# Simon Willison

Open Source Developer, Datasette · San Francisco

## Facts, with sources

- **Role**: Open Source Developer, Datasette (Nov 2017 – now). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Role**: Blogger, Simon Willison's Weblog (Jun 2002 – now). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Based in**: San Francisco, California, United States. Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: JSK Fellow, John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford (Sep 2019 – Jul 2020). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: Director of Architecture, Eventbrite (Aug 2013 – Jul 2019). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: Co-founder and CEO, Lanyrd (Aug 2010 – Aug 2013). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: Technical Architect, The Guardian (Oct 2008 – Jul 2010). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: Technologist, Yahoo (Sep 2005 – Jan 2007). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: Member, Web Standards Project (Nov 2003 – Jan 2007). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Earlier**: Columnist, SitePoint (Nov 2003 – Jun 2005). Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Education**: University of Bath, BSc, Computer Science, 2001–2005. Source: [LinkedIn profile](https://linkedin.com/in/simonwillison), 17 Oct 2026
- **Known for**: Creator of Datasette, an open source tool for exploring and publishing data. Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/about), 21 Oct 2026
- **Talks**: Coding agents for data analysis, NICAR 2026. Source: [simonw.github.io](https://simonw.github.io/nicar-2026-coding-agents), 21 Oct 2026
- **Talks**: Big Opportunities in Small Data, Citus Con 2023 (May 2023). Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2023/May/8/big-opportunities-in-small-data), 8 May 2023
- **Talks**: Datasette—an ecosystem of tools for working with small data, PyGotham 2020 (Jul 2021). Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2021/Jul/22/small-data), 22 Jul 2021
- **Profiles**: Simon Willison's Weblog (simonwillison.net). Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net), 21 Oct 2026
- **Profiles**: GitHub: simonw. Source: [github.com](https://github.com/simonw), read 21 Oct 2026
- **Profiles**: Substack: Simon Willison's Newsletter. Source: [simonw.substack.com](https://simonw.substack.com), read 21 Oct 2026

## Career

- now: Datasette. Source: linkedin.com
- now: Simon Willison's Weblog. Source: linkedin.com
- Sep 2019 – Jul 2020: JSK Fellow, John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Source: linkedin.com
- Aug 2013 – Jul 2019: Director of Architecture, Eventbrite. Source: linkedin.com
- Aug 2010 – Aug 2013: Co-founder and CEO, Lanyrd. Source: linkedin.com
- Oct 2008 – Jul 2010: Technical Architect, The Guardian. Source: linkedin.com
- Dec 2007 – Sep 2008: Consultant, Global. Source: linkedin.com
- Jan 2007 – Sep 2008: Freelance / Consultant, Self employed. Source: linkedin.com
- Sep 2005 – Jan 2007: Technologist, Yahoo. Source: linkedin.com
- Nov 2003 – Jan 2007: Member, Web Standards Project. Source: linkedin.com
- Nov 2003 – Jun 2005: Columnist, SitePoint. Source: linkedin.com
- Oct 2003 – Oct 2004: Web Developer, The World Company. Source: linkedin.com

## Recent

- 24 Sep 2026: Release: datasette 1.0a41. Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/24/datasette)
- 16 Sep 2026: Release: datasette 1.0a40. Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/16/datasette)
- 21 May 2026: Datasette Agent. Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2026/May/21/datasette-agent)
- 15 Jan 2026: Simon Willison on Technical Blogging - by Cynthia Dunlop. Source: [writethatblog.substack.com](https://writethatblog.substack.com/p/simon-willison-on-technical-blogging)
- 6 Nov 2025: Video + notes on upgrading a Datasette plugin for the .... Source: [simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/6/upgrading-datasette-plugins)

Page: https://superbay.ai/p/simonwillison · updated 2026-10-22