Tailscale raises $100M… to fix the Internet

Tailscale, a company founded in 2019 by David Carney, David Crawshaw, and Avery Pennarun, has secured $100 million in Series B financing to further its mission of simplifying small-scale software development and enhancing the Internet's functionality. The company focuses on making internal software tools easy to use by addressing the non-scalable aspects of projects that don't need public exposure, such as internal dashboards and HR databases. Tailscale's product, often described as "magic" by users, is lauded for its high quality and ease of use, fostering growth through word-of-mouth recommendations. Despite industry skepticism regarding the balance between ease of use and security, Tailscale has gained traction by offering a VPN solution that exceeds typical reliability standards. As the company grows, it plans to use the funding to maintain its commitment to quality, community, and sustainable growth rather than prioritizing aggressive revenue expansion, aiming to "fix the Internet" by returning to a simpler, more secure digital experience akin to the early days of computing.