RisingWave, an open-source streaming database, is reshaping real-time data processing with its SQL-powered platform. With over 7,000 GitHub stars, the RisingWave open-source community continues to grow. However, as they increased adoption, they encountered a common challenge for open-source businesses: understanding and leveraging that adoption to drive enterprise revenue.
Before Scarf, RisingWave relied on a Metabase dashboard to track anonymous telemetry. While it provided basic usage stats, it lacked the detail they needed to understand which companies were engaging with their software.
“It’s anonymous. So you can’t tell who the person is. You just have the sum, not the account-level detail,” explained Zach Taapken, RisingWave’s Director of Sales.
This lack of visibility made it harder to identify high-value users, nurture leads, and make data-driven decisions. For a company whose sales cycle can take 12–24 months, missing these details was a significant challenge. That’s when they turned to Scarf.
Scarf gave RisingWave the insights they were missing. By providing visibility into company-level engagement, Scarf is helping them identify, track and re-engage with companies already using RisingWave.
"Scarf gives us insights we didn’t have before—whether it’s tracking customer actions or understanding where they are in their evaluation process, it changes how we approach outreach and follow-ups."
With Scarf, RisingWave started uncovering patterns in user behavior that were previously invisible. This allowed them to identify new enterprise accounts and re-engagement opportunities.
"One of the most immediate benefits is being able to see if prospects are following through. If someone says they’ll test the product, we can check the data to see if they’ve actually done it and tailor our outreach accordingly," Zach shared.
“Seeing a company pop back up after months of inactivity has been key for triggering outreach. It’s valuable to know when someone re-engages with our platform,” said Zach.
As RisingWave continues to refine its approach, Scarf’s versatility has opened new possibilities for use across departments. While initially adopted as a sales tool, the platform is proving valuable for marketing and community engagement efforts.
"We initially approached Scarf as a sales tool, but we’ve started exploring how it can benefit our marketing and community efforts."
The insights provided by Scarf are also helping RisingWave’s growth team think strategically about engaging similar companies in the same space. For example, by analyzing user behavior patterns, RisingWave can explore new verticals and craft outreach strategies tailored to different industries.
As the company continues onboarding new team members, these use cases are expected to expand, offering even more opportunities to leverage Scarf data.
Although still early in their Scarf journey, RisingWave is already seeing the value of detailed usage data. Scarf has helped them surface new opportunities, identify trends, and refine their outreach efforts.
"As we grow, we will expand our use of Scarf to include that data in our marketing and ABM strategies"
Key outcomes achieved through Scarf include:
- Enhanced Visibility: Scarf de-anonymized user data, providing clear insights into company-level engagement.
- Pipeline Growth Potential: Discovering new high-value accounts using the product has opened doors to enterprise opportunities.
- Improved Outreach Strategy: Scarf’s data allowed RisingWave to tailor messaging based on user behavior, improving engagement.
- Re-Engagement Triggers: Scarf highlighted when previously inactive users returned, enabling strategic follow-ups.
- Team Versatility: Scarf’s flexibility enables it to support sales, marketing, and community teams alike.
Curious about how Scarf can unlock insights for your open-source project? Reach out—we’d love to help you get started.
