IT Manager’s Journal: As Venture Dollars Flow to OSS Companies, CEOs Urged to be Picky

“It’s no secret that the open source business model is
attracting the attention of venture capital dollars. The list of
companies that have received millions in funding recently includes
JBoss, SugarCRM, SourceLabs, Hyperic, Zenoss, and Digium, to name a
few. Still, if your OSS company is hoping to catch the eye of a
venture capitalist, don’t just jump on the first offer that comes
in, say the experts.

“Source code is almost a commodity; a shroud of proprietary
secretiveness is not what gives it value anymore. Now the open
source community gives software away, making service and support
the centers of profit for commercial enterprise. Not only can one
make a living providing that support, but one can build a
multi-million-dollar company as well, supporting a market that IT
research firm IDC predicts will reach $2.8 billion in Linux server
sales by 2008…”

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