Chris Wanstrath

Wanstrath is from Cincinnati. He enrolled at the University of Cincinnati to study English but spent most of his time programming rather than attending lectures, recalling, “I didn’t go to class, and I programmed.” He took one or two of the university’s programming courses and considered a computer science major, but left without a degree.⁠[1]

Largely self-taught as a programmer, he applied for a programming job at CNET in San Francisco after leaving university.⁠[1]

Before founding GitHub, Wanstrath worked as an engineer at CNET Networks on GameSpot and the launch of Chow.⁠[2]

While working on the Chow and Chowhound projects at CNET, he met PJ Hyett, later a GitHub co-founder.⁠[1]

In 2007 Wanstrath and Tom Preston-Werner, both developers in the Ruby on RailsRuby on RailsRuby on Rails (often shortened to Rails) is an open-source, full-stack web application framework written in the Ruby programming language that builds database-backed web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) pattern. Created by David Heinemeier Hansson and first publicly released in 2004, it is known for design principles such as “convention over configuration,” and companies including GitHub and Shopify use it in production.Open the full entry community, began building GitHub as a side project, initially aiming to make the Git version control system easier to use for online collaboration; PJ Hyett and Scott Chacon were also co-founders. “Collaboration was the real problem we were solving,” he said.⁠[1]

On April 10, 2008, Wanstrath announced on the GitHub blog that GitHub had officially launched; users could sign up or upgrade their accounts, with usage limits enforced from April 17.⁠[3]

On July 9, 2012, Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry announced a $100 million investment in GitHub, describing it as the largest investment the firm had made and the only outside investment GitHub had taken; the post said the four founders, Tom, Chris, PJ and Scott, had grown revenue at nearly 300% a year while staying profitable nearly the entire way.⁠[4]

The same year Wanstrath stepped down as chief executive, and co-founder Tom Preston-Werner led the company.⁠[5]

On January 21, 2014, Tom Preston-Werner announced on the GitHub blog that he had asked Wanstrath to take the role of chief executive, leading the company and setting its vision and strategy, while Preston-Werner became president responsible for research and development and new growth; the two had already been working in these roles for several months.⁠[6]

In the change, Wanstrath moved from president to chief executive, swapping roles with Preston-Werner.⁠[7]

On March 5, 2015, Andreessen Horowitz published the a16z Podcast episode “a16z Podcast: Embracing Sales,” in which a16z general partner Peter Levine talked with Wanstrath, then GitHub’s chief executive and co-founder. The episode discussed why companies founded by engineers often mistrust sales; Wanstrath described how customers asking GitHub to build a sales organization changed his view of salespeople, and the two discussed how GitHub embraced sales, how good salespeople resemble good teachers, and what selling to developers requires.⁠[8]

The episode was uploaded to the a16z YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel on January 1, 2019, under the title “a16z Podcast | Embracing Sales.”⁠[9]

On August 17, 2017, GitHub announced that Wanstrath would step down as chief executive, remaining on the board to help find his successor and then becoming executive chairman. At the time GitHub had nearly 700 employees, more than $200 million in annualized recurring revenue and over 20 million registered users. “I'm confident that this is the moment to find a new CEO to lead us into the next stage of growth,” he said.⁠[5]

During his second term as chief executive, GitHub brought its enterprise software to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure and introduced a Business service tier; the company raised $250 million at a $2 billion valuation in 2015.⁠[5]

On June 4, 2018, Microsoft announced it would acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion in Microsoft stock, and that after the deal Microsoft corporate vice president Nat Friedman would become GitHub’s chief executive, while Wanstrath would become a Microsoft technical fellow reporting to executive vice president Scott Guthrie and working on strategic software initiatives.⁠[10]

On June 8, 2018, Andreessen Horowitz published the a16z Podcast episode “a16z Podcast: The End (and Beginning) of Programming,” drawn from a Q&A at an a16z Summit between a16z general partner Peter Levine and Wanstrath, GitHub’s co-founder and former chief executive. The episode asked how the number of programmers could grow from about 20 million to 100 million and eventually a billion developers, proposed redefining “programmer” and “programming,” and discussed what data becoming a resource everyone works with directly means for open source developers, for chief information officers and organizations with many data streams, and for domain experts. The episode was uploaded to the a16z YouTube channel on January 1, 2019, under the title “a16z Podcast | The End (and Beginning) of Programming.”⁠[11][12]

On October 26, 2018, Microsoft announced it had completed the acquisition of GitHub, with Nat Friedman taking over as GitHub’s chief executive and reporting to Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud + AI Group.⁠[13]

On February 1, 2023, Wanstrath announced the formation of the independent games publisher Null Games, whose first title was Tape to Tape, a hockey roguelite by the Canadian studio Excellent Rectangle planned for release in 2023; Null Games’ press materials state that the company was founded in 2022 and that its games have no battle passes or loot boxes. “Null is part of a new wave of indie game publishers that put developers first,” he said.⁠[14]

On July 1, 2024, Andreas Kling, founder of the Ladybird browser project, announced the nonprofit Ladybird Browser Initiative, a US 501(c)(3) organization funded entirely by sponsorships and donations that would not pursue corporate deals or revenue beyond unrestricted donations. Wanstrath became secretary and treasurer on its inaugural board, with Kling as president; the announcement listed Wanstrath’s current involvements as an unannounced game engine, Null Games and the Computer History Museum.⁠[15]

Personal website: https://chriswanstrath.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16][17]

GitHub: Public profile: https://github.com/defunkt (opens in a new window).⁠[16]