The Business of Open Source

Henrik Rosendahl, CEO of Spiio, joins me to chat about his experience as an entrepreneur and what he’s learned about building successful companies. In this episode, Henrik and I cover the many aspects of building startups. From the top mistakes new founders make to the best way to monetize your open source business. Listen to learn Henrik’s thoughts on entrepreneurship, including monetization, the three things you need to build a successful startup, and whether or not founding a startup should always feel like a struggle. Highlights:Henrik introduces himself and gives a brief overview of his experience as an entrepreneur. (0:43)The top mistakes entrepreneurs make building their first startup. (2:25)Monetization and valuable feedback from customers (9:05)How the relationship between the user and the buyer impacts startups. (14:27)Focusing on enterprise vs. a mid-market segment. (16:57)What’s next for Henrik (19:34)Links:HenrikLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hrosendahlTwitter: https://twitter.com/hrosendahlCompany: https://www.spiio.com/

Today I’m talking with Fabian Pinckaers, CEO and Founder of Odoo, a suite of business apps to manage all of a business’s activities, about his passion for open source and knowing how and when to pivot as a start-up.In this episode, Fabien and I discuss the highs and lows of running a start-up as he details his history with Odoo. From its inception as a service offering for auction houses to its current state as an open core software vendor with a cloud offering, Odoo has challenged its founder to continue innovating the product and pivoting the business model to find success. Listen in to discover the lessons Fabien has learned in his journey as a founder and CEO.Highlights:Fabien introduces himself and explains how his passion for open source led him to start Odoo (0:49)Why Fabien agrees with other founders that open source is a development model, not a business model (5:09)How to keep going forward when your business is struggling. (9:53)Why Fabien believes that “product is everything,” and how that philosophy relates to his passion for open source (10:51)“Open source is about the masses” (14:06)Odoo’s three pivots (19:47)How pivoting to open core has allowed Odoo to contribute even more (24:17)Links:FabienLinkedIn: https://be.linkedin.com/in/fpodooTwitter: https://twitter.com/fpodooCompany: https://www.odoo.com/

Today I’m chatting with Nicklas Gellner, co-founder  of Medusa, “the open source Shopify alternative” about why he started the company, why open source, and his vision for the future.In this episode, Nicklas details the original inspiration for Medusa as well as why they chose the name. We also review the switch from an agency to a product focused company.  When I mention the buzz around a relatively young company like Medusa, Nicklas emphasizes Medusa’s developer-first approach and explains how that encourages community development.Highlights:Nicklas introduces himself and Medusa (0:46)Nicklas explains the original inspiration for Medusa’s creation (2:09)How Medusa differs from Shopify beyond being open source and its real value for developers (10:48)How and why Nicklas switched from and agency to a product focused company with Medusa (14:46)The buzz around Medusa (20:44)How Medusa’s developer-first approach encourages community development (22:53)Nicklas’s vision for Medusa’s growth in the coming years. (24:09)How they decided on the name “Medusa” (26:17)Links:NicklasLinkedIn: https://dk.linkedin.com/in/ngellnerTwitter: https://twitter.com/nicklasgellner?lang=enCompany: https://medusajs.com/Medusa Community Discord: https://discord.com/invite/medusajs

Michael Chenetz, Head of Technical Marketing at Portainer.io, joins me to discuss why technical marketing is so much more effective for open source companies and also why it’s a hard role to fill. In this episode, Michael and I discuss his unique background that lead him to technical marketing in the open source space, and the importance of relating tech to people. Michael explains the differences between traditional marketing and technical marketing, as well as the impact technical marketing has on a company’s trajectory. Highlights:Michael introduces himself and his role at Portainer.io (00:52)The difference in perception and practice for technical marketing versus traditional marketing (02:39)Michael’s path to becoming a technical marketer (05:59)The open source behind Portainer and Michael’s learnings marketing an open source company (08:43)What Michael sees as the relationship between cloud native and open source (13:06)The different impacts technical marketing can have based on company size (18:44)Some of the biggest mistakes founders of open source companies make, according to Michael (21:36)Links:MichaelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mchenetz/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mchenetzCompany: https://portainer.io

Liz Rice, Chief Open Source Officer at Isovalent, joins me to discuss the business model behind Cilium and the enjoyment she has found working in open source. In this episode, Liz and I discuss why Isovalent decided to donate Cilium to CNCF, and the additional decisions behind developing for Cilium open source versus Cilium for Enterprise. Tune into this episode to hear how entrepreneurship taught Liz what she didn’t enjoy doing so she could focus on work she enjoys, and what she finds most rewarding about working in open source.Highlights:Liz introduces herself and describes her role as Chief Open Source Officer at Isovalent (00:55)Why Isovalent decided to donate Cilium to CNCF (02:11)What Liz sees as the relationship between cloud native and open source (07:43)Liz’s past experiences as an entrepreneur and how it led her to to where she is now (10:05)How Isovalent has evolved and grown into a company with enterprise product offerings (17:17)How decisions are made differently when developing the open-source version of Cilium versus the enterprise version (22:12)The gratification and value Liz has found working in open source (25:58)Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizriceTwitter: https://twitter.com/lizriceGithub: https://github.com/lizriceCompany: https://isovalent.com/Cilium: www.cilium.ioeBPF: www.eBPF.io 

Andrew Aitken, Global Open Source Leader at Wipro, joins me to discuss the benefits and challenges that come with adopting open source as a large-scale enterprise organization. In this episode, Andrew and I discuss the three stages of open source maturity from curiosity to full-scale adoption and mastery. Tune into this episode to learn more about the trigger events that cause large-scale enterprises to explore open source, as well as the barriers and legal challenges they must overcome to effectively adopt it, and most importantly - why Andrew feels it’s so important that every large-scale enterprise goes through this process. Highlights:Andrew introduces Wipro and explains what it means to be a Global Open Source Leader (00:52)The challenges Andrew helps his clients solve in the world of open source (03:16)How Andrew sees high-security companies like banks view and approach open source (04:28)Do Andrew’s clients view open source software as being more, less, or just as secure as closed source software? (07:41)The three different open-source maturity stages Andrew sees at large companies (10:47)Why Andrew feels most large enterprises would benefit from reaching full maturation in their open-source strategy (14:52)The biggest barriers Andrew sees companies run into when considering moving towards open-source maturity (17:53)Is being enterprise-ready truly a requirement for an open-source start-up? (20:52)The legalities of adopting open source as a large-scale enterprise (25:24)Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/opensourcestrategy/Email: andrew.aitken@wipro.comCompany: https://www.wipro.com/

Randy Abernethy, Managing Director at RX-M, joins me for a chat about the relationship between open source and cloud native. In this episode, Randy and I discuss how the clients he works with at RX-M are looking to cloud-native as part of their forward-thinking strategies. Tune into this episode to learn how Randy sees the C-Suite viewing open source, how he sees clients evaluate risk in open-source projects, and his views on the relationship between open source and cloud native. Highlights:Randy introduces himself and his company, RX-M (00:46)Why do companies come to RX-M for help when evaluating and implementing cloud native? (03:44)How do RX-M clients approach open source? (9:35)What are the C-Suite’s views open source (16:19)How Randy’s clients evaluate risk in open-source projects (23:34)The role CNCF plays in how companies evaluate and implement cloud-native solutions (30:31)Randy’s view on the relationship between open source and cloud native (32:39)Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randyabernethy/Twitter: @randyabernethyCompany: www.rx-m.com

Ian Tien, CEO and Co-Founder of Mattermost, joins me to talk about how Mattermost went from being a video game company to an open-source messaging platform that provides collaboration for developers and other mission-critical teams. In this episode, Ian and I discuss the reality of product-led growth in open-source companies, Ian’s perspective on open source moving towards platform-based solutions, and the advice he would give to other open-source founders.  Highlights:Ian introduces himself and the Mattermost open-source project (00:45)The use cases Ian sees for Mattermost (05:17)Ian takes us through the origin story of Mattermost and how it went from being a video game company to an open-source messaging solution (08:59)The role open source played in the success of Mattermost (15:07)Ian’s perspective on open source moving towards platform based solutions (20:22)Does Ian think the product-led growth model of “If you build it, they will come” is realistic, and how can that mentality lead to success? (27:34)The advice Ian would give other open-source founders (28:33)Links:IanTwitter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iantien/Company: https://www.mattermost.com

Amanda Brock, CEO of Open UK, joins me for an engaging conversation on best practices in founding an open-source company. In this episode, Amanda and I chat about the various business models available for building a company around open-source technology, the common pitfalls and crossroads open-source founders find themselves facing, and how to do open-source in a way that leads to long-term success and profitability. Highlights:What is Open UK? (00:40)The various business models for building a company around open-source technology (04:09)Which business models Amanda feels work best and why (08:07)The importance of founders prioritizing open-source communities (14:07)How and why to do open-source the right way (17:04)What is the true cost of founding an open-source company compared to traditional business models? (26:44)Who are you building for, and how do you get to profitability? (30:35)Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandabrocktech/Twitter: www.twitter.com/amandabrocktechOpen UK www.twitter.com/openuk_ukCompany: www.openuk.uk

Wes McKinney, CTO & Co-Founder of Voltron Data, joins me for an in-depth conversation on how his quest to develop Python as an open-source programming language led him to creating the pandas project and founding four companies. In this episode, Wes and I dive into his unique background as the founder of the pandas project and he describes his perspective on the early days of Python, his journey into the world of open-source start-ups, and the risks and benefits of paying developers to work on open-source projects. Highlights:Wes introduces himself and describes his role (00:46)Wes’ role in elevating Python to a mainstream programming language (02:15)How working with Python led Wes to co-founding his first two companies (09:01)Apache Arrow’s critical role at Voltron Data and their focus on accelerating Arrow adoption (12:52)How did the team at Voltron Data decide on an open-source business model? (18:54)Wes speaks to the risk that can come from having developers work on an open-source project (22:31)Wes’ perspective on the real-world applications and benefits of paying developers to work on open-source projects (27:44)Links:WesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesmckinn/Twitter: https://twitter.com/wesmckinnCompany: https://voltrondata.com/