Mozilla Firefox CTO on Browser War Stories and the Path to Distinguished Engineer
Mozilla Firefox CTO on Browser War Stories and the Path to Distinguished Engineer ย 
Podcast: The Peterman Pod
Published On: Fri Oct 10 2025
Description: Bobby Holley went from an intern to the CTO of Mozilla Firefox. I asked him about everything he learned in that process. We cover his full career including some interesting stories on living through the browser wars and advice on career growth.๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ๐˜€:โ€ข Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/mozilla-firefox-cto-on-browser-warโ€ข Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MX9PyeCzDhdlyRv6slwIXโ€ข Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835๐—˜๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ๐˜€:โ€ข NYT article link: https://www.livemint.com/Industry/q2EjgGX6d5Ouwec479WSqM/For-Mozilla-Google-group-hugs-get-tricky.htmlโ€ข Mozilla VP twitter thread: https://www.computerworld.com/article/1722183/former-mozilla-exec-alleges-google-torpedoed-firefox-with-oops-excuses.htmlโ€ข Internal memo on writing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1518xKjijjEWHQb6wZjAWJrUN8liZGGI9v5pRFr9eFHo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.1gfr5hva69qx๐—ง๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜€:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:57 - Starting at Mozilla00:04:57 - Browser wars history00:10:55 - Google relationship changing00:16:11 - Why work for free00:19:02 - Projects that drove his career00:33:12 - No performance reviews00:34:42 - Rust adoption00:43:33 - Career progression00:47:54 - Should you focus on promos00:57:14 - Distinguished promo rejection01:00:56 - Examples of distinguished engs01:10:54 - Advice for aspiring distinguished engs01:14:40 - AI browser wars01:26:32 - Biggest technical regret01:29:11 - Book that impacted his career most01:32:09 - Advice for his younger self๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฏ๐˜†:โ€ข LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbyholleyโ€ข X/Twitter: https://x.com/bhology๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป:โ€ข Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/โ€ข X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpetermanโ€ข LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/โ€ข Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpetermanโ€ข Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpetermanโ€ข TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman