Lars Kamp is the Co-Founder and CEO of Some Engineering, the makers of Resoto. In this episode, Lars describes what he’s learned from founding and working at multiple start-ups, as well as the main differentiators he’s experienced founding his first open-source startup. Lars describes his though process when it comes to selecting co-founders, and illustrates why it’s even more important to be discerning when selecting investors. Lars and I also discuss the advantages that open-source gives to founders who are focused on the distribution strategy for their product, and Lars reveals why he is a big proponent of having docs be a part of your product-led growth strategy. Throughout our conversation, Lars’ insights create a detailed picture of what second-time founders think about and how SaaS startup experience relates to open-source business strategy.
Highlights:
- I introduce Lars, who is the CEO and Founder of Some Engineering (00:23)
- Lars describes what he does at Resoto and the user groups they work with (00:47)
- How a tweet by Jeff Barr inspired Lars and his co-founders to start working on Resoto (01:37)
- What it was like for Lars to start a company with co-founders he didn’t know very well (05:03)
- Why Lars went from working with closed-source SaaS companies to founding an open-source company (07:26)
- The main differences Lars has found between founding a SaaS startup and an open-source company (09:24)
- Lars describes the value he sees in investing in really good docs (10:44)
- Why Lars focuses more on distribution than product as a second-time founder (13:19)
- What third time founders think about and what they don’t (16:18)
- Lars’ advice to founders (18:40)
- Why Lars sees a big advantage in open-source business models, especially when it comes to distribution (20:09)
- The advice Lars would give himself if he could go back in time to the early days of Resoto(28:31)
- How to get in touch with Lars (32:23)
Links:
Lars
What is The Business of Open Source?
Whether you're a founder of an open source startup, an open source maintainer or just an open source enthusiast, join host Emily Omier as she talks to the people who work at the intersection of open source and business, from startup founders to leaders of open source giants and all the people who help open source startups grow.