Dashlane is a web and mobile app that simplifies password management for people and businesses. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Dashlane co-founder and VP of Engineering Guillaume Maron to learn more about the company.
Guillaume Maron’s Background
What is Guillaume Maron’s background? Maron said:
“Growing up, I always said the two things I never wanted to be were a developer or a founder – and yet, I ended up being both. I studied computer science at CentraleSupélec, where I earned my degree.”
“During my time there, I completed a one-year internship at the security audit company Solucom, fulfilling a long-time dream of working in cybersecurity. I solidified my passion for the industry – which ultimately led to me starting Dashlane. “
Formation Of The Company
(Dashlane co-founders in the Paris office (From L to R: Alexis Fogel, Guillaume Maron (standing), Jean Guillou)
How did the idea for the company come together? Maron shared:
“The idea behind Dashlane was to help people navigate the internet more easily and automate tedious tasks. After considering the most repetitive thing that users were doing, we ended up focusing on identity management and auto-filling passwords and other information.”
“My co-founders and I started Dashlane in 2009 to offer a solution that made users’ digital lives easier and secure, ultimately aiming to remove the complexity from password management. Across the globe, more and more people started to use online services, and while the original idea was to create a consumer-focused password manager, Dashlane has since evolved to to secure the passwords, passkeys, and access secrets of more than 24,000 organizations globally.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Maron reflected:
“After 15 years at Dashlane, I have many great memories. The first that comes to mind – in the early days – is when we introduced our premium Dashlane offering. We were transitioning from a completely free product to a premium product, and to thank our early users for trusting our software, we decided to grandfather them in. Even though they weren’t required to pay, we gave them the option to contribute if they wanted to support us. I remember being impressed by the amount of support we received, which reinforced that we were solving a real problem.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Maron explained:
“Dashlane makes credential security simple. We enable businesses to create, store and manage passwords for every employee, improve password hygiene, detect at-risk credential use across the workforce, protect users from phishing attempts, manage the employee lifecycle, and monitor and mitigate the risk of shadow credentials. By leveraging advanced technologies like confidential computing, we aim to empower businesses of all sizes to safeguard employee and customer data with confidence.”
“As cyber threats have evolved, we’ve also started to take steps towards a new era of authentication: a passwordless future. Passwords remain a critical weak point in cybersecurity, and a world without passwords not only means fewer breaches, it also simplifies the user experience. Dashlane was the first credential manager to support passkey creation, storage, and sign in across desktop and mobile, bringing secure authentication to millions around the world. Working towards a passwordless future has become core to our business and approach.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Maron acknowledged:
“The last few years have been pretty tough on tech startups: COVID, inflation, geopolitical situations, and the situation with Silicon Valley Bank. It is always a challenge to adapt to new situations, but I feel that we’ve emerged on the other side in a good place. We are addressing the ongoing challenge of credential-based breaches head-on, committing to a passwordless future, and prioritizing innovation to protect against emerging threats like AI-driven attacks. Our CEO, John Bennett, has also played a key role in navigating Dashlane through these rocky waters.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Maron noted:
“Our tech stack has continuously evolved alongside broader technology advancements. We have always tried to adapt as quickly as possible to new technologies, both to reduce technical debt but also to have the best developer experience across our backend, browser extension, and mobile apps.”
“One of our most significant recent advancements has been implementing secure enclave servers like AWS Nitro. The confidential computing backend of AWS Nitro strengthens enterprises’ security without sacrificing user convenience.”
“Dashlane has also pivoted to prioritize innovation with passkeys, offering secure, easy-to-use alternatives to passwords that are phishing-resistant and can’t be stolen by hackers. Although we’re at the beginning of the adoption curve, Dashlane continues to experience steady growth in usage (now seeing 500,000 passkey-based sign-ins per month).”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Maron cited:
“Dashlane has experienced countless milestones over the last fifteen years, but a few highlights that stand out to me:
— Transitioning from a free model to freemium, validating customer willingness to pay for credential management.
— Successfully raising multiple funding rounds – most recently, our series D in 2019.
— Shifting our focus toward serving businesses, after our start as a consumer password manager. I’m proud that today, we’re working with more than 24,000 organizations globally, including Air France, BBC, Greenpeace, Forrester Research, and Michelin.
Customer Success Stories
When asking Maron about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“One that jumps to mind is Consero, a global financial services firm. Consero has deployed Dashlane to nearly all of its employers across India, the U.S., and Canada. They have a strong commitment to security, as new hires automatically receive Dashlane training. This gives every employee a strong foundation for secure password practices. We’ve also been able to help them simplify their onboarding and offboarding processes when it comes to credential management, among other areas. We protect them, which in turn makes their clients more secure.”
Funding
When asking Maron about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“Dashlane has raised more than $190 million in total funding from FirstMark, Sequoia Capital, Bessemer Ventures, Rho Capital Partners and others. We’re proud to be cash-flow positive, with healthy growth that allows Dashlane to invest into scaling its platform to further expand our global enterprise customer base.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Maron affirmed:
“Dashlane was founded as a consumer-first password manager, so user-first design and a human-centric approach are core to who we are – which has also translated to ease of use for our enterprise customers. We make credential security simple so that security can be a business enabler rather than a deterrent.”
“One other key differentiator is that Dashlane has extended its capabilities beyond traditional password management to secure every user and credential. We recently launched something we call Credential Risk Detection, which helps businesses continuously monitor and detect at-risk credential activity in real time across their workforce. Dashlane was also the first password manager to offer phishing alerts, which notify users when they are copying and pasting their credentials into an untrusted site (we already prevent auto-filling in these cases). Previously, password management hasn’t really taken an active part in helping reduce risk. We enable organizations to proactively and continuously prevent users from having their accounts compromised, rather than just reacting to it.”
“We’re also leading the passwordless future. We were the first credential manager to eliminate the Master Password and the first to offer support passkey authentication across all major platforms. Ultimately, we want to work with competitors to drive the industry toward widespread adoption of phishing-resistant passkeys. We believe that a rising tide lifts all boats; the more credential managers working to drive passwordless adoption, the more secure everyone will be.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Maron concluded:
“Our mission is simple: to deliver the credential security that every employee and business needs to thrive. We are reframing how organizations think about securing credentials by providing the visibility and tools for companies to manage their credential risk across their workforce. If we’re successful, we’ll have made a big dent in stemming the tide of identity-related breaches.
