The Default Answer Is No

▶ Watch (4:10)

W3C meetings default to “no.” Participants say no because it means less work for them. “Why say yes to something that creates a bunch of work you can just say no,” Wijckmans said. People in these meetings are later in their careers. They rarely use the technology they write specs for. They have never deployed Content Security Policy under real production traffic. Acceptable feedback includes “I don’t think I would use it.” That encourages others to also say no.

Google’s 40% Presence

▶ Watch (5:15)

Walk into a W3C event and 40% of the room works at Google. They argue their perspectives publicly, even against each other. Wijckmans described being the only startup founder in the room. He answers his own emails, writes code, and thinks about the spec end-to-end. Chromium is the dominant browser engine. Most browsers build on top of it. Google has outsized influence over web standards, even though Chrome is not legally a monopoly.

What It Takes to Ship a Spec

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A perfect spec with 40% bandwidth savings, built-in security, and full backward compatibility still faces a gauntlet. The browser vendor must want it. CDN providers must agree. Web developers must adopt it. Security reviewers must approve. Accessibility experts must sign off. Any single player can block it by saying no. The process takes 18 months of benchmarks, security analysis, and compatibility testing. Then comes the comment circus: naming debates, bikeshedding, and claims the proposal is an “anti-pattern.”

Startups Are the Missing Voice

▶ Watch (16:56)

Wijckmans argues the system is broken. The web becomes less consistent, less predictable, and less safe. His fix: more startups. If every startup contributed 30 minutes per month, the room would gain people who build and ship products. Startup people don’t default to no. They default to opportunity. They accept pushback and iterate fast. They hack around outdated specs daily. That feedback never reaches standards bodies. Just showing up changes the energy in the room.

Q&A

How can startups join W3C without paying the membership fee? The invited expert mechanism exists but is unused, so email Seth@w3c.org. ▶ 22:09

How do you prevent outside influence from companies or countries over standards? More participation and voting, since voting is not equally distributed by nation. ▶ 23:35

What experience levels are valuable in standards bodies? All levels, from early-career developers with fresh eyes to senior engineers with deep experience. ▶ 24:40

Notable Quotes

About 40% of the room will be Google. Simon Wijckmans · ▶ 5:25

Why say yes to something that creates a bunch of work you can just say no Simon Wijckmans · ▶ 4:27

It’s an anti-pattern. That sentence gets thrown around all the freaking time. Simon Wijckmans · ▶ 11:54

Can you imagine me as basically a dude it an Elmo suit running a small startup surrounded by Google, Microsoft, Meta, big banks Simon Wijckmans · ▶ 5:44

this whole concept of open source applies to the very infrastructure that it is built on top of as well Simon Wijckmans · ▶ 21:19

Key Takeaways

  • W3C standards bodies default to “no” because participants benefit from blocking change.
  • Google sends 40% of attendees to W3C events, giving it outsized influence over web standards.
  • Startups can reshape the web by contributing 30 minutes per month to standards bodies.