The Business of Open Source

Franz Karlsberger is the CEO of Amazee.io, an open-source platform that seeks to make developers’ lives easier by abstracting their day-to-day workload. Throughout our conversation, we explore what it means to join an open-source start-up as an external CEO, and why Franz put so much emphasis on go-to-market strategy. Franz also walks through the importance of knowing what open-source business model your company will follow, and how to measure the success of an open-source project.
Listen in as Franz shares some of his most interesting mistakes, what he’d do differently if he could start over, and why Franz feels open-source is more than just a type of software, it’s a company ethos that affects everything down to the team culture. 

Highlights:
  • Franz introduces himself and his company Amazee.io, which is a ZeroOps application delivery platform (00:50)
  • How Amazee.io went from being a point solution to a platform solution (06:20)
  • Why Franz was brought in as an external CEO for Amazee.io to accelerate growth (10:03)
  • How Franz adjusted to working at an open-source start-up and what that learning curve was like for him (11:47)
  • The importance of open-source at Amazee.io and why it is baked into their core values and ethos as a company (15:30)
  • How the go-to-market model differs for Amazee.io’s cloud offering versus their managed offering (17:51)
  • Franz describes some of the most interesting mistakes he’s made and what he’s learned from them (23:25)
  • Franz’s views on measuring the success of an open-source project (26:29)
  • How listeners can connect with Franz and learn more about Amazee.io (32:37)

Links:
Franz

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.