This week on The Business of Open Source, I spoke with
David Aronchick, CEO and founder of
Expanso, about luck and timing, building into universal truths and the reasons for Kubernetes’ success.
Before David founded Expanso (which is behind the project
Bacalhau), he was the first non-founding PM on the Kubernetes project, and we kicked off by talking a bit about what made Kubernetes so successful… and you probably can guess that it didn’t have to do with having the most awesome technology. A big part of it was that it was the right time and a number of factors in the larger ecosystem were aligned in favor of making Kubernetes a success.
It comes down to luck and building to where the puck is going… so how do you know where the puck is going to be a year from now? David talks about selling into basic truths. If you’re pegged to a specific technology, you’re putting yourself at huge risk. But if you are solving a problem that has always been a problem and is likely to continue to be a problem, you are more likely to be successful.
Lastly, we talked about how hard GTM is, and how David would invest way more into GTM, starting much earlier, if he could start over again.