The Nuanced Power of Headless Browsers with Joel Griffith

Screaming in the Cloud

On this week’s episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey Quinn is joined by Joel Griffith. Joel is the CEO of Browserless.io, a company focused on providing headless browser automation without the pains of hosting. Corey and Joel discuss the most common use cases for headless browsers, the spectrum of web scraping ethics over the last decade, and why it’s so important to always do what you are passionate about no matter how high you climb on the corporate ladder. Joel also gives us his insight into why so many engineers come from creative backgrounds and shares his story of moving from jazz trumpet player to CEO.

Full Description / Show Notes

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:53) - Guest Introduction: Joel Griffith
• (02:51) - The Genesis of Browserless.io
• (05:21) - Use Cases of Browserless.io
• (07:19) -The Potential for Abuse of Web Scraping
• (08:37) - The Legitimate Use Cases of Web Scraping
• (11:17) - The Power of the Right License Type
• (13:55) - The Value of Open Source and Charging for Software
• (14:13) - The Journey to Starting a Business
• (24:00) - Joel’s Emphasis on Quality of Life
• (27:43) - Staying Focused on the Work You’re Passionate About
• (30:00) - Conclusion and Final Thoughts

About Joel

Master of puppets and the browsers they run! I'm Joel Griffith, and for over a decade I've helped run, destroy, and make manageable things related to browser automation. I've had the pleasure of working on this in big companies and small, and more recently started Browserless to bring the power of automation to teams of all sizes.

Links:

• Github: https://github.com/joelgriffith
• Twitter: @browserless https://twitter.com/browserless