Stars Don’t Pay the Bills: Turning Open Source Into a Business

GitHub stars look good on your profile — but they don’t pay the bills. If you’ve ever thought about turning your open source project into something more — maybe even a business — this talk is for you. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve learned a lot by turning my side project into a sustainable, bootstrapped open source business doing over £10K MRR — and eventually, I took the leap to leave my full-time job to focus on it completely. In this talk, I’ll share lessons I’ve learned so far: - Growing and engaging a community around your project - What actually works (and doesn’t) when pricing open source - The realities of open core models and building in public - Why plugin-based systems and extensibility create long-term value - How to talk to users without getting misled (using the Mom Test) - Why focusing on what really matters beats chasing every request - Taking the leap to go full-time — and how to know when the timing is right - The trade-offs and hard truths no one tells you about monetizing OSS You’ll walk away with a candid, practical playbook for making open source sustainable — whether your goal is side income, a self-funded business, or simply building a project that lasts.