# Gabriel Weinberg

> Gabriel Weinberg is the founder and CEO of DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine he built from his basement in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania starting in 2008 - while simultaneously being a stay-at-home dad. A former MIT physicist who sold his first social network for $10 million just before Facebook made it obsolete, Weinberg turned DuckDuckGo into a billion-dollar company processing over 100 million searches daily, without tracking a single user. He is also the co-author of 'Super Thinking' and 'Traction', two widely-read books on mental models and startup growth.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at DuckDuckGo
- **Organizations:** DuckDuckGo, Hacker Angels, Open Angel Forum Philadelphia
- **From:** California, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Physics, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Master of Science in Technology and Policy, MIT - Technology and Policy Program
- **Known for:** Built DuckDuckGo into a $1+ billion company with over 100 million daily searches, First search engine to make privacy its core business model and prove it profitable, Testified before US Senate Judiciary Committee on privacy in 2019

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Founded Learnection, an educational software startup funded with ~$30,000 from his grandmother's inheritance. It failed.
- **2002** — Founded NamesDatabase.com, an early social networking site to reconnect old friends and classmates.
- **2006** — Sold NamesDatabase to United Online (parent of Classmates.com) for $10 million cash - just before Facebook rendered it obsolete.
- **2006-2008** — Became a stay-at-home dad while secretly building DuckDuckGo in his basement in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
- **2008** — Launched DuckDuckGo on February 29 - a privacy-focused search engine. Was its only employee for years.
- **2011** — Raised first outside funding: $3 million from Union Square Ventures. Hired first employee in November.
- **2013** — Edward Snowden's NSA revelations catapulted DuckDuckGo into mainstream consciousness. Search traffic spiked dramatically.
- **2014** — DuckDuckGo became profitable.
- **2015** — Co-authored 'Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth' with Justin Mares.
- **2018** — Raised $10 million Series B from OMERS Ventures.
- **2019** — Co-authored 'Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models' with wife Lauren McCann. Testified before US Senate on privacy.
- **2021** — Raised $100 million at a $1+ billion valuation, achieving unicorn status.
- **2023** — Testified in US v. Google antitrust trial. Celebrated DuckDuckGo's 15th anniversary.
- **2025** — Published 'The Great Race' essay. Resumed blogging after 10-year hiatus. Launched Duck.ai publicly.
- **2026** — Issued statement on US v. Google antitrust remedies, calling them insufficient.

## Achievements

- Built DuckDuckGo into a $1+ billion company with over 100 million daily searches
- First search engine to make privacy its core business model and prove it profitable
- Testified before US Senate Judiciary Committee on privacy in 2019
- Testified as key witness in US v. Google antitrust trial (2023)
- Co-authored 'Super Thinking' - a mental models book used in classrooms and boardrooms
- Co-authored 'Traction' - a startup growth bible read by millions of founders
- Exited NamesDatabase for $10 million in 2006 before Facebook made it obsolete
- Built DuckDuckGo to profitability without venture capital for its first 3+ years
- DuckDuckGo became the #2 mobile search engine in the US behind Google
- Championed the Philadelphia startup ecosystem as an angel investor and community builder

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Issued statement calling US v. Google antitrust remedies insufficient to address Google's illegal behavior.
- **2026-01** — Duck.ai Image Gen feature exited beta.
- **2025-09** — Called for AI surveillance to be banned: 'AI surveillance should be banned while there is still time.'
- **2025-03** — Duck.ai (AI chat) exited beta, offering free access to GPT-4o mini, Claude 3.5 Haiku, and other models.
- **2025-01** — Published 'The Great Race: On the Race for Global Dominance' - a 32-page essay on US vs. China tech competition.
- **2025-01** — Resumed writing on Substack after a 10-year blogging hiatus.

## Links

- Website: https://ye.gg
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yegg13/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/yegg

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/gabriel-weinberg
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-28