In 2003, we launched Second Life, the pioneering virtual world that’s been enjoyed by millions of people and seen billions of dollars transacted among users in its economy.
In 2019, we unveiled Tilia, a registered money services business and fully licensed money transmitter that powers virtual economies.
Linden Lab was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco with an additional office in Atlanta.
The Tao of Linden provides the guiding principles across our organization.
Say, “Good morning!” Be passionate and civil. Disagree respectfully. Don’t say anything about someone you wouldn’t say to them. Have empathy for the amazing people who use our products. View our worlds through their eyes.
Trust each other and be trustworthy.
No one person can do it all. We all bring different value to our work.
Value different perspectives, different points of view. Value everyone’s different life experiences, and the different paths we all took to get here. We will make better decisions, better products, and better lives.
Celebrate our wins. Learn from our losses. If you don’t fail sometimes you aren’t really trying.
Have strong opinions. Defend your ideas. Then make a decision. Once we make a decision, even if it didn’t go your way, own it. Let go of your baggage and start marching in the direction of everyone else.
What we do is too big, too complicated for any one person to hold in their head. There are more wonders out there than any one person can imagine. Our creators will build worlds we could never have anticipated. Our coworkers will invent things that would have never occurred to us. Be open to all of the possibilities.
Test. Experiment. Learn. Challenge your preconceived notions. Check conventional wisdom, especially your own. You will not find the answers to your questions in a conference room.
Shout your discoveries from the rooftops. Teach everyone around you. Mentor and be mentored. Help others use what you know.
Our work brings people together, builds communities. Our work helps people understand who they are, helps them be better. Our work brings empathy, helps people see the world through others’ eyes. Settle for nothing less than changing the world for the better.
Work Together
We are engaged in a wildly ambitious and complex endeavor. We dream, stumble, and win only together. This requires an absence of politics and a level of collaboration you won't find in many companies. We not only respect, but actively seek out differing views, and then seek closure after dissent to move forward together. When you look back, do so to find ways to improve rather than to blame.
Walk in Our Residents' Shoes
We are blessed by some of the most informed, passionate, and committed customers imaginable. They are our reason for being, they are our world, and we call them Residents. They are an insuperable source of advantage and an awesome responsibility. In every choice you make, consider how your decision will impact their experience and the experience of the new residents we are working to add to the community.
Assume Good Intent and Practice Good Intent
There's love in the spirit of our mission, the enjoyment we take in each others' company, and the style and humor we have at our best. We're here because we're open to all the wonders of the world and the goodness in each other; even the cynics among us harbor the begrudging belief that all things are possible. This is a place where you can be you, and we ask you to make the choices that enable your colleagues to bring out the best in themselves. Moreover, in the absence of explicitly saying so, assume they are doing the same.
Be Thoughtful and Transparent.
We build trust through transparent and open communication. Be prolific in your communication but intentional and thoughtful, and remember that context is key. Report on your progress regularly and in language that best benefits its intended audience to ensure that it supports and drives actions versus just becoming noise.
Be Brave. Fail Fast. Fail Forward
We need to have a bias toward action and be decisive. We need to be brave enough to take on reasonable risks, learning from and accepting both successes and the occasional failure. We need to be vigilant in establishing success criteria first and in recognizing failures fast so as not to distract or constrain progress.
BRAD OBERWAGER
Brad Oberwager has spent his entire career in technology and consumer focused companies as an entrepreneur and board member.
Currently, he sits on the board of two public companies, Asure Software (NASDAQ: ASUR) and Better World (NASDAQ: BWACU). He is the chairman of two companies he founded, Jyve and Sundia and is also on the board of TEGSCO (aka AutoReturn). He owned Bare Snacks, acquired by PepsiCo in 2018.
Brad was Vice-chair of YPO International, a global organization of 25,000 CEOs.
Brad received his BS from Georgetown University, his MBA from the Wharton School and lives in San Francisco.
J. RANDALL (RANDY) WATERFIELD
Mr. J. Randall (Randy) Waterfield, is the Chairman of Waterfield Holdings, which traces its origins to 1928. After selling the largest private mortgage company in the US and largest Indiana based bank in 2006 and 2007 respectively, he diversified into technology, manufacturing and other industries.
Randy holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a graduate of Harvard University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Red Oak Partners, Waterfield Technologies, Linden Research, Inc. and has previously served on the boards of YPO (and was the 2017-2018 Chairman of YPO), Asure Software ( NASDAQ: ASUR), SMTC Corporation (NASDAQ: SMTX), RF Industries (NASDAQ: RFIL), among others. He is also the Co-Chairman of Missouri Cobalt, LLC, the largest cobalt mine in North America.
Randy supports various education, environmental and community development charitable causes through the nonprofit Waterfield Foundation and J. Randall Waterfield Foundation.
PHILIP ROSEDALE
In 1995, Philip Rosedale created an innovative Internet video conferencing product ("FreeVue"), which was later acquired by RealNetworks, where in 1996 he went on to become Vice President and CTO. In 1999, Rosedale left RealNetworks, founded Linden Lab, and built the virtual civilization called Second Life - an open-ended, Internet-connected virtual world. Following Second Life, Rosedale worked on several projects related to distributed work and computing. After experimenting with the chips that would enable VR devices, he co-founded High Fidelity in 2013 to created an open-source platform for emerging headsets. Although VR still hasn't taken off, High Fidelity licenses its patented spatial audio technology to other companies to create rich 3D audio spaces on any device. In 2023 he co-founded IRL415 lab in San Francisco, which has helped launch several notable AI projects. Philip holds a B.S. in physics from University of California, San Diego.
RAJ DATE
Raj Date was the first-ever Deputy Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). As the Bureau’s second-ranking official, he helped steward the CFPB’s strategy, its operations, and its policy agenda. He also served on the senior staff committee of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, and as a statutory deputy to the FDIC Board.
Before being appointed Deputy Director, Raj acted as the interim leader of the new agency, serving as the Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury. He led the CFPB for most of the first six months after its launch.
Currently, Raj is the Managing Partner of Fenway Summer, an advisory and investment firm focused on financial services and financial technology. In that capacity, he chairs the investment committee of Fenway Summer Ventures, a fintech venture capital fund, and works with clients of FS Vector, the fintech advisory firm. He also serves as a Director for a number of innovative firms in financial services: Prosper, the marketplace lender; Green Dot, the bank holding company; Circle, the digital asset firm; Grasshopper, a de novo bank; and College Ave, a private student lender.
He is a graduate of the College of Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley (highest honors) and the Harvard Law School (magna cum laude).