Open Source Startup Podcast E168: One (Multi-Model) Database to Rule Them All - SurrealDB
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Mar 4, 2025 Tobie Morgan Hitchcock, Co-founder and CEO of SurrealDB, discusses his innovative serverless cloud database that has gained 30K stars on GitHub. He highlights how his non-traditional background helped him redefine database creation from first principles. Tobie delves into the significance of open-source for building trust, the necessity of design in infrastructure products, and how integrating diverse database types can enhance user experience. He also balances customer feedback with strategic vision while navigating the challenges of startup marketing.
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SurrealDB Origin Story
- Tobie Morgan Hitchcock and his brother Jamie built applications using various databases like Mongo, DynamoDB, and MySQL.
- Frustrated with managing multiple databases, they created SurrealDB to handle diverse data models efficiently.
Database Adoption Journey
- Building and gaining adoption for databases takes time, especially with unique properties like SurrealDB's multi-model approach.
- This approach combines aspects of document, graph, and SQL databases within a single system.
Benefits of a Multi-Model Database
- Combining different database types into one simplifies data management and reduces costs, particularly for larger organizations.
- Graph databases, often overlooked, reflect human thinking by focusing on relationships rather than tabular data.