Ben Goodger (what a great name) the key developer on FireFox, just announced that he is now being paid by Google and will work there part time.

Link: Inside Firefox – The Inside Track on Firefox Development.

Lessons?
1. Running a successful open source effort is a great idea. I can’t think of an individual who has invested the time and not had a great personal outcome as well.
2. Google understands what I failed to persuade Yahoo! of a long time ago–owning the browser is a home run. Microsoft has botched their ownership of IE, because they think like bullies, and you can’t bully consumers into doing what they don’t want to do. The idea of a Google browser is powerful from both a user and a commercial perspective, mainly because Google’s culture will make it work.

The ultimate lesson keeps getting repeated but it’s almost impossible for publishers, advertisers, media companies and especially individuals to understand:
The more you give away, the more you get.