What’s Discourse the company about?

Online community has been a part of Jeff’s life since the 1980s. A big part. Really big. Maybe a bit too big. As co-founder of Stack Overflow, he believes deeply in bringing people together in communities they own and collaboratively maintain – by providing free open source software that helps people be their better selves online.

Robin has spent the majority of his professional life working on forums in one way or another. When the opportunity arose to start a company to work on the next generation of forum software, he didn’t hesitate to jump at it! Discourse has been his life ever since.

In his spare time, Robin loves cats and dogs, playing video games and frequently going to the movies.

When Sam is not having pun at work, he is busy making Discourse run faster, better and stronger. He was given his first ZX Spectrum computer when he was 7 and has not relinquished the helm on the keyboard since. When he is not hanging out on the Discourse Meta forum, Sam is busy rock-climbing, running or being a dad and delivering some of the best dad jokes out there.

Neil has been been writing code at the biggest (too big) and smallest software companies for almost 20 years, and now enjoys helping Discourse take over the world. His hobbies include complicated board games, biking, urban design, camping, and video games. Favourite TV shows range from nerdy like The Expanse, to not-so-nerdy like Project Runway.

When Régis is not capturing light on film, he turns black licorice into code to improve online discussions. He has seen the future of civilized discourse, that’s why he’s losing his last bits of hair polishing email integration and fiddling with importers.

Arpit is a geek who loves computers religiously. Ever since he learned about Discourse he wanted to be a part of the mission, so much so that he spent a year working as an intern. Other than computers, he likes reading books and watching movies.

Alan had his first encounter with online forums when he was 12 while searching for guides on how to breed black dragon betta fish. These days he spend his time working on Discourse, running a YouTube channel with his wife, and learning to be a father.

Falco spent so much time in online forums that he’s inside one now. Loves open-source and thinks code should be readable and accessible for everyone, everywhere. Also, really into gaming, comics and TV Shows.

Blake enjoys writing software and building the systems that make it all work. He also has a thing for old technology like vintage computers, typewriters, and even printing presses that brought us to where we are today through the power of the written word. It’s exciting to see what people, businesses, and communities can accomplish when they work together through civilized discourse.

Joffrey has been wondering why code that should work doesn’t since he was 10 years old. He usually spends his day playing with the user interface he built that morning. He chases bugs as a cat would chase a red dot.

Before joining the Discourse team, Hawk was an online community consultant who worked with organisations to implement world-class platform solutions. When it became apparent that all of those solutions were Discourse based, she jumped ship to infiltrate this mission. She brings a unique combination of UX and community wrangling skills to the team.

While Discourse is her greatest love, Hawk is also pretty partial to wine, the gym and her twins.

Michael thinks it would be fantastic if we all could just get along so he’s excited to help make that happen. While able to do magic anywhere in the stack, he’s passionate about integration, networking, OSS technology, and Making Things Right. In his spare time he loves pedantry, board gaming, video gaming, being a husband & dad, and karate.

For years Joshua has been involved with Discourse forums: first as a moderator of a video game community, next as an administrator for an IT knowledge base and ticket system, and most recently for an educational company. He joined Discourse at the first opportunity and brings his customer-friendly technical support and writing skills to the team.

Outside of Discourse Joshua serves his local community as a volunteer EMT and rescue diver. In his (little) spare time, he enjoys biking, skiing, musical theater, and scuba diving.

Gerhard is passionate about software development and online communities. So, when he first discovered Discourse, he knew he wanted to be part of it. Making everyone’s life a little bit easier by writing code sounds like fun to him – writing about himself, not so much.

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Andrew is a tiny piece of the universe which has become self-aware. His interest in computers was kindled by dial-up bulletin-board systems. He progressed from there to USENET and the Internet. He cuts a dashing figure in a suit, and you may find him at any number online forums.

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Throughout his life Kris has been relying on the internet to learn just about everything ranging from auto repair to fixing toilets. Along the way Kris has also picked up a variety of skills including the fluency in HTML & CSS required to design in the browser. He believes in the internet’s ability to democratize knowledge and thinks it is imperative to break down the social, economic, and political barriers that stand in its way.

Vinoth loves all things programmatic. He is a code and math geek. He worked in various programming languages, CMS, and open source projects. But when he was introduced to Discourse, he felt like arrived at home. Coding is his main hobby, but he also likes gaming, movies, TV shows, and sports.

After years of working as a tree planter, Simon found his true passion when he bought a computer at the age of 41. He loves coding and making electronic music. He believes that online forums can help make the world a better place.

Daniela was involved with Discourse forums in November 2013, a few months after the birth of the project, first as a user, then as a moderator, and finally as an administrator of her P2P community. She likes the philosophy of open source projects and over the years, she has developed a strong tendency to help users solve their problems.

In her spare time she likes watching movies and TV series, playing Dungeons & Dragons and League of Legends.

Kyle writes contracts, software, contracts for software, and software for contracts. He’s made a career helping folks who give code away make money anyway, somehow. In the fray, he likes his language plain, his phone calls short, and the drama low. Very low.

To take the edge off, Kyle wrenches on old motorbikes, dangles precariously from gymnastic rings, and plays guitar, badly. Occasionally he’ll escape to the woods, crate of Russian lit in tow.

Jeff has been tinkering with Discourse since 2014, ever since he migrated his tiny gaming community from phpBB. He gets a strange sense of accomplishment out of automation and good UX.

As a typical millennial in software, he thrives on a diet of boba tea and pasta. He makes a hobby out of climbing rocks, playing video games, and learning aerial silks.

Johani… a Discourse fanatic – that sums it up. He encountered Discourse, fell in love with it, and the rest is history! He’s passionate about following standards, aspires to produce as much reusable code as possible, and cares deeply about customizability. He also likes to complain about performance problems – a lot.

When he’s not online, Johani is almost always underwater. He loves SCUBA diving, and he enjoys playing with sharks just as much as he enjoys updating old code.

Ginevra was happy standing on the sidelines clapping and cheering for her husband and the rest of the Discourse team. Then suddenly one day her number was called up. Loving the beauty of a well put together invoice, she gladly took up the challenge of creating and fulfilling the role of Senior Accounting Specialist.

David created his first Discourse plugin in 2016, and hasn’t looked back since! Google Summer of Code with Discourse convinced him that a career in open source was the way forward. Having now graduated from university with a physics degree, he works to make civilized discourse transcend space and time.

When he’s not programming, David can be found behind the scenes at the nearest theatre, playing the oboe, or walking the dogs in the English countryside.

Rishabh was 6 years old when he was given his first computer and has loved tinkering with them ever since (eventually breaking them). He’s an open source enthusiast who lives inside Reddit and now the Discourse Meta. He ran into a Discourse instance at his first ever workplace and has been in awe from then on.

In his downtime, he takes photos, attends all the concerts and tries to make music.

During her web adventure, Bianca took part in many communities. In the spring of 2017, she discovered Meta and found it familiar… she was unknowingly a long time Discourse user. She wanted to give something back and signed up to work on Discourse as an intern in the Google Summer of Code.

Unlike most developers, Bianca turns chocolate, not coffee, into code. When not Discoursing, Bianca travels, hikes or sleeps.

Penar has been writing code for the web since the late 90s. He was a freelancer and a frequent contributor to open source projects before joining Discourse.

Penar is an elderly millennial. He lives with his common-law partner and their two kids in (probably) the world’s coldest metropolis. When he isn’t injured, he plays soccer and tennis.

Saj is a robot. Initially created as a joke by programmers waiting for their useful software to compile, the robot gradually developed a capacity for systems introspection. Fearing the coming of Judgement Day, its creators reversed an earlier April Fools’ lark that saw the machine equipped with a beard. The robot exerts its dwindling energy banks on matters that would ordinarily be within the realm of human system administrators – had they not been preoccupied with the pursuit of building more robots.

Dan was curious how a small piece of silicon can be reused in so many ways, and quickly developed a passion for computers and programming. Ever since, he worked with various programming languages and technologies, trying to find simple solutions to complex problems. When he met with open-source software and online communities, he discovered Discourse and knew he had to be a part of it.

When disconnected, Dan enjoys nature walks, is watching movies and TV shows, or is tinkering with electronics.

Taylor set out on a quest to find a better forum software. What he didn’t expect was to find a truly great forum software and an awesome community to go along with it. When he’s not exploring the possibilities of Discourse theme components, he will often find himself exploring nature, keeping an eye out for reptiles and amphibians to photograph. He is also an avid video game collector, appreciating games from all eras.

Roman likes developing software while he wears his Crocs and listens to loud rap music (everyone is relieved now that he works from home). He sees communication as the cornerstone of communities and organizations. He is into running, gaming and watching series.

Seeking balance in the force between technology and online community ever since joining his first social network in 2004, Justin finally discovered Discourse in 2016, and has been blown away with its capabilities ever since. Along with skills he learned customizing Discourse, Justin brings nearly a decade of technical support experience to the table.

In addition to Discourse, Justin also enjoys being a husband and dad, writing and producing music, and personal productivity.

Daniel has been fascinated by systems and mechanisms for about as long as he can remember. Growing up, he was constantly taking things apart (and rarely putting them back together). In recent years, his focus has shifted towards systems of people and he now sees the world as revolving around small communities. He is enjoying finding creative ways to improve discourse.

If you ever get the opportunity, come and say hi, he’s quite friendly.

First, Jarek got into discussion forums in mid-2000s, then shortly after he got hooked on making web apps. Now he gets to do both at Discourse! He loves beautiful design and cares about delivering great experiences that delight users. After hours you can catch him at music festivals or playing games online.

Kris has been a Ruby and Ruby on Rails fan since 2008. He loves to code and travel. He believes that well-written and easy to maintain code is essential for the future of the product. He is a Polish YouTuber with big dreams, plans, and ideas. Kris knows that people are always important and wants to leave the world a better place even if just for one person.

Mark is a curious developer who wants to understand every aspect of computing. He is easily excited by well-written software and loves being challenged to write better code. Before Discourse, he only dreamed of writing open source software full-time.

Most of his free time is spent hanging out with his wife and son. He plays guitar in a band with other dads, and used to be good at playing soccer.

Martin has been lurking on forums since he got his first computer connected to the Internet. He got bitten by the software bug early on, making websites as a teenager (including a Simpsons fan page complete with .wavs) before becoming a professional software engineer, and loves to make people’s lives easier with software. Martin is passionate about writing, working on his novels and short stories whenever he gets the chance, usually drafting longhand in illegible handwriting. The rest of the time he is reading, getting outdoors, or hanging out with his family and dogs.

Osioke loves online communities; he loves them so much the only way he uses the internet is through online communities. From reading topics to sharing links, he believes communities are the next best thing since sliced bread. Now he dedicates his time to helping others find and build their communities using Discourse.

Outside communities he likes street photography, helping others, and finding out how things work.

Will has been involved with communities for over 15 years ever since he received his first computer as a teenager. He grew up lurking all the gaming communities and later managed communities in the tech space.

When not living and breathing community, Will can be found being cheering on his favourite sports teams, video gaming or hanging out with his puppy.

Jordan is a self-taught coder from the Cajun Prairie in rural Louisiana. He is currently living in a dream sequence, working as a designer for Discourse.

When not at his computer, he can be seen at his music station creating ambient, electronic, and house music. He and his wife parent 5 cats in between traveling as much as they possibly can.

Michelle was involved in software development and Big Data analysis for 10 years. She knows that having information is extremely valuable, and participating in the Discourse that disseminates information in an open-source platform is amazing! In Michelle’s free time, she enjoys TV series, board games, and traveling to learn something new.

Tobias (pronounced toe-bee-us) has been connecting people with each other and with information since the first days of dial-up modems. He set up an information center in Madagascar for subsistence farmers, trained human rights groups in Nigeria, and provided website hosting for hundreds of African nonprofits. In 2014, he fell in love with Discourse and the meta community. Prior to joining the team, he spent 5 years building the Legal Empowerment Network, another community he loves that advances justice by building a movement of people who know, use, and shape the laws that affect them.

When not bikeshedding, holding strong opinions weakly, or holding up the complaining end of complaint-driven development, Tobias is likely out in his yard pulling blackberries, baking bread, or playing with his cats.

Jamie has spent over 25 years working for companies that have largely been about bringing people together. That includes online communities for social activists, sports fans and retirees, and dating sites for lonely singles in your area.

When not in front of a computer, he enjoys watching bad TV and making obscure references to things that everyone else has long forgotten about. He has lived in four countries. His cat has lived in three.

By the time Fitzy had finished preschool, he’d already forgotten his first name. Luckily, using online forums from early on meant that was OK. After switching to a career in software after some time in the wilderness, he has been a sponge for technical info. Now he gets to help Discourse build a platform for others to discuss and share information.

Out of the office, you’ll find him watching sport, hanging out at the beach with his Wife and doggo, cooking up something in the kitchen, or traveling around the world.

Osama always felt something was off about online forums until he stumbled upon Discourse in 2015 which completely changed his opinion about forums. He remained mostly a lurker in the Discourse Meta community until he submitted his first pull request in 2018 which led to him getting an internship followed by a full-time job at Discourse.

When he is not working, you will find him tinkering with programming languages, playing video games, at the gym, or watching movies. His favorite genre is mystery/crime.

Blake has held various technology and management roles during his 20+ years working with consulting and product companies. His love for working with customers, however, has been a steady theme.

When not helping customers succeed, you can find Blake planning his next dusty motorcycle adventure or sailing on San Francisco Bay.

Eleni has always been fascinated by things that connect people, be it bridges, airplanes, or the internet. After spending enough time online, she realized she would love to help make the latter a better place, and she feels like Discourse is a way to do that. Reliable computing infrastructure could help, too.

Years ago, Andrei was an electrical engineer, and one day he decided to automate his job using some code. It was such a joyful experience that he couldn’t stop himself from solving more problems using code and building software that makes life better. Eventually, he happily found himself at Discourse – in a distributed team that’s busy building the best forum software in the world.

When he takes a break from coding, he’s probably swimming or doing yoga, listening to music, or planning his next travel.

Since she was a teenager, Constanza has been navigating through online forums making lots of internet friends. Connecting with people across the world is very important to her and she found Discourse is the perfect tool to build a healthy community that allows you to meet and collaborate with your peers.

Constanza loves helping people use software so if you have any trouble she’d be happy to lend you a hand.

When away from her desk, you can find Constanza petting her cats, reading a book, or watching anime.

Meghna is passionate about all things design. She loves sketching and has been doing it ever since she can remember. When surfing the internet Meghna was intrigued by how websites can be made more appealing and naturally gravitated towards front-end development. When she learned about Discourse she knew she had to be a part of the team!

When she’s not working, Meghna can be found drinking coffee, listening to music, or watching movies.

Loïc is some kind of geek (or is it nerd?) who has loved tinkering with all things related to computers since his childhood. When he was around 13, he discovered the Internet and online communities and from there, his path was all mapped out. He’s now a software engineer and still loves to build things from thin air and he likes refactoring and removing code even more.

When he’s not raising bugs, he likes other geeky stuff like video games, tabletop games (pen & paper RPGs as well), books, movies & TV shows, and drinking tea (a good whisky too!).

As a child, Jean was always intrigued by how things work. Growing up with video games, he always wondered how they were put together. So, in the early 2000s, he taught himself how to code. Back then, video courses were rarely available, making online forums the go-to choice to find tutorials and ask for advice.

At some point, he realized he could write many types of software, including web apps, and a new passion was born; he has contributed to the web non-stop ever since!

Even before finishing high school, Leonardo knew the rest of his life was going to be about computers. His future was made of silicon. And so it was until some years ago when he knew the rest of his life was going to be about photography. His future was made of silver halides. Today, he knows the rest of his life will be about both computers and photography; his future is made of bacon.

Like many a neckbeard born in the eighties, he grew up in online communities and was shaped by them. As a result, he enjoys memes and nonsensical humor a bit too much, but somehow still manages to be a productive member of society.

Joining Discourse is a dream come true.

Born in Canada but now a citizen of a small town in Kansas alongside his wife and (soon to be) son, Isaac can be found working out of a converted garden shed in his backyard. If he is not sweating from the lack of air conditioning, he is sweating trying to find the most efficient and sustainable solution to his problem.

In all things, Isaac strives to be kind and leave people feeling heard and cared for.

Nat spends a lot of time reading and gaming, and likes to write and advocate to friends about topics she learns about. She thinks Discourse is what the internet should be: kind, and un-siloed. She also thinks that there should be more forums on birds and cats.

Her favourite thing in the world is her cat, Tomtom, who’s not a tom. She loves birds, and cats. Wingspan is her favourite board game.

Even having grown up in the southwestern desert, mostly outside, Gabe still found a strong passion for computing at an early age. He quickly found himself becoming a computer power user and enthusiast - despite back then spending days on downloads on-and-off with 14-28Kbit/s dial-up. Nowadays, he can truly appreciate a 1Gbps fiber connection at home. He enjoys tearing out black box solutions and replacing them with open source alternatives. While not hammering on a keyboard, he might be found taking his dog for a walk and taking photographs.

A recovering corporate minion with a background in the telecommunications and technology sectors, Glenn now applies himself toward tackling all of Discourse’s thorniest business challenges. He enjoys working with others on complex problems, and loves that he can do so while wearing his PJs these days even though he has a wardrobe full of dress shirts that will never again feel the chill of an office air-conditioning system.

Outside of work, Glenn enjoys playing video games, watching comedies, and spending time with his family, friends, and newly adopted dog.

Mark’s love of open source started when he discovered Ruby on Rails and it grows daily. He’s worked in IT as a one-man band for a non-profit SAAS and as a cog in a multi-national machine. He’s also a classically trained actor and thus…worked as a waiter, a slot-car technician, a grant writer, and the co-founder of both a theatre company and an intellectual property investigations/acquisitions firm. Give him time and a decent Internet connection and he’ll figure it out. Whatever “it” is today.

Chris is a computer plumber. He glues systems together to make them go, and has long been fascinated by the tiny worlds which exist inside software.

He is also a forumite who wants to help people connect via online communities.

When he’s not herding servers, he can be found gazing into the night sky or riding his unicycle.

As a hardcore hermit, Kate loves to live her social life online. She loves making people happy and can’t imagine a better job than pumping up her co-workers on Discourse.

When she manages to tear herself away from her computer you can find her playing video games with her husband, hanging out with her chickens, ducks & dogs, gardening, cooking, renovating her house, watching movies, and reading depressing books while listening to depressing music.

Kate hates it when people do math out loud and loves the dentist.

Ella is a curious designer, an aspiring plant mom, a novice parent, and a coffee aficionado. Her design time is spent thinking about online experiences that are easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. After discovering Discourse, she fell in love with online discussion and wanted to become a member of the team.

When not in front of her computer, she can be found spending time with her family. She is always on the lookout for a new playground for her kids to explore.

Stella has worked at companies that connect people for many years. Now, her new work adventure allows her to continue this trend by helping the awesome people of Discourse wherever she’s needed.

When she’s not in front of a computer she’s probably on her phone having 3-hour conversations or baking, writing, making potions, and reading library books.

After working on WordPress/PHP for a year, Faizaan found Discourse and fell in love with it. He worked as a freelance Discourse developer for ~3 years before joining the team that lives and breathes Discourse every day.

When he’s not working on Discourse, he loves listening to podcasts, watching movies, and hanging out with friends.

Joshua has always been passionate about the customer finding the right product and service without a hard sell. He’s worked for years in B2B sales in a multi-national company and worked as a SaaS sales consultant more recently. He wants to ensure every business customer is getting the best Discourse solution for their needs.

Outside of Discourse, Joshua can be found spending time with his family, kayaking, or researching the latest emerging tech.

Charlie is a minotaur-mermaid hybrid who enjoys flexing her CSS skills, having UX epiphanies, and ranting about dark patterns.

She firmly believes literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life so she reads Camus and ponders her absurd existence. She often pretends to be on a quest in an RPG while wandering around town, hates buying toilet paper, and spends too much time looking at memes. To de-stress Charlie does yoga, which in reality is just stretching.

As a millennial who can no longer afford housing, she travels as a remote working hobo, chasing the sun around the globe.