From Open-Source Side Project to Enterprise SaaS Solution with Ben Rometsch

Ben Rometsch is the CEO and Founder of Flagsmith, an open-source feature flagging platform. In this conversation, we explore how he landed on the idea to develop an open-source feature flagging project and how that has snowballed into running a full-time SaaS company. Ben describes the challenges of creating a SaaS company from the ground up, especially when it comes to pricing and monetizing. We also discuss the importance of understanding and choosing the right licensing for your product.


Highlights:

  • Intro (00:00)

  • I introduce Ben Rometsch, who is the CEO of Flagsmith, a commercial open-source feature flagging and remote conflict platform (01:00)

  • What made Ben want to build an open-source feature flagging project (01:29)

  • How the open-source project Ben started led to building a company around Flagsmith (03:39)

  • Why Ben feels licenses are so important and how he learned that through early licensing choices at Flagsmith (09:10)

  • When Ben started to monetize Flagsmith (13:24)

  • How Ben’s understanding of what features users wanted to pay for has evolved (15:36)

  • Why caring about the developer experience has set Flagsmith apart for enterprise customers (20:51)

  • When revenue started to take off and why it took external expertise (23:12)

  • Why pricing can be such a frustrating challenge to get right (26:47)

  • How Flagsmith is currently remotely structured (28:57)

  • Ben shares his thoughts on how open source contributes to his business (33:04)

  • How listeners can connect with Ben and learn more about Flagsmith (38:05)

Links:

Ben

Chris Hill