The Business of Open Source

Kevin Muller, CEO and co-founder of Passbolt, discusses the risks of commercializing too early, the differences between European and American investors, the importance of clear communication in password managers, and the challenges of transitioning from consumer to enterprise use cases.

Tim Chen is a Partner at Essence VC and also the Co-Host of the Open Source Startup Podcast. Through these channels, he has the opportunity to speak with a broad variety of open source startups. Throughout our conversation, we explore the patterns that Tim sees in the open source startup space. Tim talked about how too many founders take the decision to build an open source company too lightly and the path that he would take if he were to start a venture-backed open source startup tomorrow. We also discuss the different monetization models of open-source startups and the true business value of an open source project. Highlights:Tim introduces himself and describes his role at Essence VC as well as his work as Co-Host of the Open Source Startup Podcast (00:22)The common patterns that Tim sees having worked with so many open source startups (02:25)Tim describes the landscape of open source and how it varies from open source projects to venture-backed, open source companies (06:48)What path Tim would take if he were to start a venture-backed, open source startup tomorrow (09:31)How Tim views different monetization models and their potential profitability (17:29)Tim’s views on the pros and cons of an open-core model (20:34)The business value of an open source project according to Tim (24:47)How Tim’s evaluation and investing tactics have changed as he’s worked with more open source startups (31:58)Where listeners can find more information about Tim and learn more about his work (37:47)Links:TimLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timchenTwitter: https://twitter.com/tnachenCompany: https://www.essencevc.fund/

Franz Karlsberger, CEO of Amazee.io, discusses joining an open-source start-up to scale growth. He emphasizes the importance of go-to-market strategy and knowing the open-source business model. Franz shares interesting mistakes, the significance of open-source ethos, and the differences in their go-to-market for cloud and managed offerings.

It’s kind of a cliche, Vlad A. Ionescu, founder and CEO of Earthly, says, but his first attempts to build something really awesome focused on amazing technology. With hindsight, he doesn’t think it’s so surprising that those efforts weren’t successful. It’s not that passion doesn’t matter, but rather that he had to learn to build things that inspired passion from both the market and the builders. We also talked about:Leaving a job, blowing through his savings, going back to a job before finding entrepreneurial successRealizing that if he wanted to have the kind of impact on the world that he wanted to, he had to figure out a way to make it as an entrepreneur, because the alternative was climbing the corporate ladder and that didn’t sound like funWhy it’s important to be brutally honest with yourself and what you suck atHow Vlad finally found success at Shift Left (now Quiet.ai)I also really liked his ideas about cutting corners — that startups will always have to cut some corners, it’s just up to you to decide which ones to cut. Highlights:Vlad recounts lessons learned from early entrepreneurial failures. (2:31)Taking failure personally to overcome weaknesses (5:19)Vlad explains what led to his first success with Shift Left (7:40)Vlad shares his journey from Shift Left to Earthly (13:40)Why open source? (17:03)How Vlad and his team built Earthly based on what he learned from building Shift Left (25:07)Breaking a product down to its components to find more value (31:38)The Startup Hierarchy of Needs (34:02)Links:VladLinkedInTwitterEarthlyQwiet.aiPersonal Site

Markus Düttmann, a former Principal at Nauta Capital, is steeped in the European open source scene. From his beginnings in theoretical physics, Düttmann’s hard pivot into venture capital funding granted him a spot in the developing tech world as a connoisseur of the culture and a champion for start-ups. He even contributed to Nauta Capital’s European Open Source Report detailing the state of the ecosystem as of October 2022.On this episode of the Business of Open Source, listen to his insight into the European markets, the various business models generally used for open source start-ups, and what he looks for in an open source start-up.Note: Markus has since left Nauta and is on paternity leave. He also asked me to add a follow-up to the episode: After thinking more about the biggest danger to open source companies, he thinks most of them will fail from problems like not building the right team, failure to find product market fit and/or failure to monetize. Hyperscalers are a danger, but probably won’t be what causes most startups to fail. Highlights:The unique qualities of the European open source ecosystem (2:20)European market vs. the American Market in terms of funding (3:45)Advantages and disadvantages of a European open source company (4:40)Navigating the use of different business models within a business (8:14)How Markus evaluates open source start-ups (11:46)Don't be the open source version of an existing enterprise company (16:14)Signs of a company worth investing in (16:45)Potential risks to the open source ecosystem in the coming years (19:24)Links:MarkusLinkedInTwitterNauta CapitalEuropean Open Source Report

This week Shanea Leven, CEO and Co-Founder of CodeSee, joins me to chat about demystifying code bases and building an effective team.In this episode of The Business of Open Source, Shanea and I discuss the origins of her company, CodeSee, how it morphed from a training course to a SaaS product, and how they contribute to open source even though CodeSee is not an open source company. Shanea also shares valuable insight into working closely with your spouse, the importance of communication and empathy in building an effective team, and how she’s evolved as a leader. Listen to hear all of her insight and advice, and find out how the CodeSee SaaS offering helps companies understand their code bases and make critical decisions faster.Highlights:How Shanea’s experience at Docker influenced her decision about whether or not to make CodeSee open source (1:51)Origin and history of CodeSee (6:58)How CodeSee progressed from a training course to a SaaS product (10:41)Shanea’s advice for other entrepreneurs interested in founding a startup with their spouse (14:36)Lessons Shanea has learned from the challenges of building a team (17:18)The importance of face time with customers (23:08)How CodeSee works (26:31)How CodeSee contributes to open source without being open source (30:14)Links:ShaneaLinkedInTwitterCodeSee

This week Heikki Nousiainen, CTO and Co-founder of Aiven, joins me to chat about building the business, his passion for open source and entrepreneurship, and his hopes for the future of open source in the public sector. In this episode, Heikki and I explore the successes and challenges he and his three co-founders encountered in creating and maintaining their global open source data platform. We discuss how they choose technologies to support, the importance of customer demand, how founders can learn to work together, and when to “kill your darlings.” Highlights:Origins of Aiven (1:40)Pros and cons of being headquartered in Helsinki (4:41)Aiven’s relationship to the open source community (6:02)How Aiven has evolved since its inception (7:34)How Aiven chooses technologies to incorporate into their service offerings (9:21)One thing that has been very successful for Aiven (12:51)Why Aiven chose their business model (16:33)The biggest challenge Aiven is currently facing (17:37)The State of Open Con and giving back to the Community (20:17)Barriers to more open source adoption in the public sector (21:24)Links:HeikkiLinkedInTwitter: @hnousiainenAiven

Michael Cheng, Chief Legal Officer at Aalyria Technologies, is a master at strategy and execution for open-source products and companies. From his humble beginning spearheading the open source team at Meta (formerly Facebook), Cheng has honed his knowledge about the interworking of open source and utilizes it to its fullest potential.In this episode of The Business of Open Source, Cheng talks about his time as Meta's lead in open source as well as what it's like to be an individual working for a large company. He also explains what happens in mergers and acquisitions with open source projects and the legality of being a small fish in a large pond!Highlights:A little insight into Meta's open source (2:06)Detractors on a project (4:25)It's hard running a large company open source (7:47)Is it a problem to be individually driven? (9:45)Creating projects while working for large companies in open source (13:25) Do they have a right to reprimand? (16:16)What happens in a merger for an open source company (17:53]Recommendations to an inquirer (21:47)Personality-deprived communities (24:48)Links:MichaelLinkedInAalyria

Are you struggling to find a co-founder? Having trouble navigating a relationship with your partners? These are all questions Tanis Jorge, CEO of The Co-founder's Hub, tackles daily in her work. A serial tech entrepreneur and a leading entrepreneur advisor, it is no wonder Jorge has founded and built many businesses, such as Trulioo and IQuiri Inc.On this episode of The Business Of Open Source, I ask Jorge about finding the right co-founder, why legal frameworks are so important, and the hi's and lows of collaboration. We also discuss warning signs, life stages, and why everyone is a janitor!Highlights:The right co-founder (2:25)Life stages are important (4:31)The uncomfortable task (5:50)The legal framework (8:00)Everybody's the janitor (10:05)The hi's and lows of collaboration (14:46)Navigating problems and relationships(18:45)No one is talking about this (23:24)Meeting a bad partner (24:35)Multiple founder relationships (26:10)Links:TanisLinkedInTwitterThe Cofounder's HubTrulioo

From college dropout to developer efficiency guru, Kyle Campbell knows his way around workflow integrations for software companies. He is a fierce proponent of efficient workflows and hopes to spread his experience to any company that can benefit from it. In this episode of the Business of Open Source, Campbell discusses the origins of his Company CTO.ai, its revenue model, and why he created this AI companion for developers. He also talks about being a consultant, running a start up, and when it is time to shift gears to building a revenue-focused company.Highlights:Workflows.sh (4:10)The creations of CTO.ai (5:06)Can being a consultant be a boon for a company (8:48)Revenue models of CTO.ai (11:32)The tipping point of in building a business (15:35)Examples of escape patches (18:20)What is the right amount of money to raise? (20:45)The pricing model of CTO.ai (24:06)Is not having an open-source project limiting? (27:24)Links:KyleLinkedInTwitterCTO.ai