Blake's Blog

This morning I published an op-ed in Fortune magazine on the barriers I see in our progress toward improving the gender diversity in the tech industry.  The full article can be read here, but I’ve also chosen to post an enhanced version below that includes some of my personal motivations on the subject as well as comparative stats: This week, the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing will come to Arizona, GoDaddy’s home state, for the 20th anniversary of the conference designed to connect, inspire and guide women in computing.  Since their first meeting with 500 attendees in 1994, the event has grown to become the world’s largest gathering of women in computing.  Along the way, they’ve helped thousands of women technologists find a voice in our male dominated industry and opened the conversation about inequities, large and small, that are woven into the fabric of the technology industry. Notwithstanding […]

Thank you Liz for your thoughtful questions on why I’m participating in the “Allies Panel” at the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women next week.  Instead of trying to answer them all in 140 characters or less on Twitter, I’ve opted to answer them here as a Q&A. I’ve included your questions verbatim: Q: I want to take you seriously for a minute. How could you think that a conf that’s 99% women needs to hear you on this? A: I believe strongly that it’s going to take all of us to close the glaring (and growing) gender diversity gap in technology.  I don’t see it as a women’s problem, I see it as a human problem—and lessening that disparity will not only make tech a better (and more innovative) industry, it will make the world a better place for all of us to live.  I’ve worked in technology for a […]

The Internet, by its very nature, has been the greatest force for positive economic and social change I’ve seen in my lifetime. It connects people to ideas, marketplaces and to each other; crossing oceans, borders and cultures with ease. It has done more for educating and inspiring good in the world than the most successful newspaper or the most popular politician — toppling dictatorships, exposing corruption and giving a voice to those who would otherwise be silenced. It has fueled the economic freedom of millions and has been a pipeline to understanding, liberty, peace and human solidarity. What’s made the Internet great from the onset is a philosophy that says that access should be open to all. For my customers at GoDaddy, it allows any smart and passionate individual to compete head-to-head with the largest global enterprises, regardless of their access to capital. That philosophy is now under threat by […]

Occasionally I get invited to speak at events that are a bit out of my wheelhouse.  Normally I’m asked to speak on subjects related to technology, product development, leadership, education and, more and more, small business.  For topics outside of those, I usually end up declining—simply because it’s too hard to imagine what I’d have to say on a random topic that anyone else might care to sit through for an hour. When I was first asked to speak at this year’s Global Retailing Conference my first instinct was to decline for the just that reason.  After all, only 20% of GoDaddy’s customers are retail providers and almost none of them operate near the scale of the global enterprises attending and speaking at the event; think Macy’s, Home Depot, Nike, Whole Foods and the like. There was, however, a hypothesis that’s been bouncing around in my head for the last […]