[Ilugc] Entrepreneurship based on Open Source Model
- From: girish1729@xxxxxxxxx (Girish Venkatachalam)
- Date: Sat Sep 9 13:45:19 2006
On Sat, Sep 09, 2006 at 12:53:31PM +0530, Vishnu Vijayaraghavan wrote:
Hi all,
I would like to set up a start-up based on the Open Source Model
in the near future. How effective will Open Source Model suit for
enterpreneurship. What are the prerequsities to be satisfied before
starting. I would also like to know about some of the most successful
enterpreneur based on open source. Or to simply put up
How to set up an enterprise based on Open Source Model from scratch
(for indian scenario)
Pls. kindly help me.
What do you mean "near future"? Does it mean immediate or few months
down the line?
Today open source is critical for business. There are no two ways about
it. The benefit is not only in terms of cost but also in terms of
tweakability, customizing stuff to your needs etc. In fact many
companies add masala to open source code and provide timely support. And
the term open source has become so ubiquitous that you can easily
convince MBA guys that it can save money for you.
First the global scenario. Then I will try to address the Indian
scenario. Let us take google for instance. Google used to run RedHat on
its server farm, I don't know what they are running now. Yahoo!,
Amazon,eBay everyone are out and out FreeBSD shops not to mention
hotmail which runs a combo. Juniper routers are all FreeBSD based.
Let us come to the question of making money thro' Open Source?
Definitely possible. I will urge you to take a look at the damn
small linux homepage, there John has written a nice practical
article on how to make money via a "successful" open source product.
Mind you, damn small linux is damn successful , that is why he is
able to say this. So if you do a really good job and develop a world
#1 software which you make open source, you will definitely make money
down the line thro' ads(Google AdSense) and support and other sources.
Look at it this way buddy. How do Suryan FM and Sun TV make money?
Do they charge for programming? No. They get huge Ad revenues. In
fact if Tamil had been as popular as Hindi, then Sun would have got
even more viewership, ad revenue and so on. Not to say that Sun
doesn't have enough money right now. :-)
Something similar applies to open source. However channels like Jaya
TV hardly have any revenue. So if you do manage to do something cool
and highly technically challenging; something that is novel and
useful. Then being open source, it spreads by word of mouth
marketing and few months down the line, as ppl download and find it
interesting, you will start getting hits on your website that
translate into revenue in various ways.
One strategy that works somewhat well though I don't like it is you
make a program open source and then give a premium edition with
certain killer features. I personally hold it immoral and cruel to
do it, however you can try it. AFAIK not many ppl do this these
days.
Though I cannot substantiate my statements with facts these are my
general opinions and observations. Recent acquisition of snort by
Checkpoint is a case in point. All I am saying is if you do a good
job, money will come. :-)
Coming to the Indian scenario, I am also finding the answer to the
question you posed. I don't actually understand the question since
open source means available to all ppl at all parts of the world. So
if I understand correctly you are talking about such a thing working
in the Indian society/culture. I would say a fat chance. Bcoz Bram
Cohen was surviving on credit cards until he finished his bittorrent
program. U know how high expenses can be in US. And Linus Torvalds
wrote linux in a country like Finland where you have proper weather
only for two months in a year. Most of the time you won't even have
sunlight. Some ppl believe lack of sunlight can lead to depression.
In India we don't have these problems. The problems however are of a
different nature. Our society still considers entrepreneurship as
taboo. And being a developing nation we have 100s of small small
things to take care. You can never take anything for granted.
However things are lookup up very much these days and I am sure
things are only going to get better in the coming days.
We don't have proper academia/industry interaction largely bcoz our
industries don't even know the meaning of innovation and world
classness. IITM is the first institute as far as I know that has
shown that it is indeed possible to create real world biz solutions
from inside academic culture.
However open source is all about excellence and we have a very long
way to go before we can claim that. However as individuals you and
I can do quite a lot,get the right ppl, do the right things etc.
I cannot tell you what you should do, but I certainly can tell you
what you should not do.
Don't get an army of programmers. Get a small cohesive set of hand
picked programmers.
Have an informal culture. Dont say, "come in formal dress." It
positively kills creativity. Ppl should feel as comfy at office as
they are at home. At the same time you should ensure professionalism
and make sure that work gets done.
That is all from my side.
Wait, I just noticed you mentioned the word "from scratch". I personally
dont like it. Do you mean reinventing the wheel? If you try that, then
other ppl will overtake you and you will be left in the lurch.
My God help you in your noble endeavors!
Best,
Girish
Other related posts:
