Eich created JavaScript, the world's most widely used programming language. As the co-founder of Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox web browser, he helped end Microsoft Internet Explorer's reign as the world's most popular way to navigate the web.

Now he hopes to shake things up with Brave, a startup developing a browser for desktop and mobile that blocks ads and replaces them with, well, other ads. If successful, Brave could essentially flip the traditional advertising model on its head. Instead of paying publishers or advertising networks, advertisers will pay the browser maker.

Instead of paying publishers or advertising networks, advertisers will pay the browser maker.

The big idea is to block advertisements and tracking scripts that pillage your personal data and replace them with ads supplied by the browser—–ads that respect your privacy and don't slow your computer to a crawl or tax your phone's battery.