The Story of Glide: Building the Future of Software Development for Everyone

A grandmother’s first email changed the future of software development. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Glide CEO David Siegel shared how this moment sparked a journey that would eventually lead to creating a platform used by hundreds of thousands of people to build millions of apps.

From Early Computer Fascination to Software Innovation

“I grew up obsessed with computers,” David recalls. “I grew up in the golden age of the early Internet. Everyone getting email knows right before the smartphone, tinkering with your own pc, installing Linux.” But it wasn’t just the technology that fascinated him – it was its impact on everyday life. Watching his grandmother send her first email ignited a passion for making technology accessible to everyone.

After studying computer science and philosophy, David spent a decade in open source and software development tools. His path led him to a startup building internal mobile apps for large companies, which was later acquired by Microsoft.

The Microsoft Chapter

The Microsoft experience proved unexpectedly positive. “This was sort of Microsoft on the ascent, the rebound under Satya Nadella, and you would just meet people saying, welcome to Microsoft, we’re so happy you’re here,” David shares. Working from their San Francisco office, he found himself in an environment that maintained startup energy while backed by enterprise resources.

The Birth of Glide

Despite the comfortable position at Microsoft, David felt an entrepreneurial pull. “I got the itch with a couple of colleagues of mine to just jump back into the startup world and build something new,” he explains. The result was Glide, which he describes as “the culmination of all of that background… and sort of rejoining my origin story of falling in love with this idea of technology for people made more broadly accessible.”

Overcoming Initial Doubts

The idea of creating software development tools for everyone initially seemed daunting. David recalls, “At first I just kind of recoiled from the idea for two reasons. One, because I’d seen it done before and always terribly… and two, it just seemed so hard.”

A book called “The Beginning of Infinity” by David Deutsch changed his perspective. The book’s principle of optimism states that “anything that’s not prohibited by a law of nature is possible, given the right knowledge.” This principle helped transform what seemed impossible into a challenge worth tackling.

Building for Real Impact

Glide’s success stories demonstrate the power of democratizing software development. From a sheriff creating an emergency response app during a storm to the PGA modifying tournament operations software on the fly, the platform has enabled non-technical users to solve real business problems rapidly.

These implementations aren’t just demos – they’re mission-critical applications. As David notes, “We have public companies running significant operations on apps built by people who can’t write code in their operations team running on Glide.”

The Vision Ahead

Looking to the future, David’s ambition is clear: “When you ask a random person in a company, what tool would you use to create a presentation? They can say PowerPoint or Google Slides… I want there to be a brand that everyone has in mind, and it’s Glide. When you need to create software, it’s Glide.”

This vision isn’t about replacing all software development – Glide isn’t for building “autonomous drone swarms that’s going to build habitats on Mars.” Instead, it’s about democratizing the creation of business applications that drive day-to-day operations, making software development accessible to the millions of people who need to create solutions for their organizations.

The story of Glide reflects a larger shift in enterprise software – from complex tools requiring specialized knowledge to accessible platforms that empower anyone to create solutions. It’s a vision that started with watching a grandmother send her first email and has evolved into a platform that’s redefining how businesses approach software development.