The Business of Open Source

Peer Richelsen is the Co-founder of Cal.com, an open-source calendar scheduling tool. This week, Peer and I discuss his personal experience with needing a customizable scheduling tool, the big leap from taking donations to running a profitable business, and the thought process behind seeking VC funding. Peer also talks about the major advantage of starting with only a paid version of the product in order to build a small community of super users. Lastly, I pick Peer’s brain about how he feels being constantly compared to non open-source scheduling products.Highlights:Intro (00:00) I introduce Peer Richelsen, the Co-founder of Cal.com, and he discusses the company and its calendar scheduling tool (00:59)Does Peer think about Cal.com as a dev tool (2:09)What is Cal.com’s business model (03:57)The lack of customizability in the scheduling tool marketplace (06:15)Switching from accepting donations to selling a profitable product (09:48)Launching without a free version (12:50)The human cost of freemium usage (16:20)The decision to raise VC funds (17:41)What business value being open source brings to the company (20:48)How Cal.com positions itself in the market (24:13)Interesting mistakes Peer has made as an entrepreneur (28:22)How “free” is the software (30:57)Peer’s parting words (32:27)Where listeners can connect with Peer and learn more about Cal.com (33:04)Links:PeerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peer-richelsen-221233138/Twitter: @peer_richCompany: https://cal.com/

Birthe Lindenthal, Co-founder and CMO of OpenProject, discusses the benefits of being open source, monetizing the user base, and the challenges of marketing an open-source product. She shares the motivation she feels when contributing to something larger than herself and talks about merging branding between free and paid versions of the software. Birthe also gives advice for founders of open-source companies and discusses the difficulty of creating a glossary of company terminology.

Didier Lopes, CEO of OpenBB, shares how the project grew from 4,000 GitHub stars to a successful open source business. He discusses the origins of OpenBB, the involvement of his co-founder, the evolution of the company, and the benefits of open source in their monetization strategy. Didier also emphasizes the importance of building a cohesive team in achieving success.

Loris Degioanni is the CEO and Founder of Sysdig, an open-source company working to make cloud deployment more secure through the use of runtime insights. Loris and I sit down to discuss the bet Sysdig is making to position itself as a leader in cloud security, how Loris leverages the power of a useful tool to create a brand, and the framework he uses to decide what should be open source and what should be paid for. Loris also shares an in-depth history of his previous company, Wireshark, and his excitement for building open source projects that outlast their business and creators.Highlights:Intro (00:00)I introduce Loris Degioanni who is the CEO and Founder of Sysdig, and he provides a little bit of context about himself and his company (01:00)Loris gives an overview of his previous company, Wireshark (01:57)Ways in which Loris was able to commercialize Wireshark as a tool for open-source end-users (04:30)How Loris used open-source as a marketing tool to create a profitable business model (07:28)The difference between Sysdig and Wireshark in their relationship to open-source (08:57)The bet that Sysdig is making and how that positions the company to become a leader in cloud security (12:36)Loris and I discuss Wireshark’s continued longevity (15:14)Where the inspiration for Sysdig came from and its journey from open-source project to commercial product (19:41)How building something useful replaces the need for a sales and marketing team (24:22)Closing the gap between the Sysdig project and the Sysdig platform (27:52)The framework for deciding what is offered open-source and what needs to be paid for (30:21)Loris’s most interesting mistakes in entrepreneurship and building Sysdig (33:20)How listeners can connect with Loris and learn more about Falco and Sysdig (36:31)Links:LorisLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/degio/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lorisdegioCompany: https://sysdig.com/

Bob van Luijt is the CEO and Founder of Weaviate, an open-source vector database company that helps contribute to the advancement of AI technology. Throughout this episode, Bob and I discuss the complexities of moving from an open-source project to building an open-source company, and the challenges that come with monetization strategies. Bob shares insightful anecdotes around why it’s important to be careful that you’re measuring the right things for the right reasons, and also emphasizes the importance of determining the best approach to profitability.  Highlights:Intro (00:00)I introduce Bob van Luijt who is the CEO and Founder of Weaviate, and he provides a little bit of context about himself and his company (01:00)Bob gives us the run-down on Weaviate’s operations, including fundraising, staffing, and monetization data (02:04)How the Weaviate project became the company it is today (04:03)The value that open-source brings to Weaviate’s business model (11:21)Bob and I discuss the disadvantages to building a company around an open-source project (17:55)The complexities of having an open-source project that is used within other companies and products/projects (20:19)How Bob and Weaviate have approached monetization (22:18)The most interesting mistakes Bob feels he’s made along the way in his journey to build Weaviate (24:37)Bob tells us more about his decision to shift from professional services to a product-led approach (25:50)Bob and I discuss the complex catch-22 of focusing on either profitability or growth as an open-source founder (28:39)How Bob filtered through product feedback and feature requests when first shifting to a product-led approach (32:19)Bob’s advice to people who want to be a part of the open-source ecosystem (37:54)How listeners can connect with Bob and learn more about Weaviate (39:13)Links:BobLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobvanluijt/Twitter: https://twitter.com/bobvanluijtCompany: https://weaviate.io/

Ben Rometsch, CEO of Flagsmith, shares his journey of building an open-source feature flagging project and turning it into a full-time SaaS company. He discusses challenges with pricing and monetizing, importance of licensing, and how caring about developer experience sets Flagsmith apart. They also talk about when revenue started to take off, the frustrations of pricing, and the benefits of being an open-source business.

Max Howell is the CEO of Tea, a revolutionary open-source project that is seeking to help open-source contributors get paid for their work through crypto. Throughout our conversation, Max explains how he’s created some prolific open-source projects but was still unable to monetize them to the point where open source could be his full-time job, and how that provided the inspiration for Tea. Max and I discuss the importance of re-framing open-source projects in business terms of value, and not simply referring to supporting projects as charity work, and Max also shares valuable insights into the world of open-source crypto development.  Highlights:Intro (00:00)I introduce Max, the CEO of tea.xyz, and he explains his career background and how he started Tea (01:00)Max and I discuss the shift that open source needs to make from relying on charity to speaking in business and value terms (09:39)Max describes how Tea is representing the existing value of open source and translating it into monetary form (12:32)The administrative challenges of paying for open-source tools that are business-critical and how Tea helps solve them (14:36)Tea’s business strategy for monetizing their own open-source project (18:05)How Max’s goal of being able to work on the open-source projects he loves full time has played out with Tea (24:06)Max describes how he successfully pitched Tea to investors (25:21)Tea’s relationship with the rest of the crypto industry (27:32)The biggest challenge Max and his team are working on at the moment (29:06)What Max wishes he would have done differently and what he’s learned from the mistakes he’s made (31:59)Where you can go to learn more about Tea and connect with Max (38:53)Links:MaxLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mxcl/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mxclCompany: https://tea.xyz/

Nicolas Höning, Co-Founder and CEO of Seita, discusses creating a greener world through open-source software. He describes challenges open-source founders face, choosing an open-source model, and being a bootstrapped startup. Nicolas explains how their project V2G Liberty optimizes electric vehicle charging sustainably. He also shares why he doesn't market to individual users. Other topics include building open-source software for the energy sector, commercial strategy, funding options, and challenges faced while productizing technology.

Jono Bacon’s passion for building communities has been a driving force in a career taken him from Canonical to GitHub to founding the Community Leadership Core community accelerator. In this episode, Jono shares his definition of community, how a community can create a movement and the differences between the two. We also get a bit of insight into how he developed his passion for building communities and why he continues helping companies build and support theirs through the Community Leadership Core. When Jono speaks about communities he is involved with, he uses “we” instead of “I” to describe their achievements, so I had him dig into that a bit more as we explored the power dynamics that have a huge influence on the success of a community or movement. Highlights:I introduce Jono, who is the founder of Community Leadership Core (0:28)Jono shares more about his passion for building communities and why he started Community Leadership Core (0:51)Jono goes into his background, discovering how Linux was created, and finding connection to others through open source (2:47)Jono reflects on his time at Canonical and what he learned (10:46)How Jono defines and thinks about “community” (13:10)The difference between building a community and creating a movement (15:50)Using “we” vs “I” in communities to encourage collaboration (18:05)Where Jono sees companies missing the mark in community building (20:03)Jono explains what delivery looks like in the context of community (22:31)Jono shares examples of successful communities (27:05)Communities Jono enjoys participating in (28:44)How to start a community from scratch (31:22)A quick summary of the Community Leadership Core (32:40)Links:JonoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonobaconTwitter: https://twitter.com/jonobaconCompany: communityleadershipcore.com

Michael Cheng is an M&A Specialist who has had an extensive career that includes a former stint at Facebook as a Product Manager and his current role as a Lawyer. In this episode, Michael returns to the show to have an in-depth discussion around acquisitions. Michael shares his thoughts on why most acquisitions leave everyone involved feeling unsatisfied, and what he thinks should be done by both parties to mitigate the high failure rate of acquisitions. We also chat about the common grievances founders have after going through an acquisition, and the approach Michael recommends to mitigate those regrets. Michael also shares insights on why it’s harder on an open-source company to be successfully acquired if they are in between being a purely services-based or SaaS company. Highlights:I introduce returning guest Michael Cheng, whose illustrious career spans roles as a Product Manager for Facebook, a Lawyer, and an M&A Specialist (00:22)Michael gives some background on his career history and why he’s pursued so many different roles (01:00)Michael and I discuss the bird’s eye view of the steps it takes to get acquired (02:23)Why most acquisitions fail (06:11) The common grievances that sellers have after going through an acquisition (08:11)Michael’s thoughts on the likely outcomes for acquisitions of open-source companies (10:28)What open-source founders can do to favor a successful outcome when approaching an acquisition (13:32)How Michael thinks success should be measured when evaluating the outcome of an acquisition (17:56)Why looking at the open-source community of companies being acquired is so crucial and often overlooked (22:13)How the due diligence process is different for an open-source startup versus a SaaS company (25:20)Michael describes how each core function in a company is affected by an acquisition (28:12)The advice Michael would give to founders to help them make peace with the outcome of an acquisition (33:42)How you can connect with Michael to learn more (37:02)Links:MichaelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priorart/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SYOTFSCompany: https://www.aalyria.com/