The Business of Open Source

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

Matt Butcher is no stranger to the ways of ethical philosophy. With a Ph.D. in Religion and Computer Science, he enjoys philosophical conversations of ethical dilemmas. Butcher passionately debates wild theories and paradoxical situations against those not afraid to question reality in pursuit of knowledge.In this episode of The Business of Open Source, Hear how Butcher discusses ethics in the open source world, the grey areas in being an ethical company, and the moral nature of work/life balance. Butcher also details how some of the greatest philosophical minds shaped his own view of ethics and the pursuit of "that middle road."Highlights:Ethics and Computer Science vs. AI (1:30)Ph.D. in religion and… computer science? (3:05)Ethical claims in open source (4:52)Is it ethical to build a company like yours? (8:50)Interacting with people to see the value (13:45)Understanding balancing creativity with reality(17:52)What does it mean to build an ethical company(19:42)"Complex is such an interesting choice here" (24:43)Finding that middle road (28:29)Common unethical source practices (29:30)Have you changed your ethic since becoming a CEO? (31:50)Links:MattLinkedInTwitterFermyon

Dawn Foster, Director of Open Source Community Strategy at VMware, is a champion of community strategy and development. A doctor of Philosophy, Foster is well-versed in the understanding of collaboration and leverages her mountain of knowledge to fight for the health of maintainers in open-source projects.In this episode of The Business of Open Source, Dawn Foster joins me from the Open Source Summit North America to tackle community strategy and contribution growth methods. Foster also touches on the differences between open contributions and what project leads should do to help grow their maintainers.Highlights:Why is it essential to have a contributor growth strategy? (1:46)Loss of control (3:10)How to be proactive for project growth (4:24)Proactive communication to foster a relationship (7:15)Non-code contributions are just as crucial as maintainers (9:47)Is it a mistake to have no contributor growth strategy (12:20)One tactic when being a single maintainer (13:33)Replacing your maintainers (16:02)Don't get arrested (18:10)Improving your skills in maintaining  (19:17)Navigating contributions to a project (21:29)Increasing the number of contributions per person (24:13)Example of a good growth strategy (27:07)Links:Dawn LinkedInTwitterVMware

Bart Farrell is a content creator and community leader in the public speaking world. Based in Spain, he has developed a massively popular platform through podcasting and consulting as a nontechnical person in a technical space.In this episode, Farrell breaks down the ins and outs of public speaking. He also discusses the art form of speaking offline rather than online, what to expect when talking to an audience, and what it takes to deliver the gift of gab. Farrell also goes into his struggles in becoming a public speaker and his favorite influence on his craft—all this and more in this episode of The Business of Open Source.Highlights:The Fear of public speaking (2:00)Not a life or death situation (5:10)Be comfortable while speaking(8:40)You only get one start (9:57)A I D A (11:22)Online is not offline (15:03)How to get into public speaking (17:00)Basic building blocks (19:00)How to improve in public speaking (23:35)A favorite public speaker (26:55)Links:BartLinkedInTwitterbartfarrell.com

Ivar Østhus, The CTO and creator of Unleashed, is a revolutionary in shipping feature management tools and rollouts for companies worldwide. Through hardships, Østhus came into his own in the open source world by relieving the pressure on developers bringing new creations to light in their projects.On this episode of The Business of Open Source, Hear how Østhus discusses the inception of Unleashed and the struggles he overcame in the early stages. He also talks about being a European company in the tech industry and why he prefers to be called a "Creator" rather than a Founder.Highlights:Creator but not a Founder(1:48)Why Unleash? (2:33)Why open source (6:20)Taking the plunge with unleash (9:38)Being a European company(15:25)Early mistakes in Unleash (17:40)Long-term support open source user(19:40)The biggest challenge (25:20)Links:IvarLinkedInTwitterUnleash

Josh Koenig, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Pantheon, is a WebOps aficionado focused on creating first-class platforms and delivering results. Recognized as a Top 25 Software Products Executive by The Software Report, it is no wonder he is passionate about his ability to discuss and understand the developer experience while fostering relationships with users.On this episode of the Business of Open Source, Koenig discusses the art of fostering opposing community relations and his ideals of the developer experience. He also talks about the niche that is WebOps and his journey of creating Pantheon.Highlights:What is Pantheon? (0:55)Pantheon's role in communities (3:50)Teamwork makes the dream work (7:20)Challenges with a no-control work model (9:00)Balancing control and elevation in open source (11:10)Squarespace, but not really (13:10)Mistakes in building Pantheon(15:06)Connecting with a community (16:55)The difference between WordPress and Drupal (19:30)Community involvement (21:35)Pleasant surprises (23:40)Top challenge (25:40)Last remarks (28:50)Links:JoshLinkedInTwitterCompanyDrupalWordPress