5 keys to success for an open source business
More specifically, this InfoWorld article says the five things VCs should look for are:
- it must be targeting a large area of the market with its product,
- ensure there's both a community to help with development of the software and a large pool of potential users likely to want to download the products,
- be sure its software will require support it can charge for,
- have expertise in the area of the market it's aiming at,
- and finally, be patient.
Here is the link:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/10/28/HNopensource2_1.html
Comments
Hi Chris,
Just found your blog due to the Salesforce mention on a more recent post. However, one of the things that will be interesting to see is if AppExchange can hold up to the criteria above, which I think will also be necessary for it to be successful...
Posted by: Chris | October 30, 2005 12:22 AM
Good point about AppExchange. It seems odd to me that the current offerings there fit into functional buckets (e.g. marketing, finance & admin, HR) rather than industry verticals. While Salesforce.com is a nice generic solution for salesforce automation, I would think there is a larger market for add-ons that make Salesforce more appropriate for specific niche industries. Admittedly that would be a more segmented approach (test 1), but it would make the generic concepts of SFA "click" with the average salesperson who thinks in terms of his industry (test 2).
SugarForge is SugarCRM's equivalent to AppExchange. It, too, is populated by generic add-ons.
Note that neither AppExchange nor SugarForge mandate open source licensing upon contributors.
Posted by: Chris Thompson | October 30, 2005 12:11 PM