"Could you tell us a little about
Sleepycat?
Sleepycat Software was founded in 1996 to develop, maintain and
support the open source Berkeley DB product. Our approach to
business has been very different from that of many other software
companies that started during the past several years. We've always
been funded by our revenues, and have never taken any capital from
outside investors. We've been profitable since inception.
We have a dual licensing strategy that permits us to distribute
an open source product but still make a living off of software
licensing for that same product. Open source licensing has given us
an enormous installed base and a large pool of developers who know
and like our product. Our for-pay licensing strategy has allowed us
to hire developers, salespeople and marketing staff, and to promote
and support Berkeley DB.
We've doubled revenues annually since we started Sleepycat.
Despite the tech downturn in 2001, we expect to record substantial
growth in revenues this year as well. The company was started by
two people, Margo Seltzer and Keith Bostic. Today we have thirteen
employees, mostly in Boston and the SF Bay Area, with a few
elsewhere."
