Arnold Blinn

Partner
Arnold Blinn

Chief Architect at GoDaddy, Partner/Head Architect of MSN/Windows Live and Xbox Live at Microsoft

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Experience
Executive Roles
PPLSI
Chief Technology Officer
GoDaddy
Chief Architect
Microsoft
Partner Architect, Microsoft Studios
Partner Architect, Xbox LIVE
Partner/Head Architect, Windows Live/MSN
Partner Architect, MSN Shopping
eShop Inc.
Architect/Founder
University Boards
Carnegie Mellon University
Alumni Association Board Member
School of Computer Science Advisory Board Member
Dean's Advisory Board

About Me

Growing up, I always wanted to be an architect who designs buildings or bridges. I did indeed become an architect — just a software one. I got a PC when I was barely a teen and was instantly hooked. I taught myself how to program and attended college classes while in high school. After a successful 35+ year career, I now help companies with my expertise on how to architect and integrate large-scale web services to meet customer needs. I combine my acute technical skills with strong customer empathy to architect high-impact platforms, often with simple changes to align customers, engineering, and product.

Career Highlights

I began my software engineering career at Oracle Corporation before joining Go Corporation, a startup building a pen-based tablet. I became a Founder and Primary Architect for Ink Development Corporation, which we renamed eShop and sold to Microsoft. I then spent nearly 17 years at Microsoft, serving as a Partner Architect for several divisions. I founded the MSN shopping team and served as Head Integration Architect for MSN (later Windows Live), coordinating across 1000 developers. I joined Xbox as an architect of Xbox Live, then worked in Microsoft Studios. I left Microsoft to become the Chief Architect at GoDaddy, where I rearchitected dozens of products into a tightly integrated offering, contributing to GoDaddy's $4.5 billion IPO. During Covid, I became CTO of PPLSI, managing all software development, product management, IT, and operations of LegalShield and IDShield.

Techquity Solutions

Good tech implementations can solve problems beyond the current ones a business faces, allowing companies to pivot with market and other changes. I am passionate about helping companies use technology appropriately to solve problems efficiently and at scale.

Innovation & Impact

  • Awarded over 60 patents in e-commerce, digital rights management, online services, domains, and web services
  • Built the first Internet e-commerce server
  • Significant contributions to GoDaddy's revenue growth and $4.5B IPO
  • Led architectural integration of large-scale systems at Microsoft and GoDaddy
  • Led teams and innovated cornerstone products/solutions at multi-billion dollar companies

Thought Leadership

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