Joseph Jacks joins me to share his enthusiasm for Open Source and what he calls Commercial Open Source Companies, how the idea of Open Source is changing with new technologies, and what that means for the definition of Open Source. In this episode, Joseph gets specific about the definition of Open Source and new technologies building on the original concept while sharing his excitement about the developments in and around the Open Source community. We also discuss the pros and cons of building a...
Dec 21, 2022•32 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast Jon Gottfried, Co-founder of Major League Hacking , joins me to chat about community building, open source as a career accelerator, and how Major League Hacking began. In this episode, Jon and I discuss the role of open source in Major League Hacking and the lessons maintainers can learn from new developers and vice versa. Jon also shares his thoughts on community, sharing responsibilities, and tips for ensuring the future of open source. Listen to hear his perspective and learn how Major League...
Dec 14, 2022•28 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast Brian Douglas, CEO of OpenSauced, joins me to discuss insights - how they’ve been provided in the past, how OpenSauced is different, and how he hopes to contribute to the future of open source. In this episode, Brian and I explore the origins and future of OpenSauced, including his hopes for how providing different insights can help contributors find worthy projects and maintainers find worthy contributors to hire. We also discuss the importance of community and telling fairer and fuller stories...
Dec 07, 2022•31 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast Matt Butcher, CEO of Fermyon, joins me to discuss the ethics of open source and how to keep your company's health in mind when growing your business. In this episode, Matt and I dig into the ethics of open source and how his background in philosophy influences the decisions he makes as a CEO. We also cover how you can intentionally create and maintain your company values and culture. Finally, Matt reveals his top mistakes as a CEO and how he's overcome them to improve his business. Highlights: M...
Nov 30, 2022•36 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Nov 23, 2022•24 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Nov 16, 2022•26 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Nov 09, 2022•32 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ha...
Nov 02, 2022•29 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast 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 rew...
Oct 26, 2022•29 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast 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 effec...
Oct 19, 2022•32 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast 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: Ran...
Oct 12, 2022•38 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Oct 05, 2022•31 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Sep 28, 2022•34 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast 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 o...
Sep 21, 2022•33 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast Braden Hancock, Co-founder and Head of Technology at Snorkel AI, joins me to talk about his path from academia to start-up co-founder and his vision to make AI more accessible to both traditional and no-code development. In this episode, Braden and I explore the journey he and his co-founders took to go from having an interesting idea to forming a company and the strategic business decisions they made along the way, such as why they opted not to use an open-source business model and the educatio...
Sep 14, 2022•33 min•Ep 116•Transcript available on Metacast Anna Filippova, Director of Community & Data at DBT Labs, joins me to chat about the fundamental role community plays in the world of open source and her role helping to create a thriving community. In this episode, Anna and I dive into the concept of a community: why it’s essential for open-source development, how to create business value through community, and how to track community health above and beyond user count. Highlights: Why community is mission critical at DBT Labs (02:07) The fu...
Sep 07, 2022•32 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast Highlights: Open source software at the department of defense (1:36) Is there risk associated with using open source software in the department of defense? (5:30) Does the public sector contribute to and participate in open source communities? (9:13) Rob’s background and work experience (14:25) What led Rob to found Defense Unicorns (16:35) Rob’s focus on a specific niche in the founding of his company (17:33) How working with a fixed budget affects an open source company (19:33) Links: Rob Link...
Aug 31, 2022•29 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast Ricardo Mendoza, founder and CEO of Pantacor, joins me for a chat at the Open Source Summit in Austin. Ricardo shares why he started Pantacor and describes the differences between IoT, edge, connected, and embedded devices. I ask him how Pantacor fits into the edge continuum, and he explains how Pantacor helps bring embedded devices into the future. Ricardo talks about the open source arm of Pantacor’s strategy, we discuss Pantacor’s unique interest in hardware versus primarily dealing with soft...
Aug 24, 2022•29 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast Live from the Open Source Summit in Austin, I sit down with Jeff Shapiro, the License Scanning Manager for the Linux Foundation. Jeff begins by explaining what he does at the Linux Foundation, including ensuring that open source licenses are compatible and compliant. We discuss what license issues start-ups should be aware of, how to educate yourself on open source licensing, and when you should consult an expert. Jeff clarifies some confusion around dual licenses and explains the challenges of ...
Aug 17, 2022•27 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast 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, ...
Aug 10, 2022•28 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Aug 03, 2022•33 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast 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 i...
Jul 27, 2022•33 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast 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 t...
Jul 20, 2022•36 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 13, 2022•34 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Shau...
Jul 06, 2022•24 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast 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 specul...
Jun 29, 2022•32 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Jun 22, 2022•27 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast 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 potent...
Jun 15, 2022•27 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast 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 runnin...
Jun 08, 2022•33 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Today I sit down with Romaric Philogène, CEO and founder of Qovery, a platform that helps developers build, deploy, run, and scale applications. Romaric begins by talking about his first two start-ups, both social networks, and then we discuss the difference between creating consumer-facing products and products for developers. We then talk about marketing in the US as it compares to the global market. We discuss Qovary’s relationship to open source and the idea of fostering community around a c...
Jun 01, 2022•32 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast 
