The post-password password manager

Business is booming for 1Password. The company just announced it has raised $620 million, at a valuation of $6.8 billion, from a roster of A-list celebrities and well-known venture capitalists.

But what does a password manager need with $620 million? Jeff Shiner, 1Password’s CEO, has some plans. He’s building the team fast — 1Password has nearly tripled in size in the last two years, up to 500 employees, and plans to double again this year — while also expanding the vision of what a password manager can do. 1Password has long been a consumer-first product, but the biggest opportunity lies in bringing the company’s knowhow, its user experience, and its security chops into the business world. 1Password already has more than 100,000 business customers, and it plans to expand fast.

More broadly, Shiner said he wants to help companies and users alike rethink how security works. There’s really no other choice: Thanks to an increase in remote work, the overwhelming consumerization of business software, and a litany of new security problems around the industry, the days of “just log in to the VPN” are dying and not coming back. In its place, Shiner said he hopes 1Password can help usher in a better, and more secure, system.

Shiner joined the Source Code podcast to talk about 1Password’s new cash flow, its stance on everything from crypto wallets to Sign In With Google buttons, and how a password manager could take an increasingly central role in our online lives.  

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