Is Open Source just a Freemium Strategy?
When MongoDB CEO Dev Ittycheria said that their open source strategy had been part of essential a freeium strategy, to drive adoption rather than build a community, many in the open source community were horrified. He said it three years ago, and people still talk about it. Open source is not freemium, they said. This question came up as I was recording a podcast this morning, and I wanted to weigh in. My take is that Ittycheria is both right and wrong — well, he’s clearly right about MongoDB’s approach to open source, since that’s his call, but he’s both right and wrong about how a commercial open source company subjectively should think about open source.
He’s right: Open source is a business strategy
The open source world can sometimes have it’s head in the sand a bit when it comes to talking about business, revenue and making money. So here’s the truth, which I think Ittycheria nails: commercial open source companies need to make money. Especially if you’ve taken venture funding, you’ve basically committed to not just making money, but doing whatever you can to make as much money as possible, using whatever strategy you see fit.
This is about end goals: In some cases, the open source community is the point. Think about a project like Open Telemetry, which is maintained and supported by a handful of companies, including some direct competitors. In their case, the project is the point. This is not the case if you have a commercial open source startup. We can talk about HashiCorp all day (and will later), but if HashiCorp had only ever build a sweet community but never made profit, we wouldn’t be talking about them at all.
So my point is: in the context of building a company, open source is fundamentally a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. And that end is about increasing adoption and building a sustainable and profitable business that makes the founders and the investors rich.
He’s wrong: Community still matters
On the other hand, building a true, vibrant community around an open source project is neither a waste of time or a drain on resources. Viewing the open source project as simply a ‘freemium’ offering to get users hooked is not just cynical, but likely bad for business in the long run. That’s because having an open source project and building community — true community — around that project is a way to nurture an army of advocates for your technology and your company. Some, even many, of your community members will never become customers, but if they are truly engaged in the community, they will become advocates for the company as well as the open source project.
Community-based businesses are more resilient — more resilient in a downturn, more easily forgiven after a mistake. And while open source startups may be a relatively new thing, companies building community are not — think about Harley Davidson.
My point is, it’s ok to recognize that if you’re an open source startup, your ultimate goal is to build a big company that is financially successful. Even if people in the open source world don’t like to talk about it, they know it. But at the same time, this doesn’t mean you should treat your community as an afterthought. When I say open source is a strategy, that’s true, but for an open source company it is the strategy around which everything revolves. If you’re not going to commit fully to building a community and following a truly open source strategy… that’s ok too. There’s no shame in a closed-source, freemium model! I just encourage people to own whatever strategy they choose. If you call yourself open source, do open source right. And if you don’t think open source is the best strategy for you, do something else.