Startups/VCs SIG: Open Source: How to Make Money and Get Money? November 10, 2008

Come discover effective strategies for approaching customers, investors, exit strategies, and how to position your open source company. A panel of investors and entrepreneurs, working in the businesses of open source software, will address the myriad issues surrounding open source. The panel will be moderated by Gwyn Firth Murray, founder of the Matau Legal Group, where she practices technology law with a specialty in open source.

As business leaders search for opportunities to lower development costs and increase their focus on innovative development, open source provides a model that supports both goals. Our panel will explore the evolution in commercial contexts, the advantages and risks of using open source, business models compatible with open source and how companies can maximize the interactions between their core engineers and their developer communities by utilizing open source. The panel will address topics such as:

* How has open source evolved from a seemingly isolated movement to taking a central role in the commercial context?
* What are the business models that successfully leverage open source? How do companies make money with it?
* How do you create and protect IP when your product is open source?
* How do you successfully transition free customers to paying customers?
* What is the prospect of funding for open source companies? And how have previous investments fared?
* What exit strategies work for open source companies? How successful have they been? How do you prepare your company for an exit?

Who should attend: Entrepreneurs thinking of starting an open source company, a CEO, CTO or other manager of an open source company, or any one who is curious about the business issues surrounding open source,

Free for eBig Members. Others: $15 if pre-registered, $20 otherwise.

Official Website: http://www.ebig.org