Mozilla: Scaling Through a Community of Volunteers

Mozilla launched its Firefox web browser in November 2004, when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer had a market share of over 90 percent, and was giving its browser away. Five years later, Firefox had a 25 percent share, and more than 300 million people were using the browser.

Firefox, and other Mozilla products, were open source programs. A small Mozilla staff worked with tens of thousands of volunteers to develop, test, debug, and promote its software. This case study discusses ways that Mozilla developed and cultivated its community of volunteers, motivated them, and channeled their passion.