Simon Willison
Independent open source developer creating tools for data journalism, exploration, and AI-assisted programming. Creator of Datasette (data exploration tool) and LLM (command-line utility for language models).
At a Glance
- Data journalists and newsrooms
- Software developers and engineers
- AI/ML researchers and practitioners
- Open source maintainers
- +4 more
AI Tools by Simon Willison
(1)LLM CLI
CLI Tool for LLM Prompts
Discussions
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Latest News
Released Chartroom and datasette-showboat - new tools for AI coding agent workflows
Introduced Showboat and Rodney - tools for agents to demo their built projects
Preserved The World Factbook after CIA shutdown, created freely accessible GitHub repository
Announced blog sponsorship program with Freeman & Forrest
Products & Services
Open source multi-tool for exploring and publishing data stored in SQLite databases. Provides instant read-only JSON APIs, faceted browsing, full-text search, and a plugin ecosystem with 50+ plugins. Used extensively for data journalism and personal data warehouses.
SaaS hosted version of Datasette with API access, custom templates, page caching, and team features. Sponsored in part by Fly.io.
Command-line utility and Python library for interacting with Large Language Models including OpenAI GPT, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and locally-hosted models. Supports plugins, templates, embeddings, and tool execution.
Python library and CLI tool for manipulating SQLite databases, including data import, schema modifications, and full-text search configuration.
Market Position
Unique position as a prominent independent developer and thought leader in AI safety (prompt injection research), data journalism tools, and open source development. Known for transparent blogging about LLM developments, avoiding hype while providing practical guidance. Datasette fills a niche between heavyweight databases and simple CSV files. LLM tool competes with direct API access but offers cross-provider abstraction and local model support.
Leadership
Founders
Simon Willison
Co-creator of Django Web Framework (2003-2004 with Adrian Holovaty at Lawrence Journal-World). Co-founder of Lanyrd (2010, Y Combinator W11, acquired by Eventbrite 2013). Engineering Director at Eventbrite (2013-2019). JSK Journalism Fellow at Stanford (2019-2020). Board member of Python Software Foundation (2022-present). GitHub Star and GitHub Accelerator participant (2023). B.Sc. Computer Science from University of Bath (2005). Previous roles include Yahoo Technology Development (2005), Software Architect at The Guardian (2008-2009), and early work at Gameplay and Incutio.
Executive Team
Simon Willison
Independent Developer / Founder
Co-creator of Django, Engineering Director at Eventbrite (2013-2019), JSK Fellow at Stanford (2019-2020), Python Software Foundation board member (2022-present)
Board of Directors
Founding Story
Simon Willison's current independent work began in earnest around 2019-2020 during his JSK Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, where he focused on 'Improving the impact of investigative journalism through open source tools.' The Datasette project itself was created in November 2017 while he was working at Eventbrite, born from his need for better data exploration tools during his time at The Guardian newspaper in 2009. After leaving Eventbrite post-fellowship, he committed full-time to building open source tools for data journalism and exploration.
Business Model
Revenue Model
Multiple revenue streams: Weekly blog sponsorship (managed by Freeman & Forrest), GitHub Sponsors ($10/month tier for monthly newsletter/briefing, higher tiers available), consulting and training services, Datasette Cloud SaaS subscriptions, and support from programs like GitHub Accelerator (2023), Mozilla MIECO (2023-2024), and Fly.io sponsorship for Datasette Cloud work.
Pricing Tiers
Sponsors receive banner placement across blog and sponsored message at top of newsletter
Paid tier includes curated monthly email digest
Also receive monthly briefing newsletter
SaaS hosting for Datasette with team features and API access
Ad-hoc consulting and training services for companies and organizations
Target Markets
- Data journalists and newsrooms
- Software developers and engineers
- AI/ML researchers and practitioners
- Open source maintainers
- Educational institutions
- Individual developers interested in personal data warehouses
- Data journalism and investigative reporting
- Personal data warehouses and self-tracking
- API creation and data publishing
- AI-assisted programming and development
- LLM experimentation and research
- SQLite database exploration and analysis
- Various newsrooms using Datasette for investigative journalism
- GitHub
- Data journalism community