Blake's Blog

I had the great privilege to talk with a large group of entrepreneurs and developers last week about where we’ve come from in cloud services and where it might take us.  The video of my talk is above and the transcript is below. What do you think about the idea of Mashups as predictor of future tech? Keynote: I’m going to try to make this fun. Maybe a little funny and a little atypical. I’m at GoDaddy for about 13 months. My path to the company was … well … isn’t really a very obvious one. My path to the technology not really a very obvious one. I started my career in technology as a typographer believe it or not and had a very unusual arc I think to my career. My father actually had a very unusual arc to his and maybe I was inspired by what he have done. […]

As a leader of a company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, I’ve found myself compelled to take a stand against pending legislation that threatens to legalize discrimination and put an indelible blot on the image of the state.   Though I normally fly wide of public politics and almost never publicly share internal communications, I believe this circumstance warrants both. Yesterday I sent a mail to the 4,300 hundred employees of GoDaddy—many of whom live and work in the state of Arizona.  It’s important to me that everyone in the company, regardless of where they live, understand that GoDaddy’s strength is in its diversity and that in opposing this legislation publicly we stand on the side of right in this matter. I’m sharing this letter with all of you in the name of total transparency.  It read as follows: Folks, I don’t often wade into the political arena, however, there are pivotal […]

For those of you who missed the live stream of my chat with John and Todd from the 2013 GeekWire Summit in Seattle, here’s a transcript of the talk: Jonathan Sposato: So I have the honor of introducing Blake Irving. He is one of the coolest cats that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working for, years ago back at Microsoft. Most Microsoft presidents are pretty cool guys, but a lot of them are not quadruple threat guys like Blake Irving. Here is a guy that really understood product. Here is a guy that also understood people. He also understood culture and how to develop a really healthy culture and great organizational dynamics. He was also really, really great with business. In fact, after several products reviews with him we would work on stuff, he and my team. I would ask him “How are you so astute about product?” and […]

A few months back an idea came to me that I haven’t been able to shake.  I should blog.  It’s a simple thought, but much like adopting a puppy or buying a fixer-upper, the choice comes with as many challenges as it does rewards.  First off, it’s a commitment that I wouldn’t make lightly. Once I make a commitment it’s in my nature to stick with it.  Einstein famously said, “it’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”  I instantly related to the “not so smart” part of that statement, but over the years I’ve found that the latter half is also true.  Nothing in my life or work that I’m most proud of came to me easily or quickly.  That has taught me the unique value of persistence.  So when I start something I know to be worthwhile, I try not to let speedups […]