The Business of Open Source

Today I sit down with Webb Brown, CEO and cofounder of Kubecost. Kubecost provides real-time cost visibility and insights for teams using Kubernetes. Webb tells the story of building Kubecost, starting with the pain points that inspired the open source tool. He talks about the transition from an open source project to becoming a commercial company, and explains the decision to build a company with the same name and branding as the open source tool. Webb talks about Kubecost’s newest initiative, OpenCost, and concludes by offering some lessons and advice for anyone in the early days of an open source startup. Highlights:Webb explains what Kubernetes cost is (1:27)How the pain points addressed by Kubecost usually manifest (3:04)What the impetus was for building the Kubecost open source tool (5:30)The transition from open source to commercial (6:54)The relationship between a cost-cutting tool and open source (10:48)Kubecost’s new initiative, OpenCost (13:40)The decision to have a company with the same name as the open source project (18:55)Pros and cons that are unique to building an open source company (22:08)Advice for anyone in the early stages of an open source startup (25:22)Links:WebbEmail: webb@kubecost.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/webbbrown/Twitter: https://twitter.com/webb_brownCompany: https://www.kubecost.com/

Today I sit down with Ev Kontsevoy, the CEO and co-founder of Teleport, a software company that began as an open source project. Teleport is an identity aware multi protocol access proxy that Ev was inspired to create because of the inherent frustrations with security he experienced in his career. Ev talks about how Teleport began as an open source tool and then grew into enterprise. I ask Ev what things he has done differently from his first start-up, Gravity, and we discuss how the open source community culture has bled into the company culture at Teleport. We end by talking about the SaaS version of Teleport and the ways in which the open source version funnels business into the commercial version. Highlights:Security frustrations that led to the founding of Teleport (1:17)Ev talks about Teleport’s vision and how it began as an open source project (6:33)Ev talks about Teleport’s first customer and a separate open source project, Gravity (12:09)How Ev’s experience with a prior start-up changed his approach to Teleport (18:24)Ev discusses the culture and community at Teleport (21:16)How Teleport chooses which features to keep open source and which ones to offer as commercial (24:38)The SaaS version of Teleport (26:55)The different audiences for the different iterations of Teleport (28:08)Links:Ev KontsevoyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kontsevoy/Twitter: https://twitter.com/kontsevoyCompany: goteleport.com

Today I’m joined by Cillian Kieran, the CEO and co-founder of Ethyca, to talk about the privacy challenges that served as the impetus to found Ethyca. In our chat, he explains the overarching goals of the privacy engineering platform. We discuss the decision to begin Ethyca as an open source tool and why that was critical to the mission. Then we talk about the decision to move to a commercial product and how to decide which features to offer as paid versus free. Cillian reviews the differences in his process between his two start-ups, discusses lessons he learned from prior mistakes, and provides advice for aspiring founders of open source start-ups. Highlights:How Cillian decided to found Ethyca (00:50)Awareness of developers and engineers around privacy issues (3:46)Cillian talks about why he went the open source route (8:15)Moving from open source to commercial product (14:02)Privacy as a human right and how that influences development of features (16:32)How Ethyca manages relationships between engineer and legal teams (19:40)What Cillian did differently at his two start-ups (21:58)We discuss open source start-up success and whether it’s necessary to have a larger world-changing vision (24:52)Cillian discusses mistakes he has learned from (27:56)Cillian offers advice to aspiring founders in the open source community (30:49)Links:Fides open source platform: fid.esCillianTwitter: @CillianCompany: https://ethyca.com/

Today I’m joined by CEO and founder of LeanIX, André Christ. André begins by describing his business, and then explains how his experiences working in large enterprise inspired him to build a product that would help businesses catalogue their software and optimize their portfolios. André offers advice for companies desiring to sell primarily to enterprise and expounds on the his experience with the differences between traditional enterprise and large enterprise. We discuss LeanIX’s transition to become a global company based in Europe, and conclude our talk with some advice from André to potential founders. Highlights:André describes his his company LeanIX (00:48)The experiences that led André to found LeanIX (2:50)LeanIX’s decision to focus on enterprise customers (7:45)Advice for companies that want to focus on selling to enterprise (9:47)The difference between traditional enterprise and very large enterprise like Amazon (15:19)Transitioning to becoming a global company based in Europe (19:49)The surprisingly fragmented world of global tech (24:50)LeanIX’s decision to expand into other products (26:30)André’s advice for anyone considering starting a company (27:57)André shares about scaling mistakes and how LeanIX has learned from them (31:48)Links:AndréLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrechrist/Twitter: https://twitter.com/christ_andreCompany: https://www.leanix.net/

Today I chat with Keith Basil, GM of Edge Computing at SUSE. We begin by reviewing the definition of edge: Keith explains how SUSE breaks edge computing down into 3 categories, and then talks about the shared understanding of edge by the industry at large. I ask Keith about the overlap of edge products with non-edge products, and then we discuss the maturity of the edge landscape and Keith explains how SUSE helps clients with infrastructure. We wrap up by talking about managing feature bloat and SUSE’s decision to have their entire code base be open sourced. Highlights:Keith breaks down the 3 categories of “edge” as defined at SUSE (1:14)We discuss the industry understanding of edge technology (5:34)Keith defines “edge watching” (8:44)We discuss the relationship between cloud native and edge native (10:22)The overlap of edge products and non-edge products (14:25)The maturity of the edge landscape and how SUSE help clients with infrastructure (17:04)How SUSE manages feature bloat (23:37)SUSE’s decision to have their entire code base be open sourced (26:15)Links:KeithTwitter: @noslzzpCompany: https://www.suse.com/

Today I talk with Shaun O’Meara, the global field CTO at Mirantis. We begin by discussing the integration of Docker Enterprises with Mirantis approximately three years ago. We discuss the challenges of integrating companies, including incorporating new technology, processes, and customers and merging two very different work cultures. Shaun offers his advice for anyone considering selling to enterprises and emphasizes the role of partnering with customers and becoming part of their process. Shaun talks about the expectations and realities of merging Docker and Mirantis, including the challenges of a licensing model change. We conclude our time by discussing the differences between selling to small companies versus selling to enterprises. Highlights:How integrating Docker Enterprises with Mirantis affected Shaun’s role as CTO (1:09)How incorporating Docker technology helped Mirantis build different value for customers (3:39)We talk about the effects of combining the work cultures of Docker and Mirantis (5:40)Shaun offers advice for people considering start ups or selling to enterprise, including the importance of partnering with customers (8:47)Shaun talks about his expectations of merging Docker and Mirantis versus reality (12:56)We talk about the licensing model change through the transition (14:34)Shaun talks about outsourcing versus what Mirantis does in augmenting and supporting teams (17:55)We discuss the differences between selling to small companies and enterprise (20:06)Links:ShaunLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-omeara/Company: https://www.mirantis.com/

Today I sit down and chat with John McBride, senior software engineer at VMware. We begin by talking about John’s address at KubeCon, “Risks of Single Maintainer Dependencies and How to Mitigate Those Risks.” We discuss the definition of security and then John identifies some of the other non-security risks posed by single maintainer dependency. We talk a little bit about mitigating the risks and about building trust and community around single maintainer projects. We conclude our time by speculating on the extinction of single maintainer dependencies. Highlights:John introduces himself and talks about his interest in mitigating the risks of single maintainer dependencies (00:55)We have a conversation about the definition of security (4:54)John talks about the other, non-security risks of single maintainer dependency (10:00)We discuss how to mitigate the risks of single maintainer dependency (12:04)John talks about building trust and building community around single maintainer projects (16:48)John answers my question “Do you think being a single maintainer is ultimately an anti-pattern, a non best practice?” (23:56)Links:JohnTwitter: @johncodezzzCompany: https://www.vmware.com

Today I talk with Catherine Paganini, Head of Marketing and Community at Buoyant. We begin by discussing the Cloud Native Glossary and how it is helping to make cloud native concepts more accessible for people around the world. Catherine talks about nurturing community in open source projects, and about the function of documentation. Catherine and I discuss pitfalls in building open source communities, and Catherine talks about her strategy for recovering from mistakes. Catherine concludes the conversation by talking about balancing her roles as head of marketing and community at Buoyant.Highlights:Catherine talks about how the Cloud Native Glossary started, how it has grown, and how it helps to make education about the cloud accessible and easy to understand  (1:00)Catherine discusses about how the Cloud Native Glossary is being used (5:47)Catherine and I talk about nurturing community in an open source project (8:22)Catherine discusses empowering end users through efforts like the Linkerd Anchor Program (11:28)Catherine talks about the function of documentation (14:05)I ask Catherine, “What do you see people getting wrong when it comes to nurturing community?” (15:29)Catherine talks about recovering from mistakes (18:49)Catherine discusses walking the line between being head of marketing and head of community (23:47)Links:Cloud Native Glossary: https://glossary.cncf.io/Linkerd: https://linkerd.io/Linkerd Anchor Program: https://linkerd.io/community/anchor/CatherineLinkedIn: Catherine PaganiniTwitter: @cathpagaCompany: https://www.buoyant.io

Today I talk with Yann Léger, CEO of Koyeb, the serverless developer platform that allows businesses to safely and easily deploy applications. We begin by talking about Yann’s decision to base the company on serverless, and the true meaning of cloud native. Yann then discusses Koyeb’s relationship with Kuma, and Koyeb’s posture towards open source projects. The conversation concludes with Yann sharing mistakes he’s learned from in the process of building Koyeb and offering advice to other potential technical founders. Highlights:Yann talks about the decision to leave his position at Scaleway and start his own company (1:44)Yann discusses choosing to base his company on serverless (3:14)Emily and Yann talk about the meaning of cloud native (6:00)Yann talks about Koyeb’s relationship with Kuma (9:40)Yann discusses Koyeb’s open source projects (11:46)Yann shares mistakes he has learned from in the process of building Koyeb (15:25)Yann answers the question “What are the disadvantages of being a technical founder?” (18:06)Emily and Yann discuss the challenges of remote working (22:00)Yann’s advice for anyone considering becoming a technical founder (23:15)Links:YannLinkedIn: Yann LégerTwitter: @yann_eu, @gokoyebCompany: https://www.koyeb.com/

Today I chatted with Dirk Hohndel, chief open source officer at the Cardano foundation. We begin by defining an open source ecosystem, and then talk about what different open source ecosystems might look like and how they are maintained. Dirk talks about best practices for steering an open source ecosystem, and then we discuss the role of foundations in open source projects. I ask “how do you define success for an open source project” and we end with a discussion on the best practices for running open source project foundations.Highlights:We talk about the meaning and maintenance of an open source ecosystem (1:31)The differences between an open source ecosystem and a community (11:06)Dirk talks about best practices for steering an open source ecosystem (13:00)The role of a foundation in an open source project (18:04)Dirk discusses other iterations of open source projects that can be successful (22:19)Dirk answers the question “how do you define success for an open source project?” (24:43)We discuss best practices for running an open source project foundation (27:49)Links:Dirk Twitter: @_dirkhCompany: cardanofoundation.org