How embodying open source and being the good guy brought success

Becoming successfulby being the good guy Jakob Persson, co-founder NodeOne StartupDay, April 9 2011 STOCKHOLM | GÖTEBORG | KØBENHAVN www.nodeone.se

Sharing Being open + Educating SUCCESS!By embodying the values of open source – openness, sharing and freedom we have becomecompetitive and successful.In this session we will show you how you can do the same and gain advantage over thecompetition.

2008 2011 8 employeesFounded in 2008Staff of 8

2008 2011 43 employeesGrown to staff of 43No external funding

2008 2011 43 employees 500% organic growth in 32 monthsGrown to staff of 43No external funding

One office has grown to threeStockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen.

build websites write software collaborate on open sourceWe build websites.We write software.Collaborate on and use open source.

Content management system for the web Let’s you build powerful websites and intranets Open sourceDrupal speciﬁcally.Among the ﬁrst Drupal consultancies.Key player in maturing the Drupal market.We’re market leaders in what we do.Drupal is open source.

Open source means anyone can see how the software is made.You can distribute it freely.Open source promotes a number of values.Values we’ve embraced.

sharing what we do being open about how we work educating and teachingWe share freely what we makeWe are open about how we work, our processes and methodsWe educate and teachHow do we do this and what is the business value in doing so?

sharing “There is no delight in owning anything unshared” – SenecaWe do like the chefs, we share recipes, we talk about how we do things.When we build a site for a client, we try to give back as much of the code as we can.Developed a publishing platform as open source, freely available.Dedicated half the time of one of our best developers.

stronger relationships with client talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingVery few of the sites we build contain code only we know // We use open standardizedsolutions // We share the code, publish it for anyone to use// Clients run less risk of vendorlock-in due to licenses or unknown source code // Builds high level of trust

stronger relationships with client talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingPeople outside the company see what we do // Creates appreciation for competence of ourstaff // Makes employees visible/recognized // Motivates our employees // People attractedto come work for us // Top talent makes it easier to sell to major clients // Snowball effect

stronger relationships with client talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingPeople buy our competence and skills // We got nothing to lose by sharing “recipes” // Opensource – tools are freely available // We rely on those free tools // By sharing andcontributing we ensure the future of those tools // Ensures our long-term existence

stronger relationships with client talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingSharing your work can generate extremely positive feedback // And help market yourcompany // We announced that one of our best developers will dedicate 50% to open source

Viva NodeOne for such a contribution :) I knew already, but this is more proof: NodeOne rocks! Kudos to NodeOne! Awesome news, awesome people and incredible generosity on NodeOnes part! outstanding marketingResponses were overwhelming // Responses from the community // Comments on blogs //Twitter // Facebook

@node_one ... Huge contribution to our community! big thanks to NodeOne ... I think Team Awesome ofﬁcially has a Swedish branch now. ;) And a huge thanks to NodeOne, too. I am impressed by how NodeOne has really jumped to the fore of the Drupal world. And a huge thank you to NodeOne for such an amazing contribution :) outstanding marketingThese responses are from those who use same tools as us // But it has a ripple effect // Alsoseen by clients and those outside // Builds reputation and an audience

being open “The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness” – Niels BohrIf we come up with a great idea how something can be done, we try to get it out there as soonas possible // We blog about it and we talk at conferences // Solutions for sharing knowledgeand methods for planning projects // Experiences we make as a company // We are alsotransparent about prices and terms

generates credibility encourages innovationReveals the people behind the company // Shows the commitment we have to our work //Adds credibility as we aim to be honest rather than censoring // Strengthens our relationshipto clients and others // Pressures ourselves to perform by being honest and open to clients

generates credibilityA session I held in Copenhagen about project planning ﬁlled a room // As you can see thereweren’t enough chairs to go around // Openness generates a lot of interest in your company

generates credibility encourages innovationAttracts talent that wishes to work for a company where they feel they can develop // Thoseindividuals helps you establish a company culture based on innovation // A company thatdrives change, and isn’t following

educating “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” – Marian Wright EdelmanWe teach and train people and competitors // We teach clients so they don’t have to rely onconsultants or us // We arrange training at meetups and conferences // We frequentlyproduce web based training, videos, blog posts and tutorials // We’ve worked withStudentlitteratur to publish a book // We engage in dialog regarding training and learning

talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingWe need specialists // A large pool to recruit from // Teaching helps us with that

Number of Drupal users in Sweden 5600 2900 2008 2011 talent attraction, recruiting and retentionOur efforts to teach has contributed to a doubling of the number of Drupal users inSweden // That means more people we can potentially hire

talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingA large crowd of people who know Drupal isn’t just good for hiring // It means Drupalbecomes a better option // Less dependency on a few companies and individuals // Helps uscreate a bigger // More valuable market

talent attraction, recruiting and retention strengthens the product outstanding marketingTraining shows your company has leading edge talent // Generates trust and loyalty // Buildsan audience of loyal ambassadors // People who come back to you to see what you have tosay // People who talk about us and for us // Word of mouth is extremely strong marketing

Visitors per week to nodeone.se outstanding marketingHow strong you ask? // Let’s look at the traffic to our site // Once we started posting trainingmaterials it increased // And the quality of it increased // People stayed longer // Told theirfriends // Twitter and Facebook

After we started using our blog Visitors per week to nodeone.se to post articles and tutorials outstanding marketingHow strong you ask? // Let’s look at the traffic to our site // Once we started posting trainingmaterials it increased // And the quality of it increased // People stayed longer // Told theirfriends // Twitter and Facebook

we get 3-4 highly potential leads per week outstanding marketingSo how does this help? // As a result we get 3-4 leads per week // Clients calling us! // Wedon’t make cold calls // We sell at least one project per week as a result

we get 3-4 highly potential leads per week and the clients are calling us! outstanding marketingSo how does this help? // As a result we get 3-4 leads per week // Clients calling us! // Wedon’t make cold calls // We sell at least one project per week as a result

we get 3-4 highly potential leads per week and the clients are calling us! which results in at least one project sold per week outstanding marketingSo how does this help? // As a result we get 3-4 leads per week // Clients calling us! // Wedon’t make cold calls // We sell at least one project per week as a result

We could have been a closed company // In every sense // Keeping everything on a leash //But we believe in freedom // Freedom of knowledge // Freedom from limiting contracts orlicenses // Freedom to choose // Freedom is good // Promoting freedom is something thegood guy does

May 6 - 7 Media – Business – Technology CNN, Al-Jazeera and Bonnier, among others, are participating. www.drupalcamp.seIf you want to learn more // A month from now

Contact mejakob@nodeone.sehttp://www.twitter.com/realsolipsisthttp://se.linkedin.com/in/jakobpersson www.nodeone.se

How embodying open source and being the good guy brought success

by Jakob Persson on Jan 11, 2012

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How embodying open source and being the good guy brought success — Presentation Transcript