Lessons from an Open Source Business

Creating a successful company is difficult; but creating a successful company, a successful open source project, and a successful ecosystem all at the same time is much more difficult. This article takes a retrospective look at some of the lessons we have learned in building BigBlueButton, an open s...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fred Dixon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Carleton University 2011-04-01
Series:Technology Innovation Management Review
Online Access:http://timreview.ca/sites/default/files/Issue_PDF/may11_osbr.pdf
Description
Summary:Creating a successful company is difficult; but creating a successful company, a successful open source project, and a successful ecosystem all at the same time is much more difficult. This article takes a retrospective look at some of the lessons we have learned in building BigBlueButton, an open source web conferencing system for distance education, and in building Blindside Networks, a company following the traditional business model of providing support and services to paying customers. Our main message is that the focus must be on creating a successful open source project first, for without it, no company in the ecosystem can flourish.
ISSN:1927-0321