Scaling DevTools Christopher Burns - creator of c15t: the developer-first cookie banner
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Jan 23, 2026 Christopher Burns, founder of c15t and Consent.io, builds developer-first privacy tools. He discusses creating an open-source cookie banner and a cloud consent backend. Conversations cover rapid prototyping, developer-focused design, performance as a differentiator, London vs San Francisco for startups, and strategies for ethical, customizable consent experiences.
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Prototype From Previous Startup
- Christopher Burns built an early cookie banner into his previous startup Everfund and reused learnings for C15T.
- He launched a prototype in two weeks, got validation from founders, then raised six months of runway to iterate.
Validate Fast With Real Proof Points
- Validate quickly by building a prototype and collecting concrete proof points before fully committing.
- Use early conversations, product demos, and short runway to decide whether to scale or close down.
Early Team And Organic Validation
- Christopher hired a previous engineer, Kaylee, who became co-author of C15T and helped ship the product.
- Early organic adoption included a founder messaging next morning saying they'd installed C15T on their site.