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Tuesday, November 12
 

1:25pm MST

Cloud Native StartupFest | Welcome + Opening Remarks - Kelsey Hightower, Program Co-Chair
Tuesday November 12, 2024 1:25pm - 1:30pm MST
Speakers
avatar for Kelsey Hightower

Kelsey Hightower

Retired Distinguished Engineer, Author, Advisor, and Open Source Contributor
Kelsey Hightower has worn every hat possible throughout his career in tech, and enjoys leadership roles focused on making things happen and shipping software. Kelsey is a strong open source advocate focused on building simple tools that make people smile. When he is not slinging Go... Read More →
Tuesday November 12, 2024 1:25pm - 1:30pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A
  Cloud Native StartupFest

1:35pm MST

Fireside Chat with Kelsey Hightower - Start-Up Resilience in a Post-ZIRP World - Kelsey Hightower & Megan Reynolds, Vertex Ventures
Tuesday November 12, 2024 1:35pm - 1:50pm MST
Join tech industry veteran Kelsey Hightower and Vertex Ventures' Megan Reynolds for an insightful discussion on navigating the challenges of building resilient start-ups in today's economic climate. As we move away from the era of zero interest rate policies (ZIRP), entrepreneurs face new hurdles in funding, growth, and sustainability.
Kelsey and Megan will explore:
  • Adapting business models for tighter capital markets
  • Strategies for efficient growth and extending runway
  • Building a culture of resilience and adaptability
  • Opportunities emerging in the post-ZIRP landscape
This fireside chat offers valuable insights for founders, investors, and anyone interested in the evolving start-up ecosystem.
Speakers
avatar for Kelsey Hightower

Kelsey Hightower

Retired Distinguished Engineer, Author, Advisor, and Open Source Contributor
Kelsey Hightower has worn every hat possible throughout his career in tech, and enjoys leadership roles focused on making things happen and shipping software. Kelsey is a strong open source advocate focused on building simple tools that make people smile. When he is not slinging Go... Read More →
avatar for Megan Reynolds

Megan Reynolds

Vertex Ventures
Tuesday November 12, 2024 1:35pm - 1:50pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A

2:10pm MST

Panel: The $100B Opportunity for the Cloud-Native Ecosystem: A VC Perspective - Wei Lien Dang, Unusual Ventures; Astasia Myers, Felicis Ventures; Natalie Vais, Spark Capital; Erik Nordlander, GV (Google Ventures)
Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:10pm - 2:45pm MST
In the last 10 years since the first commit of Kubernetes, venture capital funding has supported thousands of cloud-native companies. These investments have enabled successful business models to emerge around open-source technologies and generated collective market value well over $10 billion. As we look ahead to the next 10 years, the opportunity to build companies in cloud-native AI (CNAI) presents an even larger opportunity. Join us for this session, which includes a group of Partners from GV (formerly Google Ventures), Felicis Ventures, Spark Capital, and Unusual Ventures, all who have spent years investing in cloud-native companies. They'll share lessons from the biggest cloud-native investment successes and failures over the last 10 years and the opportunities for new CNAI startups that they're most excited about.
Speakers
avatar for Wei Lien Dang

Wei Lien Dang

General Partner, Unusual Ventures
Wei Lien Dang is a General Partner and early-stage investor at Unusual Ventures. He focuses on open-source developer tools, data infrastructure, AI, and cybersecurity. Wei was a co-founder of StackRox, a cloud-native security company acquired by Red Hat in 2021. Before that, Wei held... Read More →
avatar for Astasia Myers

Astasia Myers

General Partner, Felicis Ventures
Astasia Myers is a General Partner at Felicis. Before joining Felicis, she was a partner at Quiet Capital and an investor at Redpoint Ventures. Astasia focuses on early-stage investing across AI, data, open source, developer tools, and security. She has invested in LaunchDarkly, Solo.io... Read More →
avatar for Natalie Vais

Natalie Vais

General Partner, Spark Capital
Natalie is a General Partner at Spark Capital where she invests in early-stage startups across cloud infrastructure, AI, and developer tools. She has invested in companies like Polar Signals, MotherDuck, TigerBeetle, and ElectricSQL. Before transitioning to venture capital, Natalie... Read More →
avatar for Erik Nordlander

Erik Nordlander

General Partner, GV
As a general partner at GV, Erik invests across enterprise software and frontier technology, focusing on developer tools, cloud infrastructure, and machine learning. He has backed leaders like Cockroach, Warp, and CTRL-Labs. Erik also manages GV operations in New York and leads the... Read More →
Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:10pm - 2:45pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A

2:55pm MST

Docker's Journey from Open Source Darling to a Thriving Enterprise Business - Scott Johnston, Docker
Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:55pm - 3:25pm MST
Join Scott Johnston, CEO of Docker, as he charts the remarkable evolution of Docker from an open-source phenomenon to a successful enterprise-focused company. This presentation will cover:
  • Docker's origins and its impact on the developer ecosystem
  • Key challenges in transitioning from open source to a sustainable business model
  • Strategies for balancing community engagement with commercial interests
  • Lessons learned in pivoting towards enterprise customers
  • Docker's current position in the market and future vision
Gain valuable insights into the complexities of building a business around open source technology and the strategic decisions that shaped Docker's transformation. This session is ideal for tech leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in the intersection of open source and commercial software.
Speakers
avatar for Scott Johnston

Scott Johnston

CEO, Docker
Scott Johnston Deckhand, Docker, Inc.Twitter, LinkedInScott Johnston is the CEO of Docker, the company at the heart of the open-source Docker project and the global container ecosystem that's revolutionizing how modern apps are built, shared, tested, and run. Scott's journey at Docker began in 2014 as the first product manager, and he l... Read More →
Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:55pm - 3:25pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A

3:25pm MST

PM Break 3
Tuesday November 12, 2024 3:25pm - 3:35pm MST
Tuesday November 12, 2024 3:25pm - 3:35pm MST

3:35pm MST

Reimagining OSS Licensing and Commercialization with Fair Source - Adam Jacob, System Initiative
Tuesday November 12, 2024 3:35pm - 4:05pm MST
Join Adam Jacobs, founder of System Initiative, as he explores an innovative approach to open source software (OSS) licensing and monetization. This session will dive into:
  • The limitations of traditional OSS licensing models
  • Introduction to Fair Source licensing and its principles
  • Balancing open collaboration with sustainable commercialization
  • Potential impacts on developer communities and business models
  • Real-world applications and case studies of Fair Source in action
Learn how Fair Source licensing aims to create a middle ground between fully open and proprietary software, potentially reshaping the OSS landscape. This presentation is essential for developers, project maintainers, business leaders, and anyone interested in the future of open source sustainability.
Speakers
avatar for Adam Jacob

Adam Jacob

CEO and Co-Founder, System Initiative
Tuesday November 12, 2024 3:35pm - 4:05pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A

4:15pm MST

ArgoCD: Lessons in Spinning Out OSS from Intuit to Independence - Jesse Suen & Hong Wang, Akuity
Tuesday November 12, 2024 4:15pm - 4:45pm MST
Join Jesse Suen and Hong Wang, co-founders of Akuity, as they share their journey of transforming ArgoCD from an internal Intuit project to a thriving independent open-source software (OSS) business. This session will cover:
  • The origins of ArgoCD within Intuit and its evolution
  • Challenges and opportunities in spinning out an enterprise-born OSS project
  • Building a sustainable business model around ArgoCD
  • Maintaining community engagement while pursuing commercial growth
  • Key lessons learned during the transition to independence
Gain valuable insights into the complexities of OSS commercialization, corporate spin-outs, and building a startup around a popular open-source tool. This presentation is ideal for developers, OSS maintainers, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovation leaders interested in the intersection of open source and business strategy.

Speakers
avatar for Jesse Suen

Jesse Suen

CTO, Akuity
Jesse Suen is the CTO and co-founder of Akuity. He is a co-creator and a project lead on the Argo project. Prior to founding Akuity, Jesse was a Principal Software Engineer and lead for the Argo team at Intuit, leading the design and architecture for Workflows, CD, and Rollouts. Jesse... Read More →
avatar for Hong Wang

Hong Wang

CEO, Akuity
A founding member of Argo Project. Prior to founding Akuity, Hong was the Argo team manager at Intuit and built the control-plane used to manage hundreds of Kubernetes clusters and thousands of namespaces. Hong has extensive experience in distributed system projects ranging from storage... Read More →
Tuesday November 12, 2024 4:15pm - 4:45pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A

4:55pm MST

Panel: Startups With Open Source Projects: Can They Be Successful in the CNCF? And Should They Be? - Emily Omier, Omier Consulting; William Morgan, Buoyant; Tyler Jewell, Lightbend; Mark Fussell, Diagrid & Avi Press, Scarf
Tuesday November 12, 2024 4:55pm - 5:30pm MST
The CNCF hosts a wide variety of open source projects, not just in functionality but in the nature of the maintainers and funders behind the project. Some projects are backed by multiple large companies, including public companies with trillion-dollar market caps. Some are backed by single small startups with a small fraction of the resources. And some projects fall somewhere in between. But all share one fact: the vast majority of contributions are done by paid maintainers.
For startups in the CNCF ecosystem, is it possible to be successful delivering a CNCF open source project? Or is this strategy a fundamentally un-monetizable one? And from the perspective of the cloud native community, is it actually important for startups to be successful in this community? Or should the CNCF primarily focus on projects that are more like Kubernetes itself—backed by well-established companies with the resources and longevity to keep their projects afloat indefinitely?
Join this panel to hear from startup founders, project maintainers, and others in the thick of the struggle between commercialization and open source, between paying maintainers and appealing to the open source.
Speakers
avatar for Avi Press

Avi Press

Founder & CEO, Scarf
Avi Press is a developer tool author, functional programming language enthusiast, and founder/CEO of Scarf. Avi loves thinking about and discussing how people can solve problems by more effectively sharing data, and how that applies to building a sustainable open-source ecosystem... Read More →
avatar for Emily Omier

Emily Omier

Consultant, Emily Omier Consulting
Emily Omier is a positioning consultant who helps open source startups accelerate revenue and community growth by clarifying the project and product's market category, unique value in the market and target user audience. She hosts The Business of Open Source podcast and writes a blog... Read More →
avatar for William Morgan

William Morgan

Linkerd Director, Buoyant CEO, Buoyant
William is a director on the Linkerd project and the co-founder and CEO of Buoyant, the creators of Linkerd. Prior to Buoyant, he was an infrastructure engineer at Twitter, a software engineer at Powerset, Microsoft, and Adap.tv, a research scientist at MITRE. He holds an MS in computer... Read More →
avatar for Mark Fussell

Mark Fussell

CEO, Diagrid
CEO of Diagrid, a developer focused startup. Leader with proven track record of building innovative computing platforms, running large scale, cloud services, building OSS communities and starting new businesses. I have over 30 years of experience building go-to-market strategies... Read More →
avatar for Tyler Jewell

Tyler Jewell

CEO, Akka
Tyler is the CEO of Akka.He is a 3-time DevEx CEO previously leading:WSO2 (acq. by EQT)Codenvy (acq. by RedHat)You can subscribe to his Substack: The Developer-Led Landscape, a public database of 1600 DevOps companies... Read More →
Tuesday November 12, 2024 4:55pm - 5:30pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A

5:30pm MST

Cloud Native StartupFest | Closing Remarks - Kelsey Hightower, Program Co-Chair
Tuesday November 12, 2024 5:30pm - 5:35pm MST
Speakers
avatar for Kelsey Hightower

Kelsey Hightower

Retired Distinguished Engineer, Author, Advisor, and Open Source Contributor
Kelsey Hightower has worn every hat possible throughout his career in tech, and enjoys leadership roles focused on making things happen and shipping software. Kelsey is a strong open source advocate focused on building simple tools that make people smile. When he is not slinging Go... Read More →
Tuesday November 12, 2024 5:30pm - 5:35pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | Salt Lake Ballroom A
  Cloud Native StartupFest

5:30pm MST

Evening Reception (Hyatt Regency)
Tuesday November 12, 2024 5:30pm - 7:00pm MST
Join us onsite for drinks and appetizers with fellow co-located attendees from Tuesday's CNCF-hosted Co-located Events.

Attendees from all CNCF Co-located Events are welcome.
Tuesday November 12, 2024 5:30pm - 7:00pm MST
Hyatt Regency | Level 2 | South Foyer
 

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