Wildest dreams of making profit on open source: hacker vs. hustler

Open Core Summit 2023

After years of working for an open-source-centric company and launching commercial open-source businesses, my passion is to guide and support founders of dev-facing products, to help them turn from a Pre-Seed into a Unicorn faster and in one piece.

This 20-minute talk focuses on one topic: the key intrinsic conflict in the business of open source, and how to overcome it to gain velocity and precision needed to grow into a successful product organization. Meet the hacker and the hustler!

Transcript

1. Wildest Dreams of Making Pro fi t on Open Source Irina Nazarova CEO, Evil Martians
2. npm-stat.com Jan 2017 Oct 2023 What’s the red line?
3. npm-stat.com Jan 2017 Oct 2023 PostCSS, built by Evil Martians
4. Why did this happen?
5. – Visionary product solving pains with CSS Why did this happen?
6. – Visionary product solving pains with CSS – Hard work of the author Why did this happen?
7. – Visionary product solving pains with CSS – Hard work of the author – Support and guidance from Evil Martians Why did this happen?
8. Product development consulting for dev tools
9. Internal COSS: Product development consulting for dev tools
10. Mission
11. Make authors of open source successful Mission
12. #1 problem in the business of open source
13. #1 problem in the business of open source Technical?
14. #1 problem in the business of open source Technical Limitations of business model?
15. #1 problem in the business of open source Technical Limitations of business model Human relationships
16. The business of open source = unlikely union
17. The business of open source = unlikely union Meet the hacker and the hustler
18. Hacker
19. – Author/maintainer of the open source Hacker
20. – Author/maintainer of the open source – Biased to build Hacker
21. – Author/maintainer of the open source – Biased to build – Star in tech community Hacker
22. Hacker’s challenges
23. ❌ Selling feels like a betrayal Hacker’s challenges
24. ❌ Selling feels like a betrayal ✅ Understand that purchase is win/win Hacker’s challenges
25. ❌ Selling feels like a betrayal ✅ Understand that purchase is win/win ❌ Expects customers to behave like contributors Hacker’s challenges
26. ❌ Selling feels like a betrayal. ✅ Understand that purchase is win/win. ❌ Expects customers to behave like contributors ✅ Customers want quick solutions for their pains Hacker’s challenges
27. ❌ Driven by personal vision for open source Hacker’s challenges
28. ❌ Driven by personal vision for open source ✅ Make decisions aligned with business goals Hacker’s challenges
29. ❌ Driven by personal vision for open source ✅ Make decisions aligned with business goals ❌ Trusting and letting go is a challenge Hacker’s challenges
30. ❌ Driven by personal vision for open source ✅ Make decisions aligned with business goals ❌ Trusting and letting go is a challenge ✅ Trust the hustler Hacker’s challenges
31. Hustler
32. – Biased to action Hustler
33. – Biased to action – Motivated to build a business Hustler
34. – Biased to action – Motivated to build a business – Feels the urgency to sell Hustler
35. Hustler’s challenges
36. Hustler’s challenges ❌ Avoids influencing product decisions (imposter syndrome)
37. Hustler’s challenges ❌ Avoids influencing product decisions (imposter syndrome) ✅ Gradually take more responsibility for product strategy
38. Hustler’s challenges ❌ Avoids influencing product decisions (imposter syndrome) ✅ Gradually take more responsibility for product strategy ❌ Feels alien to open source community
39. Hustler’s challenges ❌ Avoids influencing product decisions (imposter syndrome) ✅ Gradually take more responsibility for product strategy ❌ Feels alien to open source community ✅ Become valuable part of the community
40. Hustler’s challenges ❌ Tries to dictate product timelines
41. Hustler’s challenges ❌ Tries to dictate product timelines ✅ Trust the hacker
42. How did this work out for us at AnyCable? Real-time server for Rails and Next.js apps Open source and Pro version (on premise) GitHub.com/palkan anycable.io
43. Results
44. ✅ Simplified AnyCable’s infrastructure and deploy Results
45. ✅ Simplified AnyCable’s infrastructure and deploy ✅ Made comprehensible Guides and Demos Results
46. ✅ Simplified AnyCable’s infrastructure and deploy ✅ Made comprehensible Guides and Demos ✅ Started charging enterprises for consulting and features Results
47. ✅ Simplified AnyCable’s infrastructure and deploy ✅ Made comprehensible Guides and Demos ✅ Started charging enterprises for consulting and features ✅ Entered new market: Next.js apps Results
48. Hustler Hacker Example: responsibilities split
49. – Delivery timelines – Product development – Support – Docs: in-depth – Demos – OSS governance – Marketing: releases, educational, memes* – Delivery priorities – Customer interviews – Sales – Docs: Guides, How-to – Pricing – Partnerships – Marketing: case studies, category promotion Example: responsibilities split Hustler Hacker
50. An ideal early DevTool founder hacker hustler Embrace both sides!
51. THANK YOU inazarova @ Twitter in@evilmartians.com More 💌