I’m Margaret Tallman and, this week, I’m wrapping up my first month as a new member of the team at Mozilla Corporation. Having just returned from the Mozilla Summit 2008, I am fully energized and feel grateful that I was able to meet such a large number of community members from all around the world before I’d even been here a month – what an awesome way to begin!
This is an incredibly unique time to be joining Mozilla, given the buzz around the launch of Firefox 3, the focus on Mobile and the innovations being led out of Labs; I’m excited about being part of an organization that is truly revolutionizing the way in which the globe uses and experiences the Internet.
I come to Mozilla by way of 7 years at Hewlett-Packard, the last 3 of which I was Division Manager, New Business Development for the Personal System Group’s Internet and Software Services team. I’ll be focused on scaling the organization’s business development activities and partnership strategies. The way in which I approach this responsibility will be profoundly different from any of my previous roles in Corporate America. Within that landscape, my goals and objectives were what one would view as conventional for any public company: I was measured predominately on top and bottom line results, protecting existing revenue streams and building incremental/new revenue opportunities.
I’ve spent some time over the past few weeks contemplating what Business Development means within the context of the Mozilla project and the way in which our objectives should be formulated to most effectively support the principles of the Mozilla Manifesto. With nearly 20% market share, the Mozilla Firefox Browser is the underpinning of a portfolio of assets which bring to life the key tenents of the Mozilla Foundation – promoting openness, innovation and opportunity (choice) on the Internet. A community of thousands, from many nations around the world, is responsible for creating and espousing these assets, and that is really quite powerful. Mitchell Baker explores how the combination of voice and reach can have tremendous positive impact when she writes, “combining mindshare with a significant number of users makes an enormous difference. As a result, good things happen”. These good things include such influential concepts as accessibility, interoperability, innovation, shared vision, transparency, security, and public benefit.
With that as context, the Business Development function is really about finding new, interesting, relevant and propitious ways to leverage our assets for the purpose of extending the Mozilla principles. Thus, the primary objective of my role should be to identify and foster new vehicles through which the vitality of the Mozilla Manifesto can be recognized and embraced, by as many regions in the world as possible, through as many sustainable products and services as possible, without, of course, disrupting the values upon which the Foundation was established.
Here, I will be frequently blogging about these new vehicles, which will include ideas on partnerships, services, sectors, channels, the technology and Internet ecosystem, global initiatives, and other Business Affairs-related topics. I might also throw in the occasional blog about dance, or golf, or that great live concert I saw in the City.
Until then, if you are interested in speaking with me further about Mozilla and new business, or have ideas that support this activity, please do not hesitate to comment here, or I can be reached at mtallman@mozilla.com. I’d enjoy hearing from you.
What do you say?