In this episode of Hacking Open Source Business, co-hosts Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit are joined by Adam Jacob, CEO of System Initiative and co-founder of Chef. They delve into the complexities of open source commercialization, discussing Adam's experiences and opinions on the subject. Adam shares insights into building a successful open source business, balancing the ideals of open source with business needs, and his vision for System Initiative. Tune in to learn about effective open source ...

Explore the evolution of Sentry's licensing journey with Chad Whitacre in this episode of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast (Ep. 35). Discover the motivations behind Sentry's shift from the traditional BSD license to the innovative Functional Source License (FSL). Chad delves deep into the challenges of balancing user freedom and developer sustainability in the open source landscape. Gain insights into how Sentry safeguards open source projects and whether the FSL holds the key to...

Dive deep into the world of venture capital, open source, and startup investments with Timothy Chen in this episode of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast. Join hosts Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit in this insightful discussion with Timothy Chen as they explore the intricate landscape of investing in open-source projects, the evolving trends within the software space, and the challenges and possibilities faced by both founders and venture capitalists. Discover the art of VC diligence,...

Join hosts Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit in this insightful discussion with Robert Hodges (CEO of Altinity) about bootstrapping a robust open source business that truly adds value to users. In today's dynamic economy, where uncertainties abound, businesses face constant cost pressures and competition from a multitude of evolving technologies. Explore with them topics related to analytics, open-source technology, venture capital, and the art of building a business that delivers unparalleled...

In episode 32 of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast, hosts Matt Yonkovit (Head of Open Source Strategy at Scarf) and Avi Press (Scarf's CEO) and this week's guest Peter Farkas (FerretDB) unravel the motivations behind the creation of FerretDB, a revolutionary alternative to MongoDB, and the pivotal role licensing changes play in shaping the tech landscape. Learn about MongoDB's unique trajectory amid licensing transitions, dive into the journey of FerretDB's development and first...

Step into the evolving landscape of technology, open source, ethics, and growth in episode 31 of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast. Join host Matt Yonkovit (Head of Open Source Strategy at Scarf) and guest John Robb (Experience Designer at ReactFlow) through this compilation of engaging discussions where they dive into ReactFlow's innovation in dynamic interfaces, the intricacy of open source monetization, and the ethical considerations that shape software distribution. Explore the...

Join THE HOSS Matt Yonkovit and his guest Laurent Doguin (Developer Relations and Strategy at Couchbase) in the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast as they explore various aspects of the DevRel role in the Open Source space. From transforming into a developer-friendly organization to the vital connection between Developer Relations (DevRel) and Sales, they discuss strategies, challenges, and future trends. They highlight the importance of understanding different types of developers,...

In this episode od the hacking Open Source Business Podcast, hosts Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit discuss with Amanda "Robby" Robson, a software infra seed investor based in San Francisco, all about investing in open source startups. She shares her journey into tech banking and venture capital, her insights on raising Series A funding for open source companies and discusses the importance of pre-seed and seed stage. She also gets into the difficulties early-stage open source businesses face, the...

Join HOSS Matt Yonkovit and Scarf CEO Avi Press on the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast as they talk with Sijie Guo, CEO of StreamNative, where he shares his journey with Apache Pulsar and the future of open-source tech. Explore the power of Pulsar, community building, documentation importance, and the balance between open source and commercial value. They also discuss the challenges and learning curves of growing an open-source business. Prioritizing customer demands, delivering value to...

Explore the world of Developer Relations (DevRel) with Tinybird's Developer Advocate, Joe Karlsson, in this podcast hosted by Matt Yonkovit. Discover key insights into DevRel, the role of Developer Advocates in open-source communities, strategies for content creation, and the importance of a strong online presence. Learn how to navigate challenges, align business goals with community needs, and understand the nuances between users and customers in open-source businesses. From dealing with...

Patrick McFadin, VP of Developer Relations at DataStax and Chief Evangelist for Apache Cassandra, joins the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast on Episode 26 to deep dive into open source.  In this episode Patrick talks about: - His time working in open source database community, including Apache Cassandra's journey and upcoming developments. - The role of evangelism and contributors in driving adoption and getting people to try your project. - The challenges and mistakes companies make...

Saurav Pathak, co-founder and CPO of Bagisto, joins the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast on Episode 25 to discuss his experience with open source, the story behind the creation of Bagisto, and the importance of marketing decisions in the success of an open source project. Saurav highlights the connections and opportunities that open source has provided in his journey as a developer and entrepreneur. Bagisto is an open-source e-commerce platform that fills the gap between developers and...

Join us on Ep. 24 of The Hacking Open Source Business Podcast features Nithya Ruff, the Head of Amazon's Open Source Program Office, discussing various aspects of open source with hosts Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit. They cover topics such as the challenges facing open source today, evaluating new open source projects, the importance of Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) for startups, building successful and sustainable open source businesses, reducing friction for developers, open source...

Join us on the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast with our guest Jana Iris, an investor at TQ Ventures, as we dive into the world of community building, startups, and open-source business success. With over 13 years of experience, Jana shares her journey and invaluable insights into early-stage startups, building strong communities, and leveraging user feedback for growth. Learn the importance of being intentional, finding your niche, and balancing community engagement with sustainable...

In this episode of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast, Scarf CEO Avi Press and HOSS Matt Yonkovit are joined by Kaj Arnö, CEO of the MariaDB Foundation. They discuss the challenges of managing support expectations in open source projects, including balancing limited resources with important user requests, how non-profit organizations like the Wikimedia Foundation align with open-source goals, and why many organizations use open-source software but don't support it financially. Kaj also...

We dig into the fascinating world of open source platform development with Nikhil Nandagopal, one of the founders of Appsmith, in this episode of the Hacking Open Source Business podcast, hosted by Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit. Learn how Appsmith's open core approach allows developers to create powerful applications while addressing the needs of managers and CXOs. Dive into their strategy for balancing core features, user feedback, and value-added features, prioritizing data security over...

Maxim Wheatley from Merico talks about their commercialization strategy that involves open core with a twist, where Dev Stream and Dev Lake remain open source and unmonetized while they identify opportunities to offer managed, hosted versions with paid solutions. They focus on their main product, Merico Analytics, with Dev Stream as an open source package manager to help smaller teams set up a DevOps tool chain and Dev Lake to ensure the right processes and identify hidden bottlenecks. Dev...

On this episode of the Hacking #opensource Business podcast, we talk with Matt Barker, the founder, and president of Jetstack. The discussion is about his experience in building a bootstrapped open source company based on his previous work at Canonical and MongoDB. In the interview, Matt talks about sales, business, and open-source technology (Linux, Kubernetes, Mesos, and more!). Matt covers the challenges of selling free open source software, support as a product, retention challenges, and...

Buckle up the one, and only Peter Zaitsev is back, talking to us from the State of Open Con in London!  Peter gives listeners insight into which conferences he attends, how to get chosen to speak, how to grow the adoption at an open source company, shares his thoughts on licensing, and more.  He also answers questions like should the government regulate #opensource? Should maintainers be sponsored and funded with public money? 00:00:00 Intro: Coming Up 00:00:32 From SOOCon23: Welcome Peter...

Frank Karlitschek shares his open source wisdom and lessons from building Nextcloud.  In this episode, we touch on hot topics like the sovereign cloud, avoiding cloud lock in, building and growing a successful bootstrapped open source company, dealing with consumers and large enterprises, and more! Frank has been in the open source industry for many years and has a unique perspective on what works and what doesn't.  This is episode 16 of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast! In this...

Matt & Avi discuss the current economy and its impact on #opensource. Are the layoffs happening warranted?  Short-sighted?  or required? Are companies with tens of millions in funding merely using the downturned economy as an excuse to clean house?  Tune in and hear the team rant about the current state of affairs!

Knowing when to expand or pivot your company is about understanding the market and getting the timing right. Ben Hindman founder of D2iQ, joins Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit on episode 14 of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast and talks about the journey of starting a company around Mesos ( Mesosphere ) to including Kubernetes and rebranding ( D2IQ ).  Ben gives us insight into working with foundations, starting a new company, choosing open source, and more!  

CEO and co-founder of MatterMost stops by the podcast to drop his wisdom and experience around building an open source company, goto market strategies, star trek, the importance of embracing the community, and more!  Ian also answers the question we all did not know we needed to be answered:  What happens when your open source software accidentally ends up in a highly secure nuclear facility?

Bart Farrell stops by the podcast to chat about open source, community, Kubernetes, and getting started in open source.  Bart comes from a non-traditional background in the tech space but has found a passion for building communities, storytelling, and helping others within the Data in Kubernetes (DOK) community.  During our chat, Bart talks about getting started in open source, imposter syndrome, what worked and did not work content-wise, why trust is so important,  building a diverse...