Philip Rosedale - Created the virtual world known as Second Life

Name: Philip Rosedale / Philip Linden Nationality: American Companies run: FreeVue, Linden Lab Founder and chairman Philip Rosedale may be better known to some as his Second Life alter-ego, the avatar Philip Linden. He’s inhabited the virtual world, often referred to as the metaverse, since Second Life’s launch in 2003. The business behind it though, Linden Lab, was set up by Rosedale in 1999. In April 2008 Silicon Alley Insider valued the company at $1.1bn based on an estimated $40m turnover in 2007 and projected $80m in 2008. Not bad going given Rosedale had been fascinated by the idea of a creating a virtual existence since teenage years. After an early start to entrepreneurial life, making and selling company databases at the age of 17, followed by university, he created an internet video-conferencing system called FreeVue in 1995 – considerably ahead of its time. The business was sold to RealNetworks, where Rosedale became chief technology officer (CTO). At RealNetworks Rosedale pioneered the development and deployment of streaming media technologies. Following a financial windfall at RealNetworks, Rosedale departed to form Linden Labs. To further what became a four-year development of the final user-focused site Rosedale raised money from angels, followed by Series A funding of $8m from the likes of Benchmark Capital, software legend Mitch Kapor and Catamount Ventures. An $11m Series B round backed by some of the initial supporters as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, eBay’s investment arm Omidyar Network, and Globespan Capital Partners secured the global roll-out. Competitors, such as venture capital-backed Habbo Hotels, Multiverse and Media Machines, as well as an adult version called Red Light Center, created momentum for the industry. And in 2007 Second Life itself launched a teen version designed to eliminate the adult themes many users indulge in on the main site. For his achievements Rosedale received WIRED magazine’s Rave Award for Innovation in Business in 2006 and was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007. Since Rosedale created his alias Philip Linden he’s been joined by over 15 million other users. In a world populated by avatars living ‘life’ by meeting up, going out, buying and selling property and falling in virtual love, the only thing that’s real is the money. Within Second Life users spend Linden Dollars, a virtual currency which they have exchanged real cash for. Rosedale estimated recently that some 60,000 people are actually making a profit from their existence in the metaverse with several thousand considering it their full-time job. In March 2009 CEO Mark Kingdon reported that $37m (£26m) worth of Linden Dollars had been exchanged between users in the previous month alone. Rosedale also sees a future in which online training and education is delivered to groups virtually. Despite this, with the number of active users dwindling and recognised real-world brands such as Reuters very publicly pulling out, there remains a question mark over Second Life’s future. What’s not in doubt though is Rosedale’s ability to lead, innovate and visualise the future impacts of new technologies. In this exclusive interview with Entrepreneur TV, filmed at the Leaders in London conference, he talked about the origins of the business, fundraising and life in San Francisco’s Bay Area, stepping down as CEO, and shared his thoughts on the future of leadership.

You are seeing this content because you dont have flash player.To install Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Download Flash Player 9 now for free at Adobe.com