Philip Rosedale

Philip Rosedale
Philip Rosedale 2014
Born	(1968-09-29) September 29, 1968 (age 48) San Diego, California, United States
Occupation	engineer at High Fidelity Inc
Known for	founder of Linden Lab and High Fidelity Inc

Philip Rosedale (born September 29, 1968) is an American entrepreneur, best known as the founder of the virtual world Second Life.

In 2008 Rosedale was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Linden Lab’s creation of the Second Life online world.

Rosedale took an interest in computers, technology, and virtual reality from an early age. He started his own company selling database systems to small businesses at 17, used the proceeds to fund his college education and ultimately earned a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of California, San Diego.

In 1995, Rosedale created an innovative Internet video conferencing product (called "FreeVue"), which was later acquired by RealNetworks, where (in 1996) he went on to become Vice President and chief technology officer. A year later Rosedale left RealNetworks and founded Linden Lab, named after a street in Hayes Valley (a neighborhood in San Francisco). With the creation of Second Life, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of creating an Internet-scale virtual world. In 2006, he and Linden Lab received WIRED's Rave Award for Innovation in Business. On March 14, 2008, Rosedale announced he would be stepping down as the CEO of Linden Lab and assuming the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors (coincidentally exactly 6 years to the day from the "birth" of his avatar).

Rosedale had stated that his goal with Second Life was to demonstrate a viable model for a virtual economy or virtual society. In his own words: "We don't see this as a game. We see it as a platform that is, in many ways, better than the real world" (Google TechTalks, March 2006). In October 2009, Rosedale announced that he'd be less involved in the development of Second Life, because he was focusing on a new project. The announced project turned out to be a company named LoveMachine Inc, founded with Ryan Downe.