Open Source Startup Podcast

Lauren Long, Co-founder and CTO of Ampersand, discusses her journey in creating a developer platform for native product integrations. She shares insights on why a code-first approach enhances the developer experience and how their first integration with Salesforce shaped their go-to-market strategy. Lauren explains the balance between open-source CLI tools and a closed-source orchestration layer, emphasizing transparency in pricing as a key differentiator. She also offers valuable advice for aspiring founders about pursuing passion and aligning with long-term goals.

Philippe Noël, Co-founder and CEO of ParadeDB, shares insights on building a modern alternative to Elasticsearch using Postgres. He discusses the seamless integration of search directly with databases and the benefits for e-commerce and FinTech users. Philippe highlights his learnings as a second-time founder, emphasizing the role of user feedback and community engagement in product development. He also addresses the unique challenges of serving enterprise needs and the importance of strategic messaging in competing with established technologies.

Eric Futoran, Co-founder and CEO of Embrace, shares insights on revolutionizing mobile observability. He discusses the unique challenges in mobile engineering and why the industry needed specific tools. Eric explains the benefits of open-sourcing their SDKs, enhancing community engagement and code quality. He also delves into the importance of aligning product-market fit with GTM-market fit and how embracing OpenTelemetry transformed their approach. The conversation covers navigating marketing strategies and the evolution of user personas in the ever-changing SaaS landscape.

Ivan Burazin, Co-founder and CEO of Daytona, discusses revolutionizing developer environments with his open-source platform. He dives into how Daytona's growth strategy leverages consistent content and the importance of understanding user motivations. Ivan shares insights on building credibility through successful DevTool founders acting as angel investors. He also tackles the complexities of open-source licensing, emphasizing MIT and Apache as the gold standards, while exploring how community engagement fuels innovation in the tech landscape.

Steven Tey, Founder & CEO of Dub.co, discusses his open-source link management platform that has garnered almost 18K stars on GitHub. He shares the journey of turning Dub.co from a side project into a company and positioning it as a Bitly alternative. The conversation dives into the importance of great design in product development, how analytics improve customer value, and the impact of a top Hackernews post on their growth. Tey also emphasizes the need for entrepreneurs to follow their passion and take actionable steps despite uncertainties.

Lukas Schulte, Co-Founder and CEO of SDF Labs, shares insights from his journey in data transformation and querying. He discusses the challenges of the Modern Data Stack, including SQL dialect variations, and how SDF Labs enables local SQL validation. Lukas highlights his choice of Rust for robust development and the advantages of a closed-source CLI for speed and flexibility. He emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships in enhancing functionality and user experience within the data ecosystem. Tune in for valuable lessons from the world of data!

Sameer Al-Sakran is CEO of Metabase, the open-source analytics and business intelligence platform. Their open source project, also called metabase, has over 38K stars on GitHub. Metabase has raised $51M from investors including NEA, Insight and Expa. In this episode, we dig into the company's 10 year journey, what it means to have a "developer friendly analytics platform", eliminating the friction with BI by making Metabase super fast to get started with, keeping the product simple, juggling short-term execution with their long-term vision & more!

Stanislas Polu, Co-Founder of Dust, shares insights into his innovative platform that enables the creation of custom AI assistants. He discusses the importance of open-source development and its challenges in a competitive market. The conversation highlights how Dust enhances productivity through tailored AI solutions while augmenting rather than replacing human roles. Polu also delves into the future of AI agents, addressing user adoption and the role of community in strengthening open-source initiatives. Expect a deep dive into the evolving landscape of AI technology!

Jonathan Schneider, Co-Founder & CEO of Moderne, dives into the intricate world of software refactoring. He highlights the critical need for maintenance to avoid security vulnerabilities and discusses the hurdles faced in the Java ecosystem. The conversation uncovers the challenge of managing code complexity, especially with the rise of generative AI. Jonathan also shares insights from Moderne's journey, including the importance of collaboration in the open-source community and the startup's evolution since 2020.

In this discussion, James Perkins, Co-Founder & CEO of Unkey, dives into the complexities of the API management landscape. He shares insights from their journey, emphasizing the importance of simplicity in enhancing developer experience. James highlights their focus on user feedback to shape features, discusses their scalable pricing model, and reflects on the challenges of transitioning from developer to CEO. With a commitment to open-source principles, he reveals Unkey's plans for growth while maintaining an accessible product.