I still remember my first professional job as a developer. It was around 15 years ago. I was in charge of C++ based (MFC libs for Windows 32) code editor. I still remember struggling with some COM object model and the migration from 32 to 64 bit CPU architecture. The tasks that took me around 3 weeks to complete. Testing out my pain-tolerance. Providing virtually no business value — so immediately afterwards I got fired.

I used Open Source as a Marketing & Sales strategy as well as a Product Strategy multiple times. This is how we build two successful Professional Services Companies and two successful Product-based companies. We are also the co-creators of two large commercial open source projects - one for SAP, one for Shopware.

Building a successful company is one thing, fully leveraging this success is another thing. Not every company should be sold, especially with B2B software companies you are able to build a cash generating machine.

Building a successful B2B Startup is a function of value that you deliver to your clients. In this article I’m sharing my experience of building a couple of b2b companies.