A lean startup experiment for the creation of a tutorial, an eBook, and a movement. For more information: http://fundingfreeculture.mistribus.com/

1. How to organize and fund free
culture projects
Kevin Shockey
Founder, Mis Tribus
Section 1.01

2. What?
Free culture projects often fail
due to a lack of resources.

3. So What?
By focusing on raising funds,
a project can increase its' chances
of survival

4. Why me?
Freedom is not free!
(How many ways can you relate?)

5. Why now?
● Declining interest in FLOSS
● Lack of unity, more division
● FLOSS success is taken for granted
● Increased willingness to compromise
● Lingering confusion surrounding free software

6. Disclaimer
I'm not pretending to tell anyone what to do,
I'm sharing my interpretation.
My story.
(Your mileage may vary...)

7. So far...
● Funding Free Culture:
● Blog: FundingFreeCulture.MisTribus.com
● @ffc_2012
● Tumblr: FundingFreeCulture.Tumblr.com
● One Blogger post triggers:
● 3 Automated tweets on 3 different accounts
● Updated Linked In
● Updated Finding Free Culture Page on Facebook

8. 1.Assumptions
● Free Culture
● Project Execution
● Project Funding

9. Free Culture Assumptions
● Free culture projects often fail
● People assume FLOSS's success is
guaranteed
● Diversity and division make free culture weaker

10. State of FLOSS?
● Four stages of Maturity:
● Emergent
● Growth
● Mature
● Declining
● Projects in emergent, growth, & maturity stages

11. State of FLOSS is mixed
● Enterprise recognition
● Limited user recognition/support
● Participation is declining
● Finances (resources) are limited (often to just
one person)

12. Top 10 FLOSS Hall of Fame (need
reference, 2011)
● Linux Kernel
● GNU Utilities & Compilers
● Ubuntu
● BSD
● Samba

13. Top 10 FLOSS Hall of Fame
● MySQL
● BIND
● SendMail
● OpenSSH & OpenSSL
● Apache

14. Search is relative
● Search is a simulation;
● By measuring “reality” we affect reality
● It is a proxy,
– We humanely can not understand the math involved
– Artificial intelligence

15. What SEO Tells Us
● General trends for mature projects

16. What SEO Tells Us
● General trends for emerging projects

17. What Else?
● Niche groups who are content with scratching
their own itch
● Dogmatic approach to community
● Financial support (donations, purchases,
memberships) is lacking
● Large difference between public relationship
strategies
● Most successful projects use modern strategies

18. Project Execution Assumptions
● Organizing a FLOSS project has changed.
● FLOSS projects are similar to startups
● Execution is achieved through testing
assumptions

19. Project Funding Assumptions
● Our software (product) is sufficient to obtain
resources
● There is an over abundance of data
● Varying levels of “information”
● Increasingly interact with more artificially
intelligent systems

20. State of FLOSS
● Build Measure Learn or Your Competition Will
● Irrelevance is your enemy
● Free Beer will NOT fuel your projects
● In need of unity of purpose
● In favor of software freedoms
● In favor of asking for help

21. Build Measure Learn

22. Free LOSS
Freedom is not free!

23. References
● Kawasaki, G. (2012). Raising Money: What Not to Say and
What Not to Believe. http://mstrb.us/zfhxIl
● Dvorak, J.C. (2009). The State of Open Source on Firefox's
Fifth Birthday. http://mstrb.us/yF7CF3
● Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup.
● Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/AzdrN2
● Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/yLiEIy
● Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/x8VKbv

24. References
● Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/xvGSe4
● Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/y63WzT
● Fiscal Year 2005-2006 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/yNAbTE
● Fiscal Year 2002-2003 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/wyCvAe
● Fiscal Year 2001-2002 Annual Report for The Apache Software
Foundation. http://mstrb.us/wRRw6w
● 2010 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/yLAmX7

25. References
● 2009 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/yOyW0n
● 2008 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/xLdf1Y
● 2007 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/xP1jqj
● 2006 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/wDJDOV
● 2005 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/yzTktK
● 2004 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/zMnI1u

26. References
● 2003 IRS Form 990 for the Mozilla Foundation.
http://mstrb.us/wDpQeo
● Perens, B. (2008). State of Open Source Message: A New
Decade For Open Source. http://mstrb.us/zre7oP
● Perens, B. (2005). The Emerging Economic Paradigm of Open
Source. http://mstrb.us/xVlTXC
● Perens, B. The Covenant - A New Approach to Open Source
Cooperation. http://mstrb.us/ybrmfO
● FSF 2011 Audited Financial Statement. http://mstrb.us/zCy7VT

27. References
● FSF 2010 filing information. http://mstrb.us/x2Rumq
● FSF 2009 Audited Financial Statement. http://mstrb.us/zyoFHX
● FSF 2008 filing information.
http://mstrb.us/xtBZi1
● FSF 2007 filing information.
http://mstrb.us/zbSp0Q
● FSF 2006 filing information.
http://mstrb.us/xzNEzS
● FSF 2006 filing information. http://mstrb.us/yTjZuR

28. References
● FSF 2005 filing information. http://mstrb.us/xCUQeQ
● FSF 2004 filing information.http://mstrb.us/zwOlhl
● GNOME Foundation Detailed Financial Plan 2011.
http://mstrb.us/zxoI4N
● GNOME Foundation Detailed Financial Plan 2010.
http://mstrb.us/A0jA2g
● GNOME Budget 2009. http://mstrb.us/zdFT0B
● GNOME Foundation Financial Statement for Fiscal Year 2007.
http://mstrb.us/Aw7sGN

29. References
● GNOME Foundation – Fiscal Year 2005 – Balance Summary.
http://mstrb.us/wP8h59
● GNOME Foundation Financial Statement for Fiscal Year 2004.
http://mstrb.us/wxQVGB
● GNOME Foundation Financial Statement for Fiscal Year 2003.
http://mstrb.us/xoFnzh
● Sourceforge.net. (2012). Developer Counts – The Stats.
http://mstrb.us/xmAWfu
● Browser Market Share. (2009). http://mstrb.us/znr3Iy
● Wheeler., D. (2007). Why Open Source Software / Free
Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!
http://mstrb.us/xBkuQP
● Browser Market Share. (2111). http://mstrb.us/znr3Iy