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 additional offices in Seattle, Boston, Davis, and Charlottesville.
The Tao of Linden was created at the very beginning of Linden Lab, and it continues to be our guiding principles to this day.
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.
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.
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).