Event Schedule
Event Format
This is a sample schedule to give you an idea of the event format — single track talks followed by workshops, both in the morning and 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 18th of May 2025
Welcome drinks
Join us for apéro (light snacks, drinks and pizzas).
Event Schedule - Day 1
Monday 19th of May 2025
Doors Open
Check-in, grab a coffee and a croissant, get ready for the day.
Welcome to the Open Source Founders Summit
A short welcome talk.
Talk: Finding PMF in a Community-Driven OSS Company
Discover how to forge powerful synergies with your community to build a sustainable OSS business. Frank Karlitschek (Nextcloud).
Talk: Balancing your community’s and customer’s needs
Learn how to balance the varied needs of your open source community and paying customers, even when their demands collide. Ann Schlemmer (Percona).
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Breakout workshops, session 1
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 15 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Growing sales when you're a technical team, Raphaël Hertzog (Freexian)
- Community Moonshots, Remy Bertot (Passbolt)
- Why We Shouldn’t Give Up On Open Source Businesses, Peter Zaitsev (Percona)
- Unconference, an open workshop track, made for and by you.
Breakout workshops, session 2
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 15 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Why Large Organizations Might Be Your Best First Customers, Paul-Henri Pillet (Gatling)
- Working alongside a vendor neutral non-profit, Michael Meeks (Collabora Productivity)
- The ramifications of the Cyber Resilience Act, Jordan Maris (OSI)
- Unconference, an open workshop track, made for and by you.
Lunch break
Head to the kitchen and grab something to eat.
Talk: A Second-Time Founder’s Lessons on Building Open Source Companies
Been there, done Dat(aStax). How Jonathan is approaching it this time around. Jonathan Ellis (Datastax).
Lightning Talks
A quick series of five-minute talks where attendees can share their tips and lessons learned.
- How We Failed (Multiple Times) to Find a Business Model, Paul-Henri Pillet (Gatling)
- Writing an Open Source Manifesto to Align Collaborators, Vincent Untz (Centreon)
- XWiki’s Paying Apps Strategy, Ludovic Dubost (XWiki)
- Openness As Policy, Yann Lechelle (Probabl)
- Selling Open Source to public customers, Johannes Loxen (SerNet)
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Breakout workshops, session 3
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 15 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Open Source and the European Union Legislation, Sebastian Raible (APELL)
- Positioning for Open Source Companies, Emily Omier (Open Source Founders Summit)
- Working Effectively with Open Source Foundations, Florent Zara (Eclipse Foundation)
- Unconference, an open workshop track, made for and by you.
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.
Dinner
For those who want and can, enjoy a laid-back atmosphere as we continue conversations over a meal.
Event Schedule - Day 2
Tuesday 21st of May 2025
Doors Open
Check-in, grab a coffee and a croissant, get ready for the day.
Talk: GTM for open source companies
How does your open source project fit into your go to market strategy? Rod Johnson (Atomist).
Talk: Growth with creative constraints
At Ghost.org we consistently make choices that don’t make sense to others. John O'Nolan (Ghost).
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Breakout workshops, session 4
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 15 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Engineering IRL Meetups for OSS Growth, Lisa N. Cao (Datastrato)
- Commercial sponsor models in open source projects, Amanda Brock (OpenUK)
- Onboarding Open Source Newcomers, Ann Schlemmer (Percona)
- Unconference, an open workshop track, made for and by you.
Breakout workshops, session 5
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 15 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Founders Therapy, Kevin Muller (Passbolt)
- Working effectively with community contributors, Alya Abbott (Zulip)
- Understanding value propositions in an open source context, Sandro Groganz (Passbolt)
- Unconference, an open workshop track, made for and by you.
Lunch break
Head to the kitchen and grab something to eat.
Talk: Finding focus when you're pulled in 10 different directions
How we found focus amid competing demands and evolving markets. Amandine Le Pape (Element).
Lightning Talks
A quick series of five-minute talks where attendees can share their tips and lessons learned.
- Building a Growth Framework for your Startup, Matt Barker (Founder)
- Talking About Your Project When You Have a Massive Vision, David Aronchick (Expanso)
- When Your Competitor Tells Outright Lies, Peter Farkas (FetterDB)
- Building an Open Source Growth Flywheel, Stephen Millidge (Payara)
- Product Development while Maintaining a Public Registry, Nils Adermann (Packagist)
Break
Grab a cup of coffee and mingle.
Breakout workshops, session 6 (TBC)
Breakout workshops of between 10 and 15 attendees, each group focused on a specific aspect of building open source businesses (product management, scaling engineering teams, marketing, sales, commercial models, etc) .
- Matt's Growth Framework, The Workshop, Matt Barker (Founder)
- How to tap into government initiatives supporting digital independence, Astor Nummelin Carlberg (OpenForum Europe)
- Unconference, an open workshop track, made for and by you.
Farewell #OFSF25!
Reflections on the first edition of Open Source Founders Summit and what to expect next.
Networking drinks
Continue the conversation over drinks & finger food.