Building Two Open-Source Startups in a Row: Sysdig CEO Loris Degioanni (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: How do you charge?

Loris Degioanni: We charge based on the number of machines that they need to manage with our platform. It’s the typical function of the number of servers that you’re running.

Sramana Mitra: What is the next milestone after you started monetizing? What are some of the major milestones based on this model that you came up with?

Building Two Open-Source Startups in a Row: Sysdig CEO Loris Degioanni (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: The $2.5 million of seed capital that you raised, what was the next milestone? How long did it take you from there to deliver your first product?

Loris Degioanni: Based on my background and experience with open source, I decided that I wanted to approach this second adventure with an open source philosophy. This was very important. That was our strategy and vision early on.

Building Two Open-Source Startups in a Row: Sysdig CEO Loris Degioanni (Part 5)

Loris Degioanni: These dynamics towards micro-services means that these companies can essentially break their software into smaller pieces and then use APIs to talk to each other. This spawned a massive industry that is led by the cloud vendors and by open source projects like Kubernetes.

I witnessed the creation of these industries and immediately thought, “We should focus on this. This is new and very different. Managing and observing a software that is split into a thousand little pieces is very different than monitoring a giant monolith.”

Best of Bootstrapping: BioConnect CEO Bootstraps with Sophisticated Strategic Maneuvering

BioConnect CEO Rob Douglas has built a thriving founder-financed business from Toronto using very sophisticated strategic maneuvering. I just loved discussing the strategic nuances of this business. You’ll learn a LOT from reading this story.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Rob Douglas: I’m a Canadian. I was born just outside of Toronto. I have grown up in and around the city of Toronto. I’m married. I have two kids. Both of them are in their 20’s. I have spent most of my entrepreneurial life primarily focused on markets outside of Canada. US and EMEA have been primary markets over my career.

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Building Two Open-Source Startups in a Row: Sysdig CEO Loris Degioanni (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: You started your next company in 2012?

Loris Degioanni: 2013. I left Riverbed in 2012. My rotation period with Riverbed was for two years. Despite being very happy at Riverbed and despite learning a lot, I was infected with the bug of being an entrepreneur. It’s really hard to get rid of. Even in the nicest places, I don’t think I can work for somebody else.

I need to wake up, feeling that I am making a difference. I couldn’t feel that at Riverbed. The company was successful. I was contributing, but I couldn’t find that path on what I was doing. Also, you don’t have ownership. I prefer to have situations where I am have more control and impact.

Building Two Open-Source Startups in a Row: Sysdig CEO Loris Degioanni (Part 3)

Loris Degioanni: What we did was, we created a new project based on the same code base. It was called Wireshark. This was 2006. Wireshark was an immediate success. We put a bunch of resources behind it. We told Gerald, “Just keep working on this and make the community happy.”

After 13 years, Wireshark is still one of the most successful open source projects in the history of open source. It has a huge community. It has a huge backing from many companies around the world. It has a vibrant community of developers.

Building Two Open-Source Startups in a Row: Sysdig CEO Loris Degioanni (Part 2)

Loris Degioanni: While I was in New Zealand doing the internship, a professor from the United States texted me saying he’s working in the field of packet catcher. He found WinPcap. He would like to invite somebody from the research group to do research in the United States. I was in New Zealand, so I couldn’t go.

I told this professor that I had to pass the opportunity and find somebody else. The professor told me, “Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you. Finish your work in New Zealand.” In particular, the professor was working for UC Davis. I finished my internship in New Zealand.

Building Businesses in Aftermarket Designer Merchandise: ShopWorn CEO Richard Birnbaum (Part 6)

Richard Birnbaum: When I gave you the example of their cost of goods at 8% of retail, nothing is a secret. If we’re able to buy aged inventory from the stores, depending on the brand, deal and condition, it’s worth paying anywhere between 15 cents to 35 cents on retail price.

We’re giving a terrific value to the consumer. The brand is selling more goods to the authorized dealer. We’ve made ourselves the first and only official partner of the brands who are sanctioned to sell their goods online. We’re selling the latest, the greatest, and the best, but it’s at full retail. Maybe you’ll find a 10% coupon online. We’re offering a tremendous value to the consumer.