. I don't think our lack of a future IPO has hurt us at all, as far as hiring goes. Mozilla pays really well, and we have quarterly bonuses to offset our lack of stock options. If a massive exit is what someone is looking for, I don't think Mozilla would be a good fit, anyway. Additionally, most employees work for Mozilla Corporation, which is a for-profit corporation owned by the non-for-profit. More info: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/careers.html http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/careers.html

cpeterso 15y ago
Does Mozilla have a marketing plan to win back Chrome switchers? Once an IE or Firefox user switches to Chrome, what would prompt them to reevaluate Firefox?
- thristian 15y ago
  At the moment, they have a technical plan, working on the features and infrastructure that hold Firefox back. For example, they've put a lot of effort into reducing memory foot-print, into optimizing their 2D graphics stack, making it possible to have simple add-ons that work reliably across Firefox upgrades and even small things like "how much screen real-estate is taken up by non-web-content". Once they've paid off some of the technical debt they built up with long-term supported releases, and they have a product that will wow Chrome users, I'm sure you'll hear their marketing department kicking into gear.