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Build a Great Business on Open Source without Selling Your Soul

Event: OSACon 2024

Location: Virtual

Dates: 19 November 2024 – 21 November 2024

Presentation: 19 November 2024

Video: Watch video

Link: On event website

Speaker: Peter Zaitsev

Open source software is fun to work on, but building a real business is tough. We’ve all read about commercial open source companies that switched to proprietary models or flat went out of business. Our panel of three CEOs have all built successful companies on open source without resorting to licensing rug-pulls or other fauxpen source tricks that disrespect users. We’ll discuss what worked for us, what didn’t, and how we balanced our belief in open source communities with making payroll every two weeks.

Video

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Build a Great Business on Open Source without Selling Your Soul

Speakers

Peter Zaitsev

Peter Zaitsev

Co‑founder of Percona and one of the foremost experts on MySQL strategy and optimization. Peter leveraged both his technical vision and entrepreneurial skills to grow Percona from a two‑person shop to one of the most respected open source companies in the business. A serial entrepreneur, he co‑founded his first startup while attending Moscow State University where he majored in Computer Science. He is a co‑author of High Performance MySQL: Optimization, Backups, and Replication, one of the most popular books on MySQL performance. Peter frequently speaks as an expert lecturer at open source database conferences and has contributed articles to outlets such as Fortune and DZone.

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