Native Integration with Salesforce: Bring Open Source Usage Data Directly to Your CRM
Blog

Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams

Blog

Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams

Analytics for open source
Try for Free

Introduction

Monetizing open source software is a challenging task, but it can also be highly rewarding. Unlike traditional software, you're essentially competing against a free version of your product. So, how do you sell something that is inherently free? This guide will delve into the complexities of selling open source software and provide actionable strategies tailored for sales and marketing teams. We'll explore the nuances of open source business models, uncover ways to turn anonymous users into qualified leads, and dissect growth strategies that work.

Before Talking About Sales/Marketing, A Word on Product

Unique Value Proposition

One of the most significant mistakes open source companies make is believing that users will naturally graduate from the free product to the paid version. It doesn't work that way. You must first identify what unique value you offer via your paid offerings. If you can't articulate why a user should pay for your software, you have a problem. Therefore, it's crucial to answer questions like:

  • Why would a free user upgrade to your paid version?
  • What unique features does your paid version offer that the free one doesn’t?
  • Who exactly is your target audience for the paid version?

Getting clarity on these will not only improve your product but also sharpen your sales and marketing strategies.

Understanding the Adoption Lifecycle and the Sales Motion

Identifying Customer Categories

You're going to encounter three types of potential customers:

  1. Those already using your open-source product.
  2. Those using a competitive product.
  3. Those who you know little to nothing about, who you suspect may have an interest or a need your software can help with.
Understanding your target audience is crucial in determining your sales approach. It's essential to differentiate between three groups: existing users of your open-source product, users of competing products, and those unfamiliar with your offering.

The Low-Hanging Fruit: Current Users

Selling to existing users is often easier than acquiring new ones. These are your open source qualified leads (OQLs). An OQL is a user who has performed certain predictive activities, like downloading software packages over a sustained period, which indicates a potential for a commercial relationship. Focus on identifying as many OQLs as possible using techniques such as anonymous download tracking to populate your sales funnel.

Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs)

The best pool to fish in for commercial outcomes are existing users of your open-source software. These are what we call Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs). An OQL is a user or a company who has engaged with your open-source product to a level that suggests they might be ripe for upselling.

What Makes an OQL?

For example, an ideal OQL might download the software multiple times over several days, engage actively in community forums, and visit documentation pages. Consistent activity over a sustained period can indicate a high likelihood of conversion.

The Tough Nuts: Competing Users

Selling against a competing open-source technology requires a different playbook. This involves demonstrating a technically superior product. You need to arm yourself with a competitive analysis and be prepared to answer why your software is better. Here, DevRel activities and internal advocates can be your secret weapons.

Selling to Users of Competing Open Source Solutions

Winning over users from other solutions—open-source or not—requires a deep understanding of what your software does better and why it matters to your target customer. Developing a comprehensive battle card can help your sales team understand and articulate these advantages effectively. This is a much longer sales cycle than selling to existing users of your open source software.  Consider this:  A user using another open source software and paying an external vendor will have engineering expertise and resources already in place for that software.  What is the cost to replace that?  Additionally, if they are paying for support and an enterprise version, they will have a contract which could be for multiple years depending on the software and the organization's willingness to purchase multiyear deals for discounts.  How likely is it that this company would switch tech stacks and give up the remainder of their support contract for a migration to your solution?  In my experience, you may lead the seeds for a migration months or even years before a renewal window, but most enterprises would prefer to wait until current support contracts expire.  

There are several catalysts which may improve the likelihood of a productive sales discussion and a company being more receptive to switching technologies:

  1. Employee turnover.  Open source developers, especially working in smaller or medium sized companies tend to be given a lot of leeway into choosing their tech stacks.  When employees or management changes at one of these organizations often new people will bring in new ideas and preferences. Looking at LinkedIn for recent turnover and seeing where people came from can help enlighten potential willingness to move. 
  2. Organic traffic to your project or community.  Even if someone is an entrenched user of a competitive open source solution, seeing ongoing or sustain traffic to docs or website pages can show increasing interest.
  3. Content:  A lot of engineers write blogs or give conference talks about the technology they work on.  You can learn alot from these on their needs, their issues, and often their frustrations with current technology.  
  4. Public issues:  If a company has a visible outage or issue with technology, you will often see them publicly publish a post mortem mentioning certain issues with technology they use.  This can provide interesting insight into where their current technology maybe failing them.
Competing Against Cloud Providers

There has been a rising number of examples of companies moving away from open source licenses to source available licenses that specifically limit cloud providers or limit competition.  This may make you take pause as you evaluate your offerings and licenses.  Let me give some general advise and perspective.  When you're selling open source software, your competitors aren't just other software companies; you're also up against cloud providers offering similar services. Why should a potential customer choose your offering over an established cloud service? The answer lies in your unique value proposition, not in your license.  

One of the unique challenges open-source companies face is competing with cloud providers who offer managed versions of their own open-source software. These cloud giants have the advantage of scale, a vast user base, and deep pockets for marketing and customer acquisition. This can be particularly daunting for smaller open-source enterprises that can't compete on those levels. The cloud providers can essentially 'commoditize' your product, offering it as a part of their broader service suite, thereby making it difficult for you to monetize the very software you developed.

To effectively compete, open-source companies have to offer something that these cloud providers can't. This could be specialized expertise, superior customer service, or unique add-on features not available in the cloud provider's version. The aim is to move from providing just 'software' to delivering a full-fledged 'solution,' complete with services and support, that can tackle specific business problems better than a cloud provider's one-size-fits-all offering. In this way, you aren't just selling software; you're selling a comprehensive package that offers greater value, thus giving customers a compelling reason to choose you over a big cloud provider. This is often called the "open core" model, where the core product is open source, but specialized modules and services are proprietary and come at a cost.

Navigating the competitive landscape with cloud providers is not easy, but by understanding your unique value proposition and clearly articulating why and how you offer a better solution, you can not only survive but thrive. It's about shifting the conversation from price to value and establishing a strong brand identity that stands apart from the commoditized offerings of large cloud providers.

The Enigma: The Unknowns

These are the toughest to deal with, but also where your anonymous website demasking technology and other data analytics techniques come into play. The more you can move these unknown users to known OQLs, the better.

Strategies for Identification (Turning unknown to Known)

Discovering who these users are can be a challenge. This is where tactics like anonymous download tracking, website de-anonymizing technology, and gated content come into play. The objective is to move users from the 'unknown' category to the 'known' one, making them easier to target for sales and marketing efforts.

Dealing with the third category of users, the unknown ones, poses the greatest challenge and demands the implementation of anonymous website demasking technology and various data analytics strategies.

The Long Term Relationship Play

One of the unique characteristics of the open-source landscape is the significant influence individual developers wield in driving technology adoption within larger organizations. Unlike traditional sales models, where decisions are top-down and often made by C-suite executives, the open-source world frequently sees grassroots, bottom-up adoption. Developers, drawn to the technical merits and community support of an open-source project, will often integrate it into their workflows. Over time, this adoption can scale up to departmental and, eventually organizational levels. As the organization grows more dependent on the technology, there's a heightened likelihood that they will invest in a supported, often premium, version of the software to meet scalability, security, and compliance needs.

This bottom-up model of technology adoption makes building relationships crucial, and it's why Developer Relations (DevRel) has gained prominence in recent years. DevRel goes beyond mere marketing or sales, focusing on building a genuine, technical relationship with the developers who are the new decision-makers in the technology stack. By providing resources, support, and a feedback loop for these key influencers, companies can ensure not only that their technology is being adopted but that it is being advocated for within the organization. This peer-to-peer advocacy is often more persuasive than any marketing campaign could be, as it comes from a trusted source who understands the organization's specific challenges and needs. The focus is less on immediate sales conversion and more on long-term relationship building, which, in the open-source ecosystem, can be a game-changer in securing large, lucrative contracts with organizations.

Adding this relationship-driven focus to your open-source sales strategy can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. It humanizes your product and company, fosters a community of engaged users who can turn into advocates, and most importantly, it builds trust. In an arena where technical merit is table stakes, trust and relationships become the differentiating factors that turn users into paying customers.

The Role of Community in Open Source Sales

Community Engagement: A Double-Edged Sword

Open source projects inherently involve a community of users who contribute to and benefit from the software. While this is fantastic for user adoption and word-of-mouth promotion, it can also be a challenge for sales and marketing teams. The reason is simple: community members often demand why they should pay for something they've been using for free.

However, it's essential to view community engagement not as a challenge but as an opportunity. When users are engaged, they are not just users but also potential customers.

Measuring Community Health

Community health metrics are indicators of how engaged and active your community is. They are a subset of OQL metrics but focused on community channels like forums, social media, and other public venues. An active community can act as an unpaid sales force, advocating for your product and significantly impacting your sales.

Strategies for Enhancing Community Health
  1. Regular Updates: Keep your community informed about what's happening, both in terms of software updates and company news.
  2. Contributor Recognition: Recognize and reward users who make significant contributions.
  3. Community Managers: Hire or designate community managers to moderate and stimulate discussions.

External Evangelists: The Powerhouses of Organic Growth

External evangelists can be invaluable assets. Unlike paid promotions, recommendations from external evangelists are seen as unbiased and genuine, thereby carrying more weight. Cultivating relationships with these influencers can dramatically improve your sales numbers without a corresponding increase in your marketing spend.

Privacy Concerns and Sales Strategies

With increasing scrutiny on data privacy and new regulations coming into force globally, open source companies must tread carefully when it comes to gathering user data.

Navigating the Privacy Maze

While privacy laws limit what you can do, they don't completely block your path. Strategies for navigating these challenges include:

  1. Clear Communication: Always be clear about what data you're collecting and why.
  2. User Consent: Where possible, gain user consent for data collection.
  3. Data Minimization: Collect only what is absolutely necessary.

Lead Scoring: Turning Data into Gold

Lead scoring can help you identify promising leads from the sea of users. This involves assigning values to potential leads based on their activities and engagement level. While this method isn't foolproof, it significantly improves the efficiency of your sales pipeline.

Risk Mitigation Strategies

Churn Prediction

Using OQL and other behavioral data, you can predict which companies are at risk of churning. For instance, if a user has reached an OQL3 level and maintained it for an extended period but has recently shown reduced engagement, it's a red flag.

Addressing Potential Issues

The moment you identify a potential churn, the account management team should intervene. Whether it's an additional training session, a product walkthrough, or troubleshooting technical issues, proactive engagement can often prevent a churn.

Why Sales and Marketing Teams Should Care About OQLs

Open source is not a business strategy, nor is it a go-to-market strategy.  It is a community and distribution strategy.  You can integrate the community and the distribution into your go-to-market strategy for your commercial open source business, but that requires you to treat the “open source pipeline” like you treat the “sales pipeline”.  This means that you should be tracking adoption and growth of the user base and which of these users end up becoming customers.  You want a full view of the lifecycle and that means tracking something like an OQL.  OQL’s are important for:

Enriching Sales Pipeline

OQLs are an enriched source of leads. They have a proven level of engagement and therefore a higher likelihood of converting into a paying customer.

Risk Assessment

Tracking a company’s OQL status over time can help in assessing potential risks, enabling the business to take proactive measures.

Resource Allocation

Knowing which leads are more likely to convert allows for better allocation of sales and marketing resources.

Track OQLs (Open Source Qualified Leads) by treating the "open source pipeline" like the "sales pipeline" in your commercial open source business strategy.

Conclusion: Putting It All Together

Open source sales require a multi-faceted approach that differs significantly from that of traditional software sales. By incorporating the strategies outlined in this guide, sales and marketing teams can better navigate the unique challenges posed by open source sales. The ultimate goal is to build a strong, active community around your product, identify and engage with Open Source Qualified Leads, and turn them into paying customers, all while maintaining a transparent and ethical stance on data and privacy. And remember, the community is not just a user base; it's a potential customer base.

By focusing on these strategies and continuously adapting to market and user behavior trends, you can build a sustainable, profitable business around your open source software. Happy selling!

I hope this guide serves as a valuable resource for sales and marketing teams navigating the intricacies of selling open-source software. If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you for reading!

This is some text inside of a div block.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

General
Analytics for open source
Try for Free
Try for Free

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5
Heading 6

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Block quote

Ordered list

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3

Unordered list

  • Item A
  • Item B
  • Item C

Text link

Bold text

Emphasis

Superscript

Subscript

Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams

Published

September 14, 2023

This article was originally posted on

Hackernoon

Introduction

Monetizing open source software is a challenging task, but it can also be highly rewarding. Unlike traditional software, you're essentially competing against a free version of your product. So, how do you sell something that is inherently free? This guide will delve into the complexities of selling open source software and provide actionable strategies tailored for sales and marketing teams. We'll explore the nuances of open source business models, uncover ways to turn anonymous users into qualified leads, and dissect growth strategies that work.

Before Talking About Sales/Marketing, A Word on Product

Unique Value Proposition

One of the most significant mistakes open source companies make is believing that users will naturally graduate from the free product to the paid version. It doesn't work that way. You must first identify what unique value you offer via your paid offerings. If you can't articulate why a user should pay for your software, you have a problem. Therefore, it's crucial to answer questions like:

  • Why would a free user upgrade to your paid version?
  • What unique features does your paid version offer that the free one doesn’t?
  • Who exactly is your target audience for the paid version?

Getting clarity on these will not only improve your product but also sharpen your sales and marketing strategies.

Understanding the Adoption Lifecycle and the Sales Motion

Identifying Customer Categories

You're going to encounter three types of potential customers:

  1. Those already using your open-source product.
  2. Those using a competitive product.
  3. Those who you know little to nothing about, who you suspect may have an interest or a need your software can help with.
Understanding your target audience is crucial in determining your sales approach. It's essential to differentiate between three groups: existing users of your open-source product, users of competing products, and those unfamiliar with your offering.

The Low-Hanging Fruit: Current Users

Selling to existing users is often easier than acquiring new ones. These are your open source qualified leads (OQLs). An OQL is a user who has performed certain predictive activities, like downloading software packages over a sustained period, which indicates a potential for a commercial relationship. Focus on identifying as many OQLs as possible using techniques such as anonymous download tracking to populate your sales funnel.

Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs)

The best pool to fish in for commercial outcomes are existing users of your open-source software. These are what we call Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs). An OQL is a user or a company who has engaged with your open-source product to a level that suggests they might be ripe for upselling.

What Makes an OQL?

For example, an ideal OQL might download the software multiple times over several days, engage actively in community forums, and visit documentation pages. Consistent activity over a sustained period can indicate a high likelihood of conversion.

The Tough Nuts: Competing Users

Selling against a competing open-source technology requires a different playbook. This involves demonstrating a technically superior product. You need to arm yourself with a competitive analysis and be prepared to answer why your software is better. Here, DevRel activities and internal advocates can be your secret weapons.

Selling to Users of Competing Open Source Solutions

Winning over users from other solutions—open-source or not—requires a deep understanding of what your software does better and why it matters to your target customer. Developing a comprehensive battle card can help your sales team understand and articulate these advantages effectively. This is a much longer sales cycle than selling to existing users of your open source software.  Consider this:  A user using another open source software and paying an external vendor will have engineering expertise and resources already in place for that software.  What is the cost to replace that?  Additionally, if they are paying for support and an enterprise version, they will have a contract which could be for multiple years depending on the software and the organization's willingness to purchase multiyear deals for discounts.  How likely is it that this company would switch tech stacks and give up the remainder of their support contract for a migration to your solution?  In my experience, you may lead the seeds for a migration months or even years before a renewal window, but most enterprises would prefer to wait until current support contracts expire.  

There are several catalysts which may improve the likelihood of a productive sales discussion and a company being more receptive to switching technologies:

  1. Employee turnover.  Open source developers, especially working in smaller or medium sized companies tend to be given a lot of leeway into choosing their tech stacks.  When employees or management changes at one of these organizations often new people will bring in new ideas and preferences. Looking at LinkedIn for recent turnover and seeing where people came from can help enlighten potential willingness to move. 
  2. Organic traffic to your project or community.  Even if someone is an entrenched user of a competitive open source solution, seeing ongoing or sustain traffic to docs or website pages can show increasing interest.
  3. Content:  A lot of engineers write blogs or give conference talks about the technology they work on.  You can learn alot from these on their needs, their issues, and often their frustrations with current technology.  
  4. Public issues:  If a company has a visible outage or issue with technology, you will often see them publicly publish a post mortem mentioning certain issues with technology they use.  This can provide interesting insight into where their current technology maybe failing them.
Competing Against Cloud Providers

There has been a rising number of examples of companies moving away from open source licenses to source available licenses that specifically limit cloud providers or limit competition.  This may make you take pause as you evaluate your offerings and licenses.  Let me give some general advise and perspective.  When you're selling open source software, your competitors aren't just other software companies; you're also up against cloud providers offering similar services. Why should a potential customer choose your offering over an established cloud service? The answer lies in your unique value proposition, not in your license.  

One of the unique challenges open-source companies face is competing with cloud providers who offer managed versions of their own open-source software. These cloud giants have the advantage of scale, a vast user base, and deep pockets for marketing and customer acquisition. This can be particularly daunting for smaller open-source enterprises that can't compete on those levels. The cloud providers can essentially 'commoditize' your product, offering it as a part of their broader service suite, thereby making it difficult for you to monetize the very software you developed.

To effectively compete, open-source companies have to offer something that these cloud providers can't. This could be specialized expertise, superior customer service, or unique add-on features not available in the cloud provider's version. The aim is to move from providing just 'software' to delivering a full-fledged 'solution,' complete with services and support, that can tackle specific business problems better than a cloud provider's one-size-fits-all offering. In this way, you aren't just selling software; you're selling a comprehensive package that offers greater value, thus giving customers a compelling reason to choose you over a big cloud provider. This is often called the "open core" model, where the core product is open source, but specialized modules and services are proprietary and come at a cost.

Navigating the competitive landscape with cloud providers is not easy, but by understanding your unique value proposition and clearly articulating why and how you offer a better solution, you can not only survive but thrive. It's about shifting the conversation from price to value and establishing a strong brand identity that stands apart from the commoditized offerings of large cloud providers.

The Enigma: The Unknowns

These are the toughest to deal with, but also where your anonymous website demasking technology and other data analytics techniques come into play. The more you can move these unknown users to known OQLs, the better.

Strategies for Identification (Turning unknown to Known)

Discovering who these users are can be a challenge. This is where tactics like anonymous download tracking, website de-anonymizing technology, and gated content come into play. The objective is to move users from the 'unknown' category to the 'known' one, making them easier to target for sales and marketing efforts.

Dealing with the third category of users, the unknown ones, poses the greatest challenge and demands the implementation of anonymous website demasking technology and various data analytics strategies.

The Long Term Relationship Play

One of the unique characteristics of the open-source landscape is the significant influence individual developers wield in driving technology adoption within larger organizations. Unlike traditional sales models, where decisions are top-down and often made by C-suite executives, the open-source world frequently sees grassroots, bottom-up adoption. Developers, drawn to the technical merits and community support of an open-source project, will often integrate it into their workflows. Over time, this adoption can scale up to departmental and, eventually organizational levels. As the organization grows more dependent on the technology, there's a heightened likelihood that they will invest in a supported, often premium, version of the software to meet scalability, security, and compliance needs.

This bottom-up model of technology adoption makes building relationships crucial, and it's why Developer Relations (DevRel) has gained prominence in recent years. DevRel goes beyond mere marketing or sales, focusing on building a genuine, technical relationship with the developers who are the new decision-makers in the technology stack. By providing resources, support, and a feedback loop for these key influencers, companies can ensure not only that their technology is being adopted but that it is being advocated for within the organization. This peer-to-peer advocacy is often more persuasive than any marketing campaign could be, as it comes from a trusted source who understands the organization's specific challenges and needs. The focus is less on immediate sales conversion and more on long-term relationship building, which, in the open-source ecosystem, can be a game-changer in securing large, lucrative contracts with organizations.

Adding this relationship-driven focus to your open-source sales strategy can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. It humanizes your product and company, fosters a community of engaged users who can turn into advocates, and most importantly, it builds trust. In an arena where technical merit is table stakes, trust and relationships become the differentiating factors that turn users into paying customers.

The Role of Community in Open Source Sales

Community Engagement: A Double-Edged Sword

Open source projects inherently involve a community of users who contribute to and benefit from the software. While this is fantastic for user adoption and word-of-mouth promotion, it can also be a challenge for sales and marketing teams. The reason is simple: community members often demand why they should pay for something they've been using for free.

However, it's essential to view community engagement not as a challenge but as an opportunity. When users are engaged, they are not just users but also potential customers.

Measuring Community Health

Community health metrics are indicators of how engaged and active your community is. They are a subset of OQL metrics but focused on community channels like forums, social media, and other public venues. An active community can act as an unpaid sales force, advocating for your product and significantly impacting your sales.

Strategies for Enhancing Community Health
  1. Regular Updates: Keep your community informed about what's happening, both in terms of software updates and company news.
  2. Contributor Recognition: Recognize and reward users who make significant contributions.
  3. Community Managers: Hire or designate community managers to moderate and stimulate discussions.

External Evangelists: The Powerhouses of Organic Growth

External evangelists can be invaluable assets. Unlike paid promotions, recommendations from external evangelists are seen as unbiased and genuine, thereby carrying more weight. Cultivating relationships with these influencers can dramatically improve your sales numbers without a corresponding increase in your marketing spend.

Privacy Concerns and Sales Strategies

With increasing scrutiny on data privacy and new regulations coming into force globally, open source companies must tread carefully when it comes to gathering user data.

Navigating the Privacy Maze

While privacy laws limit what you can do, they don't completely block your path. Strategies for navigating these challenges include:

  1. Clear Communication: Always be clear about what data you're collecting and why.
  2. User Consent: Where possible, gain user consent for data collection.
  3. Data Minimization: Collect only what is absolutely necessary.

Lead Scoring: Turning Data into Gold

Lead scoring can help you identify promising leads from the sea of users. This involves assigning values to potential leads based on their activities and engagement level. While this method isn't foolproof, it significantly improves the efficiency of your sales pipeline.

Risk Mitigation Strategies

Churn Prediction

Using OQL and other behavioral data, you can predict which companies are at risk of churning. For instance, if a user has reached an OQL3 level and maintained it for an extended period but has recently shown reduced engagement, it's a red flag.

Addressing Potential Issues

The moment you identify a potential churn, the account management team should intervene. Whether it's an additional training session, a product walkthrough, or troubleshooting technical issues, proactive engagement can often prevent a churn.

Why Sales and Marketing Teams Should Care About OQLs

Open source is not a business strategy, nor is it a go-to-market strategy.  It is a community and distribution strategy.  You can integrate the community and the distribution into your go-to-market strategy for your commercial open source business, but that requires you to treat the “open source pipeline” like you treat the “sales pipeline”.  This means that you should be tracking adoption and growth of the user base and which of these users end up becoming customers.  You want a full view of the lifecycle and that means tracking something like an OQL.  OQL’s are important for:

Enriching Sales Pipeline

OQLs are an enriched source of leads. They have a proven level of engagement and therefore a higher likelihood of converting into a paying customer.

Risk Assessment

Tracking a company’s OQL status over time can help in assessing potential risks, enabling the business to take proactive measures.

Resource Allocation

Knowing which leads are more likely to convert allows for better allocation of sales and marketing resources.

Track OQLs (Open Source Qualified Leads) by treating the "open source pipeline" like the "sales pipeline" in your commercial open source business strategy.

Conclusion: Putting It All Together

Open source sales require a multi-faceted approach that differs significantly from that of traditional software sales. By incorporating the strategies outlined in this guide, sales and marketing teams can better navigate the unique challenges posed by open source sales. The ultimate goal is to build a strong, active community around your product, identify and engage with Open Source Qualified Leads, and turn them into paying customers, all while maintaining a transparent and ethical stance on data and privacy. And remember, the community is not just a user base; it's a potential customer base.

By focusing on these strategies and continuously adapting to market and user behavior trends, you can build a sustainable, profitable business around your open source software. Happy selling!

I hope this guide serves as a valuable resource for sales and marketing teams navigating the intricacies of selling open-source software. If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you for reading!

Latest blog posts

Tools and strategies modern teams need to help their companies grow.

Join Us at the Scarf Summit on December 10th

Join Us at the Scarf Summit on December 10th

The Scarf Summit is back, and we’re inviting you to join us for an event that’s all about turning open source usage data into actionable insights.
The Open Source Business Metrics Guide 2024

The Open Source Business Metrics Guide 2024

Today, the most commonly accepted metrics for open source adoption and growth are heavily focused on the contributors and community (the idea is healthy contributions should equate to healthy adoption). While these are useful metrics, they are only part of the picture. This guide is built for those at open-source-based companies who are responsible for growth and adoption. 
Bringing Open Source Usage Data Directly to Your CRM: Scarf's New Salesforce Integration

Bringing Open Source Usage Data Directly to Your CRM: Scarf's New Salesforce Integration

We’ve got some exciting news: Scarf just launched a powerful, native integration with Salesforce, bringing Scarf’s rich open source usage data directly into your CRM. No more bouncing between tools or setting up S3 data exports—you can now get all the insights you need where you already do your work.
ARMO leverages Scarf to find high intent signals: Download + Pricing page = INTENT

ARMO leverages Scarf to find high intent signals: Download + Pricing page = INTENT

Scarf, a platform designed to provide open-source projects with deeper insights into their users and usage patterns, was the answer ARMO needed. By integrating Scarf into Kubescape, ARMO was able to regain visibility into which company has been using Kubescape, filling the gap left after their CNCF contribution.
Introducing Match Feedback: Take Control of Your Data

Introducing Match Feedback: Take Control of Your Data

The foundation of Scarf company tracking is IP Address attribution. Our Company Tracking algorithm considers confidence and reputation scores from multiple sources to provide what we believe to be the best matching data in the industry. In a nutshell, Match Feedback allows you to fix and fine-tune your company matches.
Scarf Completes SOC 2 Type 2 Examination: What It Means for Our Community

Scarf Completes SOC 2 Type 2 Examination: What It Means for Our Community

We're thrilled to announce that Scarf has successfully completed the SOC 2 Type 2 examination! This might sound like legal jargon at first glance, but let’s break down what this means for us, our users, and the open-source community as a whole.
Integrating Scarf Data with Your Analytics Tools

Integrating Scarf Data with Your Analytics Tools

Exporting data tracked by Scarf is essential for analytics, reporting, and integration with other tools. Scarf adds open-source usage metrics to the data you already collect, giving you a fuller picture of how your project is used. This helps you monitor trends, measure impact, and make better data-driven decisions.
3 Methods to Collect Data with Scarf

3 Methods to Collect Data with Scarf

Scarf helps you unlock the full potential of your open source project by collecting valuable usage data in three key ways: Scarf Packages, in-app telemetry, and tracking pixels. In this post, we’ll break down each of these powerful tools and show you how to use them to optimize your open source strategy.
Scarf Newsletter - August 2024

Scarf Newsletter - August 2024

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. August 2024 Newsletter.
How Apache Superset Implemented Scarf

How Apache Superset Implemented Scarf

In this playbook, you’ll learn how to integrate Scarf into an Apache Software Foundation project. It details how the Preset team implemented Scarf in their Apache Superset project, as shared during our first-ever Scarf Summit on July 16th, 2024.
Implement a Call-Home Functionality or Telemetry in your Open Source Project

Implement a Call-Home Functionality or Telemetry in your Open Source Project

Implementing telemetry in your open source project helps you determine whether people are testing your software and continuing its use over time. Such insights not only confirm if the developed software meets users' needs but also helps identify which versions are being adopted and which might be vulnerable to the latest bugs or other issues.
Prisma: Validating Enterprise Adoption Through Open Source Engagement

Prisma: Validating Enterprise Adoption Through Open Source Engagement

Prisma turned to Scarf for a monthly Strategic Insights Report. By integrating Scarf into various parts of their web and software delivery infrastructure, Prisma now knows relevant details about their users in terms of company size, industry, location and much more.
Measure and Optimize Open Source User Interactions Using Scarf

Measure and Optimize Open Source User Interactions Using Scarf

This playbook will walk you through setting up Scarf to get a clearer picture of how people are interacting with your open-source project. You’ll learn how to create and use Scarf Pixels, track open source project documentation views, measure engagement across social media, and more.
CopilotKit Case Study: Leveraging Scarf to Uncover Hidden Open-Source Opportunities

CopilotKit Case Study: Leveraging Scarf to Uncover Hidden Open-Source Opportunities

CopilotKit implemented Scarf to gain visibility into their open-source community. By adding Scarf to their documentation, they could see which companies were actively engaging with their resources, providing valuable insights into potential leads and customer segments.
Measure Your Open Source Project's Downloads Using Scarf

Measure Your Open Source Project's Downloads Using Scarf

Tracking downloads of your open-source projects is key to understanding user engagement. With Scarf, you can see which businesses are using your project, which versions are popular, which platforms are being targeted, and more. This playbook will show you how to set up Scarf to monitor your project’s downloads.
What's New at Scarf: Key Takeaways from the Scarf Summit

What's New at Scarf: Key Takeaways from the Scarf Summit

On July 16th, we hosted our first-ever Scarf Summit, celebrating analytics for open source and the significant improvements we’ve made to the Scarf platform. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of all the key updates shared by our Engineering Leader, Aaron Porter.
Building Scarf: Avi Press on Haskell, Telemetry, and Open Source Challenges

Building Scarf: Avi Press on Haskell, Telemetry, and Open Source Challenges

In this episode of the Haskell Interlude Podcast, Joachim Breitner and Andreas Löh sit down with Avi Press, the founder of Scarf, to discuss his journey with Haskell, the telemetry landscape in open source software, and the technical as well as operational challenges of building a startup with Haskell at its core.
Boost Your Outreach with Scarf Filtering

Boost Your Outreach with Scarf Filtering

Scarf Basic and Premium tiers have long had the ability to sort their open source usage data by company, domain, events, last seen, and funnel stage. But our customers have been wanting more. Now you can hyper target by combining region, tech stack, and funnel stage, making outreach as refined and low friction as possible. 
Below the Surface: Why Open Source Needs Analytics

Below the Surface: Why Open Source Needs Analytics

Understanding open source user engagements and usage is obscured by a lack of actionable data, a result of its inherent openness and anonymity. Embracing a data-driven approach to open source projects helps them not only grow, but also understand the keys to their success, benefiting everyone involved.
How Garden Leverages Scarf to Understand and Grow Their User Base

How Garden Leverages Scarf to Understand and Grow Their User Base

As an open source company, Garden knew how hard it was going to be to get usage data. Adding Scarf for analytics on open source downloads turned anonymous numbers into company names. Using Scarf’s privacy-first analytics also helped Garden to know what kind of companies were using their OSS and where they were located.
OSS Privacy & OSS Analytics, How Heroic Labs Struck a Balance

OSS Privacy & OSS Analytics, How Heroic Labs Struck a Balance

Once Heroic started using Scarf, they learned that they were even more popular than they thought they were. Using Scarf, they were able to determine where, by country, their users were downloading from, and how many per day.
Unlimited Free Seats and Data Retention for All Linux Foundation Projects

Unlimited Free Seats and Data Retention for All Linux Foundation Projects

Any LF project maintainer can use Scarf without needing any further approval from the foundation. Scarf is offering all LF projects free accounts with a few additional features over our base free version. LF projects will get usage data like docs, downloads, and page views with unlimited free seat licenses and data retention.
Union.ai and Flyte: Privacy, Open Source, and Building a Commercial Business

Union.ai and Flyte: Privacy, Open Source, and Building a Commercial Business

Union is an open source first company. It uses Scarf to drive their DevRel strategy and improve their open source project. It also uses Scarf to power its consultative sales approach to help customers where it makes sense. Union has been successfully leveraging Scarf funnel analysis to shape the product to better fit the market so that they can focus on ensuring that companies can get value from Flyte sooner.
Navigating the Complexities of Open Source Commercialization: Insights from Adam Jacob

Navigating the Complexities of Open Source Commercialization: Insights from Adam Jacob

In this latest episode of "Hacking Open Source Business," Avi Press and Matt Yonkovit sit down with Adam Jacob, the co-founder of Chef and current CEO of System Initiative. With a rich history in the open-source world and numerous thought-provoking opinions, Adam delves into the intricacies of open-source commercialization, offering valuable insights and alternative strategies to the commonly held Open Core model.
Scarf Newsletter - May 2024

Scarf Newsletter - May 2024

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. May 2024 Newsletter.
Smallstep Labs: Leveraging Open Source Data for Enterprise Growth

Smallstep Labs: Leveraging Open Source Data for Enterprise Growth

Smallstep wanted to understand the impact of their open-source project on enterprise adoption of their commercial security solutions. Smallstep uses Scarf to better understand user interactions and software usage, providing insights into its user base and potential customer segments as an important signal for commercial use.
Diagrid and Dapr: How to Balance Open Source and Business Through Data

Diagrid and Dapr: How to Balance Open Source and Business Through Data

Diagrid was founded in 2022 by the creators of the popular Dapr open source project. Making data-driven decisions for a commercial company built on an open source project that had no real concrete data, was a real challenge. Diagrid translated Scarf data into valuable insights for marketing and product development of their commercial product.
12 Reasons Why Haskell is a Terrible Choice for Startups (and why we picked it anyway)

12 Reasons Why Haskell is a Terrible Choice for Startups (and why we picked it anyway)

When we approached the project of building Scarf, we turned to our favorite language: Haskell. Little did we know, this decision would shape our story in more ways than one.
Unstructured: Understanding an Open Source Project’s Impact on Commercial Success

Unstructured: Understanding an Open Source Project’s Impact on Commercial Success

Unstructured had so much usage of their open source, but so little data. Prior to Scarf, they mostly had GitHub information for things like downloads and stars. It was difficult to separate the good signal from the noise without any specific information that would help them to better target this large and growing open source user base or data to influence their product roadmap. 
New Integration: Scarf + Common Room = Supercharged Insights for Open Source Projects

New Integration: Scarf + Common Room = Supercharged Insights for Open Source Projects

It’s happening! Scarf is part of the Common Room Signal Partners program. Soon, you will be able to integrate your Scarf data into your Common Room platform for a more complete view of all of your user signals.
Scarf Newsletter - March 2024

Scarf Newsletter - March 2024

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. March 2024 Newsletter.
State of Open Source Usage: The Scarf Report 2023

State of Open Source Usage: The Scarf Report 2023

In 2023, the open source software (OSS) landscape showed significant growth and shifts in various aspects. Here are the key findings:
Scarf Successfully Completes Type 1 SOC 2 Examination with an Unqualified Opinion

Scarf Successfully Completes Type 1 SOC 2 Examination with an Unqualified Opinion

We are thrilled to announce that we have successfully completed a Type 1 System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) examination for our Scarf Platform service as of January 31, 2024.
Analytics are Starting to Win in Open Source

Analytics are Starting to Win in Open Source

When Scarf emerged back in 2019, many people expressed skepticism that usage analytics would ever be tolerated in the open source world. 5 years later, Scarf has shown this once solidified cultural norm can indeed change. Learn how Scarf's journey mirrors a broader shift in open source culture and why embracing usage analytics could shape the future of open software development.
Scarf Newsletter - February 2024

Scarf Newsletter - February 2024

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. February 2024 Newsletter.
Scarf Case Study: Apache Superset

Scarf Case Study: Apache Superset

Apache Superset is an open-source modern data exploration and visualization platform that makes it easy for users of all skill sets to explore and visualize their data. We spoke with Maxime Beauchemin, founder & CEO of Preset, and the original creator of both Apache Superset and Apache Airflow, who shared with us Superset's experience using Scarf.
Haskell.org: Bridging the Gap Between Language Innovation and Community Understanding

Haskell.org: Bridging the Gap Between Language Innovation and Community Understanding

Haskell, a cutting-edge programming language rooted in pure functionality, boasts static typing, type inference, and lazy evaluation. The language's ongoing evolution is bolstered by a diverse array of organizations, including the Haskell.org committee. This committee strategically leveraged the Scarf solution for testing purposes.
Scarf Newsletter - December 2023

Scarf Newsletter - December 2023

We’re pleased to share a final recap of the latest Scarf updates for December and 2023 as a whole. Join us in this last edition of our 2023 newsletters.
Introducing OQLs: A New Way for Businesses to Quantify Open Source Adoption

Introducing OQLs: A New Way for Businesses to Quantify Open Source Adoption

In the open source ecosystem, user behaviors are diverse and conversion tracking poses unique challenges frequently leaving traditional marketing strategies insufficient. Recognizing this gap, we are excited to introduce a brand new way for businesses to make sense of this opaque and noisy signal – Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs).
Scarf Newsletter - November 2023

Scarf Newsletter - November 2023

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. November 2023 Newsletter.
The BSL Phenomenon: Balancing Sustainability and Open Source Principles

The BSL Phenomenon: Balancing Sustainability and Open Source Principles

In recent years, a notable development in the open source landscape is the growing number of large corporations considering the transition from open source licenses to more restrictive models like the Business Source License (BSL). This trend raises further questions about the sustainability and future of open source projects, particularly when large players alter their approach.
State of Open Source Usage Q3 2023: The Scarf Report

State of Open Source Usage Q3 2023: The Scarf Report

In Q3 2023, the open source software (OSS) landscape showed significant growth and shifts in various aspects. Here are the key findings:
Unlocking the Power of Custom URL Parameters with Scarf: A Comprehensive Guide

Unlocking the Power of Custom URL Parameters with Scarf: A Comprehensive Guide

A recent release of Scarf added the ability to track and report on custom URL parameters. If you are looking to gain more intelligence around how you open source users interact with your project and download your software using link parameters in key situations can reveal interesting and helpful trends that can help you grow your user base and unlock open source qualified leads.
Building Trust: How to Collect Data Responsibly as an Open Source Project

Building Trust: How to Collect Data Responsibly as an Open Source Project

In the ever-evolving landscape of open source software, data collection has become a hot-button issue. As the open source community grows and software becomes increasingly integral to our daily lives, concerns about data collection ethics have emerged.
Scarf Newsletter - September 2023

Scarf Newsletter - September 2023

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. September 2023 Newsletter.
 Measuring the Commercial ROI of DEVREL

Measuring the Commercial ROI of DEVREL

In today's fast-paced tech world, the Developer Relations (DevRel) role has moved from the periphery to the center stage. Companies, irrespective of their size, are now seriously considering the worth of having a dedicated DevRel team. But, how do you quantify the success or failure of such an effort? What metrics should companies use? This post dives deep into understanding the commercial Return on Investment (ROI) of DevRel.
Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams

Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams

Monetizing open source software is a challenging task, but it can also be highly rewarding. Unlike traditional software, you're essentially competing against a free version of your product. So, how do you sell something that is inherently free?
Beyond the Surface: How to Engage with the Quiet Members of your Open Source Community

Beyond the Surface: How to Engage with the Quiet Members of your Open Source Community

In the dynamic realm of community management, marketing, and developer relations, success depends upon more than just attracting attention. It's about fostering meaningful relationships, nurturing engagement, and amplifying your community's impact. 
Mastering Telemetry in Open Source: A Simple Guide to Building Lightweight Call Home Functionality

Mastering Telemetry in Open Source: A Simple Guide to Building Lightweight Call Home Functionality

This guidebook shows you how to implement a call-home functionality or telemetry within your open-source software while at the same time being transparent and respectful of your users data. Let's explore how to build a minimal, privacy-focused call home functionality using a simple version check and Scarf.
Scarf Newsletter - July 2023

Scarf Newsletter - July 2023

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. July 2023 Newsletter.
Open Source Metrics: Fear and Loathing (Part 2)

Open Source Metrics: Fear and Loathing (Part 2)

Many open source contributors are reluctant or skeptical about metrics. They think metrics are overrated, irrelevant, or even harmful to their projects and communities. But in this blog post, we argue that metrics are essential for making better decisions, improving the experience for users and contributors, and demonstrating the impact and value of your open source work. We also share some tips and examples from OSPOs and DevRel teams on how to choose and use metrics effectively.
Why GitHub Repos Are Not Enough for Your Docs: The Benefits of Creating a Dedicated Doc Site

Why GitHub Repos Are Not Enough for Your Docs: The Benefits of Creating a Dedicated Doc Site

Many open-source developers rely on GitHub as their primary documentation source. But this can be a costly mistake that can affect your project’s success and adoption. In this blog, we’ll explain why you need to build your own docs site and how to do it easily and effectively.
Data-Driven Open Source: Why You Should Care About Metrics (Part 1)

Data-Driven Open Source: Why You Should Care About Metrics (Part 1)

Open source projects and companies need data to grow and enhance their performance. However, many open source leaders and communities overlook or reject metrics and depend on intuition, relationships, or imitation. Data can help you spot problems, opportunities, and false positives in growth strategies. In this blog post, Matt Yonkovit shows you why data is important for open source success and how it can offer insights and guidance for open source projects to reach their goals and make better decisions.
State of Open Source Usage Q2 2023: The Scarf Report

State of Open Source Usage Q2 2023: The Scarf Report

Open source software continues to be a vital part of enterprise operations in Q2 2023, as more and more companies adopt open source solutions for their business needs. In this blog post, we will examine the state of open source usage in Q2 2023 and the trends that are shaping the future of open source.
Developer Relations (DevRel): Where Should It Reside in Your Organization

Developer Relations (DevRel): Where Should It Reside in Your Organization

DevRel is a vital function for any organization that wants to engage with the developer community and grow its user base. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for where to place DevRel within the organizational structure. In this blog post, we explore three common strategies for DevRel placement: marketing, product, and hybrid. We discuss the advantages and challenges of each strategy, and provide some tips on how to decide which one is best for your organization and goals.
The Gating Debate: Striking a Balance Between Open Source and Marketing Insights

The Gating Debate: Striking a Balance Between Open Source and Marketing Insights

In the open source industry, identifying and engaging users is a major challenge. Many users download software from third-party platforms that do not share user data with the software company. Gating content behind a login or an email form can help, but it can also alienate potential users who value their privacy and convenience. In this blog post, we explore the pros and cons of gating content in the open source industry, and we offer an alternative solution that can help you identify and connect with your users without compromising your content.
How to Use Metrics to Track and Evaluate Your Open Source Community’s Success

How to Use Metrics to Track and Evaluate Your Open Source Community’s Success

Open source software depends on the power of its community. But how do you know if your community is healthy and thriving? In this blog, you will learn how to use metrics to track and evaluate your community’s activity, engagement, growth, diversity, quality, and impact. You will hear from founders, DevRel experts, and investors who share their best practices and tips on how to measure and improve your community’s performance and value.
How to: Using anonymous downloads, website traffic, and documentation views to generate leads

How to: Using anonymous downloads, website traffic, and documentation views to generate leads

Learn how to overcome the challenges of open source software marketing and turn anonymous data into qualified leads. In this blog post, we’ll show you how to use download data, web traffic, and documentation views to identify potential customers and grow your sales pipeline. Discover how to track downloads, website traffic and documentation views with Scarf Gateway and the Scarf Tracking Pixel.
Why Your Open Source Startup Is Going To Fail (And What You Can Do About It)

Why Your Open Source Startup Is Going To Fail (And What You Can Do About It)

This blog post outlines ten common mistakes made by founders of open source startups, from failing to ask the right questions to neglecting the standardization of key metrics. By offering guidance on how to avoid these pitfalls, it provides a roadmap to successfully commercializing open source projects.
Open Source Monetization 101: A Step-by-Step Guide

Open Source Monetization 101: A Step-by-Step Guide

Many people believe that making money from open source projects is an arduous or even impossible task. However, with the right strategies it is possible to build a sustainable business while keeping the spirit of open source intact. By evaluating the market fit and commercial viability of an open source project before considering funding and monetization, one can realistically begin to explore the financial potential of an open source project. Here's how to do it.
The Open Source Sales & Marketing Funnel: Navigating the Challenges of Anonymous Downloads and Activity Tracking

The Open Source Sales & Marketing Funnel: Navigating the Challenges of Anonymous Downloads and Activity Tracking

This blog emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive approach to lead generation in the open source software space. Amid the challenges of anonymous usage and privacy regulations, strategies focusing on download activity, community engagement, and web traffic can maximize lead identification. Employing lead scoring and maintaining a list of active software users can further enhance sales outcomes in this unique market.
Scarf Newsletter - May 2023

Scarf Newsletter - May 2023

Stay up to date with the latest updates from Scarf. Discover upcoming features, industry news, partnerships, and events. May 2023 Newsletter.
Harnessing Software Download Patterns: Using Open Source Download Metrics to Uncover New Users and Potential Customers

Harnessing Software Download Patterns: Using Open Source Download Metrics to Uncover New Users and Potential Customers

Here at Scarf, we've developed a solution to help open source projects and businesses gain more insight into their users and their download traffic - Scarf Gateway. Here's how it works.
Unlocking Growth Potential: Scarf Users Benefit from Clearbit Integration for Improved User Intelligence

Unlocking Growth Potential: Scarf Users Benefit from Clearbit Integration for Improved User Intelligence

We are thrilled to announce our latest partnership with Clearbit (https://clearbit.com/). This collaboration will offer Scarf users and customers an enriched array of data about their user base, significantly enhancing the quality of information you already value from Scarf.
State of Open Source Usage Q1 2023: The Scarf Report

State of Open Source Usage Q1 2023: The Scarf Report

The popularity of open source software is not in doubt, but little concrete public data exists beyond human-generated surveys on adoption usage. In this blog post, we will explore the state of open source usage in Q1 2023 and the data illustrating how open source is becoming an increasingly important part of enterprise operations.
Connecting Community Efforts in Open Source to Business Success

Connecting Community Efforts in Open Source to Business Success

The success of DevRel (Developer Relations) and community efforts in open source can be challenging to measure, as there is often a disconnect between the goals and expectations of the community and the business. This blog post discusses the challenges of measuring the success of DevRel and community efforts in open source.
3 Keys to Growing the Adoption of an Open Source Project

3 Keys to Growing the Adoption of an Open Source Project

Successful open source projects don't always translate into successful open source businesses. However, by focusing on building a kick-ass product, raising awareness, making the product easier to use, and fostering a strong open source community, you can set the stage for converting users into paying customers.
The Most Neglected and Overlooked Open Source Metric: Production Users

The Most Neglected and Overlooked Open Source Metric: Production Users

Everyone wants a larger open source user base, but very few people effectively measure its growth. Let’s discuss why.
Switching Container Registries With Zero Downtime

Switching Container Registries With Zero Downtime

You can use the open source Scarf Gateway to switch hosting providers, container registries, or repositories without impacting end users in the future.
Understanding Tech Layoffs and the Economy’s Impact on Open Source

Understanding Tech Layoffs and the Economy’s Impact on Open Source

What is driving all this tech layoffs? , What is their impact on the open source software industry? We will walk through all the potential reasons from an economic downturn, herd mentality, excessive borrowing and spending due to low interest rates, and growth at all costs as the main reasons behind the layoffs. Companies can continue to grow in this tight economic market if they are focused on optimizing efficiency and sustaining the right growth.
Why Downloads are an Essential Metric for Open Source Software Projects

Why Downloads are an Essential Metric for Open Source Software Projects

If you're only going to track one thing for your OSS project, track your downloads.
The Open Source Business Metrics Guide

The Open Source Business Metrics Guide

How to Build, Grow, and Measure the Success of an Open Source Business
Messaging and Positioning Considerations for Introducing an Open Source Product

Messaging and Positioning Considerations for Introducing an Open Source Product

At the All Things Open conference, Emily Omier, a seasoned positioning consultant, sat down with Avi Press (Founder and CEO, Scarf) and Matt Yonkovit (The HOSS, Scarf) to discuss how to message, position, and validate your open source product on The Hacking Open Source Business Podcast. You can watch the full episode below or continue reading for a recap.
How to Get the Attention of an Open Source Software Investor

How to Get the Attention of an Open Source Software Investor

On the Hacking Open Source Business podcast, Joseph Jacks aka JJ (Founder, OSS Capital) joins Avi Press (Founder and CEO, Scarf) and Matt Yonkovit (The HOSS, Scarf) to share what you need to know before starting a commercial open source software (COSS) company and how you can set yourself and your project apart in a way that attracts investor funding. As an investor who exclusively focuses on open source startups, JJ provides a VC perspective on what he looks for when evaluating investment opportunities.
Heroic Labs' Journey to Open Source and 5.3M Docker Downloads

Heroic Labs' Journey to Open Source and 5.3M Docker Downloads

On The Hacking Open Source Business podcast, CEO Chris Molozian and Head of Developer Relations Gabriel Pene at Heroic Labs elaborate on their usage and shift to open source and how it accelerated their adoption.
How to Keep Open Source Projects Open Source

How to Keep Open Source Projects Open Source

In this recap of the first episode of the Hacking Open Source Business Podcast, co-hosts Matt Yonkovit and Avi Press, Scarf Founder and CEO, dig into a recent controversy that highlights the challenges open source projects face trying to create sustainable revenue streams to support a business or a non-profit that funds the project’s growth.
How Buoyant Drives Open-Source-Led Growth with Linkerd

How Buoyant Drives Open-Source-Led Growth with Linkerd

Building a business around an open-source project is hard. Learn more about how Buoyant drives product-led growth with Linkerd.
Alex Biehl: Open Sourcing a Tool to Generate Haskell Server Stubs

Alex Biehl: Open Sourcing a Tool to Generate Haskell Server Stubs

Alex is a software engineer at Scarf who recently open sourced a tool to generate Haskell server stubs called Tie.
Tanner Linsley: Building Sustainable Open Source Projects

Tanner Linsley: Building Sustainable Open Source Projects

Tanner Linsley joined us to explain how he got started in open source and how he has made working in open source sustainable.
Stefano Maffulli: An Exploration on Standards for Open Source Packaging and Distribution

Stefano Maffulli: An Exploration on Standards for Open Source Packaging and Distribution

Scarf Sessions is a new stream where we have conversations with people shaping the landscape in open source and open source sustainability. This post will give a recap of the conversation Scarf CEO, Avi Press and I had with our guest Stefano Maffulli.
Using OSS Usage Data to Sell your Company

Using OSS Usage Data to Sell your Company

Learn how Nestybox used Scarf to gather better project insights and provide accurate data during their recent acquisition.
A Different Approach to Measuring Open Source Community Health

A Different Approach to Measuring Open Source Community Health

Community is important to the success of open source software. To understand and grow a community, project founders and maintainers need visibility into various technical, social, and even financial metrics. But what metrics should we be using?
Scarf Tech Stack: Relude

Scarf Tech Stack: Relude

This blog post will talk about Relude, a project we use in the majority of our Scarf tech stack
Python Wheels vs Eggs (And How Data-Driven Decisions Must Become The Norm in Open-Source)

Python Wheels vs Eggs (And How Data-Driven Decisions Must Become The Norm in Open-Source)

Should Python eggs be deprecated in favor of wheels? What does the data show? This post explores how the right data can make decisions like this easier for maintainers and Open Source organizations.
Changelog: Company Identification Change

Changelog: Company Identification Change

Announcing a new change to the way we identify companies.
Announcing Python Support

Announcing Python Support

Advanced registry analytics are now available for Python package maintainers
Project Spotlight: Scarf Gateway Stats

Project Spotlight: Scarf Gateway Stats

This Project Spotlight will focus on another exciting open source project, Scarf Gateway Stats.
Scarf Will Block Package Downloads from the Russian Government

Scarf Will Block Package Downloads from the Russian Government

In solidarity with Ukraine, Scarf Gateway will no longer service package downloads from Russian Government sources.
Changelog: New Pixel Snippet

Changelog: New Pixel Snippet

A notice to our Documentation Insights users.
Community Spotlight: nix-community

Community Spotlight: nix-community

This is the second post in a new series from Scarf: Spotlights where we highlight awesome projects and communities.
Changelog: Registry Validation for Auto-package Creation

Changelog: Registry Validation for Auto-package Creation

A summary of the new registry validation feature for auto-package creation.
Three Ways to Build Better Products Through Analytics

Three Ways to Build Better Products Through Analytics

A special guest post from open-source analytics company PostHog
New Year, New Scarf Features

New Year, New Scarf Features

Today, we're launching some of the most frequently asked for features since we launched Scarf Gateway back in March.
The Scarf Tech Stack

The Scarf Tech Stack

How Scarf is built
OSS Project Spotlight: IHP

OSS Project Spotlight: IHP

In a new blog post series, we'll highlight great OSS projects that are using Scarf. Today, we are featuring IHP, a modern batteries-included Haskell web framework
Measuring Downloads of Anything You Distribute

Measuring Downloads of Anything You Distribute

Scarf's core registry infrastructure has leveled up to support any kind of direct file download
Announcing Nomia and the Scarf Environment Manager

Announcing Nomia and the Scarf Environment Manager

Our mission here at Scarf centers around enhancing the connections between open source software maintainers and end users. Learn how Scarf + Nomia can reduce the complexity and increase the efficiency of the end-user open source integration experience.
Announcing The Scarf Gateway

Announcing The Scarf Gateway

Understand how your containers are downloaded and decouple your project from your registry
The Open Source Business Metrics Guide 2024
November 21, 2024

The Open Source Business Metrics Guide 2024

Today, the most commonly accepted metrics for open source adoption and growth are heavily focused on the contributors and community (the idea is healthy contributions should equate to healthy adoption). While these are useful metrics, they are only part of the picture. This guide is built for those at open-source-based companies who are responsible for growth and adoption. 
Sara Dornsife
Sara Dornsife
Bringing Open Source Usage Data Directly to Your CRM: Scarf's New Salesforce Integration
November 12, 2024

Bringing Open Source Usage Data Directly to Your CRM: Scarf's New Salesforce Integration

We’ve got some exciting news: Scarf just launched a powerful, native integration with Salesforce, bringing Scarf’s rich open source usage data directly into your CRM. No more bouncing between tools or setting up S3 data exports—you can now get all the insights you need where you already do your work.
Sara Dornsife
Sara Dornsife
ARMO leverages Scarf to find high intent signals: Download + Pricing page = INTENT
October 31, 2024

ARMO leverages Scarf to find high intent signals: Download + Pricing page = INTENT

Scarf, a platform designed to provide open-source projects with deeper insights into their users and usage patterns, was the answer ARMO needed. By integrating Scarf into Kubescape, ARMO was able to regain visibility into which company has been using Kubescape, filling the gap left after their CNCF contribution.
Sara Dornsife
Sara Dornsife

Selling Open Source: 101 - Guide for Sales and Marketing Teams

Introduction

Monetizing open source software is a challenging task, but it can also be highly rewarding. Unlike traditional software, you're essentially competing against a free version of your product. So, how do you sell something that is inherently free? This guide will delve into the complexities of selling open source software and provide actionable strategies tailored for sales and marketing teams. We'll explore the nuances of open source business models, uncover ways to turn anonymous users into qualified leads, and dissect growth strategies that work.

Before Talking About Sales/Marketing, A Word on Product

Unique Value Proposition

One of the most significant mistakes open source companies make is believing that users will naturally graduate from the free product to the paid version. It doesn't work that way. You must first identify what unique value you offer via your paid offerings. If you can't articulate why a user should pay for your software, you have a problem. Therefore, it's crucial to answer questions like:

  • Why would a free user upgrade to your paid version?
  • What unique features does your paid version offer that the free one doesn’t?
  • Who exactly is your target audience for the paid version?

Getting clarity on these will not only improve your product but also sharpen your sales and marketing strategies.

Understanding the Adoption Lifecycle and the Sales Motion

Identifying Customer Categories

You're going to encounter three types of potential customers:

  1. Those already using your open-source product.
  2. Those using a competitive product.
  3. Those who you know little to nothing about, who you suspect may have an interest or a need your software can help with.
Understanding your target audience is crucial in determining your sales approach. It's essential to differentiate between three groups: existing users of your open-source product, users of competing products, and those unfamiliar with your offering.

The Low-Hanging Fruit: Current Users

Selling to existing users is often easier than acquiring new ones. These are your open source qualified leads (OQLs). An OQL is a user who has performed certain predictive activities, like downloading software packages over a sustained period, which indicates a potential for a commercial relationship. Focus on identifying as many OQLs as possible using techniques such as anonymous download tracking to populate your sales funnel.

Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs)

The best pool to fish in for commercial outcomes are existing users of your open-source software. These are what we call Open Source Qualified Leads (OQLs). An OQL is a user or a company who has engaged with your open-source product to a level that suggests they might be ripe for upselling.

What Makes an OQL?

For example, an ideal OQL might download the software multiple times over several days, engage actively in community forums, and visit documentation pages. Consistent activity over a sustained period can indicate a high likelihood of conversion.

The Tough Nuts: Competing Users

Selling against a competing open-source technology requires a different playbook. This involves demonstrating a technically superior product. You need to arm yourself with a competitive analysis and be prepared to answer why your software is better. Here, DevRel activities and internal advocates can be your secret weapons.

Selling to Users of Competing Open Source Solutions

Winning over users from other solutions—open-source or not—requires a deep understanding of what your software does better and why it matters to your target customer. Developing a comprehensive battle card can help your sales team understand and articulate these advantages effectively. This is a much longer sales cycle than selling to existing users of your open source software.  Consider this:  A user using another open source software and paying an external vendor will have engineering expertise and resources already in place for that software.  What is the cost to replace that?  Additionally, if they are paying for support and an enterprise version, they will have a contract which could be for multiple years depending on the software and the organization's willingness to purchase multiyear deals for discounts.  How likely is it that this company would switch tech stacks and give up the remainder of their support contract for a migration to your solution?  In my experience, you may lead the seeds for a migration months or even years before a renewal window, but most enterprises would prefer to wait until current support contracts expire.  

There are several catalysts which may improve the likelihood of a productive sales discussion and a company being more receptive to switching technologies:

  1. Employee turnover.  Open source developers, especially working in smaller or medium sized companies tend to be given a lot of leeway into choosing their tech stacks.  When employees or management changes at one of these organizations often new people will bring in new ideas and preferences. Looking at LinkedIn for recent turnover and seeing where people came from can help enlighten potential willingness to move. 
  2. Organic traffic to your project or community.  Even if someone is an entrenched user of a competitive open source solution, seeing ongoing or sustain traffic to docs or website pages can show increasing interest.
  3. Content:  A lot of engineers write blogs or give conference talks about the technology they work on.  You can learn alot from these on their needs, their issues, and often their frustrations with current technology.  
  4. Public issues:  If a company has a visible outage or issue with technology, you will often see them publicly publish a post mortem mentioning certain issues with technology they use.  This can provide interesting insight into where their current technology maybe failing them.
Competing Against Cloud Providers

There has been a rising number of examples of companies moving away from open source licenses to source available licenses that specifically limit cloud providers or limit competition.  This may make you take pause as you evaluate your offerings and licenses.  Let me give some general advise and perspective.  When you're selling open source software, your competitors aren't just other software companies; you're also up against cloud providers offering similar services. Why should a potential customer choose your offering over an established cloud service? The answer lies in your unique value proposition, not in your license.  

One of the unique challenges open-source companies face is competing with cloud providers who offer managed versions of their own open-source software. These cloud giants have the advantage of scale, a vast user base, and deep pockets for marketing and customer acquisition. This can be particularly daunting for smaller open-source enterprises that can't compete on those levels. The cloud providers can essentially 'commoditize' your product, offering it as a part of their broader service suite, thereby making it difficult for you to monetize the very software you developed.

To effectively compete, open-source companies have to offer something that these cloud providers can't. This could be specialized expertise, superior customer service, or unique add-on features not available in the cloud provider's version. The aim is to move from providing just 'software' to delivering a full-fledged 'solution,' complete with services and support, that can tackle specific business problems better than a cloud provider's one-size-fits-all offering. In this way, you aren't just selling software; you're selling a comprehensive package that offers greater value, thus giving customers a compelling reason to choose you over a big cloud provider. This is often called the "open core" model, where the core product is open source, but specialized modules and services are proprietary and come at a cost.

Navigating the competitive landscape with cloud providers is not easy, but by understanding your unique value proposition and clearly articulating why and how you offer a better solution, you can not only survive but thrive. It's about shifting the conversation from price to value and establishing a strong brand identity that stands apart from the commoditized offerings of large cloud providers.

The Enigma: The Unknowns

These are the toughest to deal with, but also where your anonymous website demasking technology and other data analytics techniques come into play. The more you can move these unknown users to known OQLs, the better.

Strategies for Identification (Turning unknown to Known)

Discovering who these users are can be a challenge. This is where tactics like anonymous download tracking, website de-anonymizing technology, and gated content come into play. The objective is to move users from the 'unknown' category to the 'known' one, making them easier to target for sales and marketing efforts.

Dealing with the third category of users, the unknown ones, poses the greatest challenge and demands the implementation of anonymous website demasking technology and various data analytics strategies.

The Long Term Relationship Play

One of the unique characteristics of the open-source landscape is the significant influence individual developers wield in driving technology adoption within larger organizations. Unlike traditional sales models, where decisions are top-down and often made by C-suite executives, the open-source world frequently sees grassroots, bottom-up adoption. Developers, drawn to the technical merits and community support of an open-source project, will often integrate it into their workflows. Over time, this adoption can scale up to departmental and, eventually organizational levels. As the organization grows more dependent on the technology, there's a heightened likelihood that they will invest in a supported, often premium, version of the software to meet scalability, security, and compliance needs.

This bottom-up model of technology adoption makes building relationships crucial, and it's why Developer Relations (DevRel) has gained prominence in recent years. DevRel goes beyond mere marketing or sales, focusing on building a genuine, technical relationship with the developers who are the new decision-makers in the technology stack. By providing resources, support, and a feedback loop for these key influencers, companies can ensure not only that their technology is being adopted but that it is being advocated for within the organization. This peer-to-peer advocacy is often more persuasive than any marketing campaign could be, as it comes from a trusted source who understands the organization's specific challenges and needs. The focus is less on immediate sales conversion and more on long-term relationship building, which, in the open-source ecosystem, can be a game-changer in securing large, lucrative contracts with organizations.

Adding this relationship-driven focus to your open-source sales strategy can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. It humanizes your product and company, fosters a community of engaged users who can turn into advocates, and most importantly, it builds trust. In an arena where technical merit is table stakes, trust and relationships become the differentiating factors that turn users into paying customers.

The Role of Community in Open Source Sales

Community Engagement: A Double-Edged Sword

Open source projects inherently involve a community of users who contribute to and benefit from the software. While this is fantastic for user adoption and word-of-mouth promotion, it can also be a challenge for sales and marketing teams. The reason is simple: community members often demand why they should pay for something they've been using for free.

However, it's essential to view community engagement not as a challenge but as an opportunity. When users are engaged, they are not just users but also potential customers.

Measuring Community Health

Community health metrics are indicators of how engaged and active your community is. They are a subset of OQL metrics but focused on community channels like forums, social media, and other public venues. An active community can act as an unpaid sales force, advocating for your product and significantly impacting your sales.

Strategies for Enhancing Community Health
  1. Regular Updates: Keep your community informed about what's happening, both in terms of software updates and company news.
  2. Contributor Recognition: Recognize and reward users who make significant contributions.
  3. Community Managers: Hire or designate community managers to moderate and stimulate discussions.

External Evangelists: The Powerhouses of Organic Growth

External evangelists can be invaluable assets. Unlike paid promotions, recommendations from external evangelists are seen as unbiased and genuine, thereby carrying more weight. Cultivating relationships with these influencers can dramatically improve your sales numbers without a corresponding increase in your marketing spend.

Privacy Concerns and Sales Strategies

With increasing scrutiny on data privacy and new regulations coming into force globally, open source companies must tread carefully when it comes to gathering user data.

Navigating the Privacy Maze

While privacy laws limit what you can do, they don't completely block your path. Strategies for navigating these challenges include:

  1. Clear Communication: Always be clear about what data you're collecting and why.
  2. User Consent: Where possible, gain user consent for data collection.
  3. Data Minimization: Collect only what is absolutely necessary.

Lead Scoring: Turning Data into Gold

Lead scoring can help you identify promising leads from the sea of users. This involves assigning values to potential leads based on their activities and engagement level. While this method isn't foolproof, it significantly improves the efficiency of your sales pipeline.

Risk Mitigation Strategies

Churn Prediction

Using OQL and other behavioral data, you can predict which companies are at risk of churning. For instance, if a user has reached an OQL3 level and maintained it for an extended period but has recently shown reduced engagement, it's a red flag.

Addressing Potential Issues

The moment you identify a potential churn, the account management team should intervene. Whether it's an additional training session, a product walkthrough, or troubleshooting technical issues, proactive engagement can often prevent a churn.

Why Sales and Marketing Teams Should Care About OQLs

Open source is not a business strategy, nor is it a go-to-market strategy.  It is a community and distribution strategy.  You can integrate the community and the distribution into your go-to-market strategy for your commercial open source business, but that requires you to treat the “open source pipeline” like you treat the “sales pipeline”.  This means that you should be tracking adoption and growth of the user base and which of these users end up becoming customers.  You want a full view of the lifecycle and that means tracking something like an OQL.  OQL’s are important for:

Enriching Sales Pipeline

OQLs are an enriched source of leads. They have a proven level of engagement and therefore a higher likelihood of converting into a paying customer.

Risk Assessment

Tracking a company’s OQL status over time can help in assessing potential risks, enabling the business to take proactive measures.

Resource Allocation

Knowing which leads are more likely to convert allows for better allocation of sales and marketing resources.

Track OQLs (Open Source Qualified Leads) by treating the "open source pipeline" like the "sales pipeline" in your commercial open source business strategy.

Conclusion: Putting It All Together

Open source sales require a multi-faceted approach that differs significantly from that of traditional software sales. By incorporating the strategies outlined in this guide, sales and marketing teams can better navigate the unique challenges posed by open source sales. The ultimate goal is to build a strong, active community around your product, identify and engage with Open Source Qualified Leads, and turn them into paying customers, all while maintaining a transparent and ethical stance on data and privacy. And remember, the community is not just a user base; it's a potential customer base.

By focusing on these strategies and continuously adapting to market and user behavior trends, you can build a sustainable, profitable business around your open source software. Happy selling!

I hope this guide serves as a valuable resource for sales and marketing teams navigating the intricacies of selling open-source software. If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you for reading!