Previous Edition Schedule (2024)
Event Format
This is a sample schedule to give you an idea of the event format — single track talks in the morning, breakout workshops in the afternoon. Join us in the evenings for networking and discussions over a drink.
Our goal is to make this event as concretely useful to open source founders as possible. We’re counting on input from you to figure out what your top challenges are and how the open source founder summit can help you conquer them.
Event Schedule - The day before
Sunday 26th of May 2024
Welcome drinks
Join us for apéro (light snacks and drinks). Happy hour sponsored by Cisco.
Event Schedule - Day 1
Monday 27th of May 2024
Doors Open
Check-in, grab a coffee and a croissant, get ready for the day.
Welcome to the Open Source Founders Summit
Short welcome talk.
Talk: Projects Versus Products Is Key!
Product management for open source products. Specifics about how product management has to be managed differently in open source companies. Thomas di Giacomo (Suse).
Talk: GTM for SaaS vs Open Core
Understanding the different go to market motions for software as a service versus Open Core. Pierre Burgy (Strapi).
Talk: From Founder To CEO
Navigating tech entrepreneurship, insights from Mandrake Linux, Ulteo and Murena. Gaël Duval (Murena).
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Talk: Building an open ecosystem
The paradox of supporting your own competitors. Amandine Le Pape (Element).
Talk: Growth in users, growth in customers
User and customers growth, different strategies for both? Michael Widenius (MariaDB).
Lightning Talks
A quick series of five-minute talks where attendees can share their tips and lessons learned.
- From Zero to Infinity, David Aronchick (Expanso)
- What We Measure and Why, Kevin Muller (Passbolt)
- Taking over as a non-founder CEO, Alexandre Brianceau (Rudder)
- Hiring a CEO to replace you, Peter Zaitsev (Percona)
- Gaining International Credibility through Open Source, Elisabeth Poirier-Defoy (MobilityData)
Morning wrap up, workshop prep
Prep for the afternoon workshops.
Lunch break
Head to the kitchen and grab something to eat.
Breakout workshops, session 1
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 30 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Merger and Acquisition, Thomas di Giacomo (Suse)
- Staying true to OSS principles, Ludovic Dubost (XWiki), Vincent Untz (Centreon)
- Targeting Large Organizations, Why, When and How, Paul-Henri Pillet (Gatling)
Breakout workshops, session 2
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 30 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Building a thriving open-source community, Alya Abbott (Zulip)
- Donating your project to a foundation, Gaël Blondelle (Eclipse Foundation)
- Selling to Governments, Marc Laporte (WikiSuite)
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Breakout workshops, session 3
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 30 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- How to mobilize a community around an OSS solution, Aad Nales (Almende)
- Succession Planning, K.S. Bhaskar (YottaDB)
- Creating Network Effects in an Open Ecosystem, Philipp von Essen (Knowledge Pixels)
Day 1 wrap up
Reflecting on the first day of the summit. Information about the optional evening plans.
Networking drinks
Continue the conversation over drinks. This happy hour is also sponsored by Cisco.
Dinner
For those who want and can, enjoy a laid-back atmosphere as we continue conversations over a meal.
Event Schedule - Day 2
Tuesday 28th of May 2024
Doors Open
Check-in, grab a coffee and a croissant, get ready for the day.
Talk: Generating and Converting Leads from OSS Project
How to generate leads from your open source project, and turn those leads into customers. Frank Karlitschek (Nextcloud).
Talk: What Went Wrong at Weaveworks?
The CEO and founder of Weaveworks as well as of RabbitMQ takes a hard look at what went wrong at Weaveworks. Alexis Richardson (Weaveworks).
Talk: The Blessing and Curse of Selling Open Source
Sales is the lifeblood of any startup, but what makes a good open source sales strategy? Matt Barker (Founder).
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Talk: Selling to Enterprises
Understanding the sales process changes needed to land enterprise customers. Peter Zaitsev (Percona).
Talk: Translating Widespread Adoption Into Commercial Success
Insights on how to convert adoption into revenue. Garima Kapoor (MinIO).
Lightning Talks
A quick series of five-minute talks where attendees can share their ideas, questions, challenges and lessons learned.
- Content that sells from engineers who write, Olga Rusakova (Evil Martians)
- Leveraging expertise to sell open-source based services, Julien Coupey (Verso)
- Selling to Mission Driven Organizations, Taco Potze (Open Social)
- Transitioning from a Public Initiative to a Business, Yann Lechelle (Probabl)
- Open Source MVPs, Eyal Buchkin (MetalBear)
Lunch break
Grab something to eat.
Breakout workshops, session 4
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 30 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Collaborating across open source software projects, Greg Austic (Our Sci)
- Metrics for a data-driven open source GTM strategy, Avi Press (Scarf)
- Hard truths about running open source businesses, Geoff Olliff (Portainer)
Breakout workshops, session 5
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 30 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Why Did Hashicorp Change Its License?, Amanda Brock (OpenUK)
- Getting the most out of events, Brian Proffitt (The Apache Software Foundation)
- Finding product-market fit as an open source company, Lisa N. Cao (Datastrato)
Break
Grab a cup of tea and mingle.
Breakout workshops, session 6
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 30 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- What's next for the Open Source Founders Summit?, Emily Omier (Open Source Founders Summit), Remy Bertot (Passbolt)
Farewell #05F524!
Reflections on the first edition of Open Source Founders Summit and what to expect next.
Networking drinks
Continue discussions from the event, forge new connections, or simply unwind. Sponsored, yes indeed, by Cisco.