Investing and Monetizing a Start-up With Akriti Dokania

Akriti Dokania, a heavyweight in the venture capital business, is a partner at Ridge Ventures. With a background in computer sciences and building a B2B company from the ground up, it is no wonder Dokania is an expert in the complexities of developing software and understanding the lifecycle of a start-up.

On this week's episodes of the Business of Open Source, Dokania shows her wealth of knowledge in investing in open source start-ups. She also explains what founders should look for in an investor and the struggles of monetization for an open source start-up. Lastly, Dokania gives the secrets to working towards a revenue model and scaling a start-up to a fully fleshed-out company.

Highlights:

  • Open source vs. non-open source companies(from an investor's eye) (2:07)

  • The go to market for open source (4:03)

  • Disadvantages of an open source start-up (5:29)

  • Too deep into open source to monetize (7:53)

  • Red flags a founder should look out for in an investor (14:24)

  • Common mistakes for open source companies looking to monetize (16:24)

  • Unique business strategies in open source (19:24)

Links:

Akriti 

Chris Hill