Open Source Summit North America 2023

In this session, Ann Schlemmer will share her experiences and insights on the trade-offs of being a bootstrapped, customer funded company vs taking outside capital. We will go over: - Advantages and disadvantages of customer funding and bootstrapping, including flexibility, control, and scalability - Benefits of leveraging the power of an open source community - Strategies to attract and retain customers and generate sustainable revenue streams - Lessons learned from Ann's journey leading a customer-funded and bootstrapped business - Questions from the audience for further discussion and exploration of the topic This presentation will particularly interest entrepreneurs, small business owners, and anyone interested in alternative funding models for open source startups. The audience will leave with a better understanding of the pros and cons of bootstrapping and customer funding, as well as actionable steps they can take to make the most of these strategies.