Why Funding Open Sources is Hard

This is not a talk about ruby !1 #rubyHACK2018

this is a talk about you !2 #rubyHACK2018

Eric Berry tweets at @coderberry emails at [email protected] blogs at
medium.com/@codesponsor commits to github.com/coderberry works for Consensys is the founder of Code Sponsor has too many avatars !3 #rubyHACK2018

!6 That’s me! #rubyHACK2018

25.3 million active repositories on GitHub (GitHub Octoverse - 2017)
!7 source #rubyHACK2018

78% companies that run on open source (Black Duck Software
/ North Bridge Survey - 2015) !8 !8 source #rubyHACK2018

$140 billion economic value of open source (Oxford TransferSummit -
2011) !10 source #rubyHACK2018

31% of total software and services market (Oxford TransferSummit -
2011) !11 source #rubyHACK2018

!12 #rubyHACK2018 Why contribute?

!13 #rubyHACK2018 source • Need • Fun / Culture •
Social Motivating Factors

!17 #rubyHACK2018

!18 #rubyHACK2018

!19 #rubyHACK2018

!20 #rubyHACK2018

!21 #rubyHACK2018

!22 #rubyHACK2018

TF ≤ 2 65% of OSS repositories (A Novel Approach
for Estimating Truck Factors, April 2016) source !23 #rubyHACK2018

!27 source #rubyHACK2018 @jlukic

!28 #rubyHACK2018 source

!31 #rubyHACK2018 SUSTAINABLE?

!32 #rubyHACK2018 Should open source be free?

!33 Think ‘free speech,’ not ‘free beer.’ Richard Stallman (GNU
Project, Free Software Foundation) #rubyHACK2018

!34 #rubyHACK2018 SPEECH VS

!35 #rubyHACK2018 SPEECH DIET COKE VS

!36 #rubyHACK2018 WHO PAYS FOR THE DIET COKE?

#rubyHACK2018

TIME #rubyHACK2018 : (

TIME #rubyHACK2018 : ( BURNOUT

!40 #rubyHACK2018

!41 #rubyHACK2018

!42 #rubyHACK2018

!43 #rubyHACK2018

#rubyHACK2018

!45 #rubyhack2018 source On June 19th, 2017, one hundred people
gathered in San Francisco to create a cultural shift in how we think about the sustainability of open source software.

!46 #rubyhack2018 source “Key pieces of OSS, of which many
applications depend on, are often supported by small groups of individual contributors with no ﬁnancial support or contractual obligation to do so …

!47 #rubyhack2018 source … This has created a landscape in
which the goodwill of a few can no longer sustain the increasing demands the ecosystem places on them.“

!48 #rubyhack2018 source "Use money as an incentive for open
source"

!49 #rubyhack2018 source “Removing the cultural aversion to money in
open source can enable code contributors to keep building software…”

!50 #rubyhack2018 source …while incentivizing others to take on other
equally important but less implicitly rewarding tasks like resolving issues and bug triaging”

!51 #rubyhack2018 source Maintainers in the front Contributors in the
back

!52 #rubyhack2018 maintenance can suck

!53 #rubyhack2018 funding makes it suck less

!55 #rubyhack2018 source Shared Source Venture Capital

!56 #rubyhack2018 source DONATIONS (CHARITY) Donation Buttons Sponsorships Grants Foundations
Ask for money from others to support the project.

!57 #rubyhack2018 source Donation Buttons Sponsorships Grants Foundations Ask for
money from others to support the project. Low barrier of entry DONATIONS (CHARITY)

money from others to support the project. Low barrier of entry Allows developer to focus on code DONATIONS (CHARITY)

money from others to support the project. Low barrier of entry Allows developer to focus on code Little to no payout without fund-raising efforts DONATIONS (CHARITY)

money from others to support the project. Low barrier of entry Allows developer to focus on code Little to no payout without fund-raising efforts May need a large audience DONATIONS (CHARITY)

money from others to support the project. DONATIONS (CHARITY)

!62 #rubyhack2018 Donation Buttons Sponsorships Grants Foundations Ask for money
from others to support the project. Potential Funding ($) Time away from code DONATIONS (CHARITY)

!63 #rubyhack2018 source SUPPORT Books / Merchandise Training Consulting &
Services Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support

Services Good for marketing Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support

Services Good for marketing Helps keep project aligned with needs Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support

Services Good for marketing Helps keep project aligned with needs Smaller OSS projects don’t benefit Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support

Services Good for marketing Helps keep project aligned with needs Smaller OSS projects don’t benefit Paid training is rarely in demand Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support

Services Good for marketing Helps keep project aligned with needs Smaller OSS projects don’t benefit Paid training is rarely in demand Can distract from core development Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support

!69 #rubyhack2018 source

!73 #rubyhack2018 SUPPORT Books / Merchandise Training Consulting & Services
Sell time and/or merchandise for training/support Potential Funding ($) Time away from code

!74 #rubyhack2018 source LICENSE Shared Source Freemium License Dual License
Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting

!75 #rubyhack2018 source LICENSE Can scale well if successful Shared
Source Freemium License Dual License Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting

!76 #rubyhack2018 source LICENSE Can scale well if successful Has
potential to provide full-time income Shared Source Freemium License Dual License Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting

potential to provide full-time income Smaller OSS projects don’t benefit Shared Source Freemium License Dual License Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting

potential to provide full-time income Smaller OSS projects don’t benefit Can distract from core development Shared Source Freemium License Dual License Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting

potential to provide full-time income Smaller OSS projects don’t benefit Can distract from core development Requires entrepreneur mindset Shared Source Freemium License Dual License Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting

!80 #rubyhack2018

!81 #rubyhack2018 source LICENSE Shared Source Freemium License Dual License
Open Core SaaS / Venture Capital Sell license, features or paid hosting Potential Funding ($) Time away from code

!83 #rubyhack2018

!84 #rubyhack2018 Your ad goes here

!85 #rubyhack2018 Charity Budget Marketing Budget

!86 #rubyhack2018 Charity Budget Marketing Budget ROI

!87 #rubyhack2018 source Where can we spend our advertising budget
that will not only get our message to software developers, but help them as well? ?

!88 #rubyhack2018

!89 #rubyhack2018 #rubyhack2018

$11,086.90 total amount paid to developers in Q4, 2017 (via
Code Sponsor) !93 source #rubyHACK2018

!94 source #rubyHACK2018 Potential Funding ($) Time away from code

!95 #rubyHACK2018

!96 #rubyHACK2018 WHY IS FUNDING OSS HARD?

!97 #rubyHACK2018 Begeloperfundoise Develoswagupportoise Developrenuemarketosupportoise Either we need to change…

!98 #rubyHACK2018 OK … or they do

Questions? !99 #rubyHACK2018 @coderberry

Why Funding Open Sources is Hard

Why Funding Open Sources is Hard

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