The Hacking Open Source Business Podcast

Building Communities & Scaling Open Source Startups with Guest Jana Iris

April 06, 2023 Matt Yonkovit & Avi Press Season 1 Episode 23
Building Communities & Scaling Open Source Startups with Guest Jana Iris
The Hacking Open Source Business Podcast
More Info
The Hacking Open Source Business Podcast
Building Communities & Scaling Open Source Startups with Guest Jana Iris
Apr 06, 2023 Season 1 Episode 23
Matt Yonkovit & Avi Press

Join us on the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast with our guest Jana Iris, an investor at TQ Ventures, as we dive into the world of community building, startups, and open-source business success. With over 13 years of experience, Jana shares her journey and invaluable insights into early-stage startups, building strong communities, and leveraging user feedback for growth. Learn the importance of being intentional, finding your niche, and balancing community engagement with sustainable business models. Don't miss this episode packed with tips, stories, and expert advice!

In this episode, you will learn about:

  • The importance of community building in open source and tech ventures.
  • How to navigate the challenges and rewards of early-stage startups.
  • The long game of building a community and balancing sustainable growth.
  • Monetizing open source by knowing your niche audience and being intentional.
  • Utilizing user feedback to develop features worth paying for.
  • Identifying key users and personas for effective feedback programs.
  • How to measure community value and ROI.
  • Evaluating early-stage startups through various metrics.
  • Go-to-market strategies and community building for transitioning open source projects into businesses.
  • Choosing opportunities based on passion and embracing career pivots.
  • The significance of continuous learning, patience, and trusting the process.

Checkout our other interviews, clips, and videos: https://l.hosbp.com/Youtube

Don’t forget to visit the open-source business community at: https://opensourcebusiness.community/

Visit our primary sponsor, Scarf, for tools to help analyze your #opensource growth and adoption: https://about.scarf.sh/

Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite app:
Spotify: https://l.hosbp.com/Spotify
Apple: https://l.hosbp.com/Apple
Google: https://l.hosbp.com/Google
Buzzsprout: https://l.hosbp.com/Buzzsprout

Show Notes Chapter Markers

Join us on the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast with our guest Jana Iris, an investor at TQ Ventures, as we dive into the world of community building, startups, and open-source business success. With over 13 years of experience, Jana shares her journey and invaluable insights into early-stage startups, building strong communities, and leveraging user feedback for growth. Learn the importance of being intentional, finding your niche, and balancing community engagement with sustainable business models. Don't miss this episode packed with tips, stories, and expert advice!

In this episode, you will learn about:

  • The importance of community building in open source and tech ventures.
  • How to navigate the challenges and rewards of early-stage startups.
  • The long game of building a community and balancing sustainable growth.
  • Monetizing open source by knowing your niche audience and being intentional.
  • Utilizing user feedback to develop features worth paying for.
  • Identifying key users and personas for effective feedback programs.
  • How to measure community value and ROI.
  • Evaluating early-stage startups through various metrics.
  • Go-to-market strategies and community building for transitioning open source projects into businesses.
  • Choosing opportunities based on passion and embracing career pivots.
  • The significance of continuous learning, patience, and trusting the process.

Checkout our other interviews, clips, and videos: https://l.hosbp.com/Youtube

Don’t forget to visit the open-source business community at: https://opensourcebusiness.community/

Visit our primary sponsor, Scarf, for tools to help analyze your #opensource growth and adoption: https://about.scarf.sh/

Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite app:
Spotify: https://l.hosbp.com/Spotify
Apple: https://l.hosbp.com/Apple
Google: https://l.hosbp.com/Google
Buzzsprout: https://l.hosbp.com/Buzzsprout

Getting to know Jana Iris!
Early days in Silicon Valley, Starting as Employee #10 at Hashi Corp
Sometimes it takes a while to see wide scale adoption of open source: example Terraform
Balancing business growth -vs- open source adoption
Securing your next funding round. Open Source is not a business model, so what should people focus on ?
Setting up a feedback program
What are the important metrics for both open source communities and investors?
Putting on our investor hat and exploring what is hot in the market, series A, and beyond investments
Yana's advice to her younger self