Vivaldi: New web browser birthed in Massachusetts

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A half-dozen programmers — from Norway, Iceland and the Czech Republic — sit in front of large screens and laptops in “The Cave,” their fingers tracing the glyphs that ultimately form the language of the internet. 

The group has gathered in a renovated inn, about 35 miles north of Boston, to work on a newly launched, state-of-the-art web browser called Vivaldi

“It’s not every day that a new browser is born,” Jon von Tetzchner, the founder and creative force behind Vivaldi, said. But von Tetzchner has experienced this before — he started and ran the web browser Opera for 17 years. “It’s a significant amount of work and we have a good team of people.”

The Iceland native has gathered the Vivaldi team, which numbers about 35, for the month of June from their workplaces in Norway, Iceland, Finland and other European points for what they refer to as “Vivaldi Summer Camp.”

It is part corporate retreat and part holiday, with many of the employees bringing their families.

The concept is part of von Tetzchner’s overarching personal and corporate philosophy of a practical egalitarianism that encourages input and ideas from all quarters, a philosophy that eschews the usual corporate hierarchy and one-size-fits-all tableau.

“Gathering them together every now and then is important,” von Tetzchner said. “We’re having brain-storming sessions and just spending time together. I think it’s important for a company to have a company culture. You need to bring people together. That’s what this is about. We meet up in Iceland a couple of times a year as well, and I guess we’ll have a gathering in Norway, as well, soon.”

The value, he said, is not only in the respite and enriching experience of traveling but in the benefits that accrue from the social component when it comes time to go back to work.

“They get to know each other,” von Tetzchner said. “They get familiar with each other in a different way than what you would do when you’re communicating over the Internet. We have an organization with a lot of smart people and you don’t go around telling smart people what to do. You discuss it with them.”

“It’s less about consensus and more about appreciating that we’re all different,” he continued. “It’s what we do with Vivaldi, the thinking that everyone is different and equal. We like ideas to come from anyone and for people to have their own ideas and bring them forward.”

That same philosophy, he said, is ingrained in Vivaldi and runs counter to the common corporate approach to building software.

Breaking even 

“The traditional way of doing software now is you build something that’s beautiful and then people should like it,” von Tetzchner said. “Our way of thinking is that everyone is an individual and everyone has their own opinions on how things should be done and we adapt to those opinions. That means a lot of this is about enabling you, the user, to get the kind of browsing experience you want … being able to do that in a way that is pleasant and efficient.”

According to von Tetzchner, Vivaldi supports more than 50 different languages and much of that work was assembled by a cadre of hundreds of volunteers drawn to the company because of its philosophy. Though still firmly entrenched in the category of start-up, he said the new browser, which is free, launched strongly and now is closing in on 1 million monthly users.

“We’re working on breaking even and then we’ll take it from there.” he said.

The technical world is its own little maelstrom, moving at warp speed, embracing one product and often discarding it as the next venture emerges. So, he was asked, how do you succeed within that chaotic and whirling state? How do you grab a moment and make it last? How do you make product that will stand the test of time?

“It’s a question of always innovating, always thinking and always thinking about how we can make it better,” von Tetzchner said.

Horgan writes for the Gloucester, Massachusetts Daily Times.