Funding is not the (only) solution
summary
Prototype Fund gives six-month grants up to 47,500 euro and has funded 270 projects with 11.4 million euro total, targeting public-interest FOSS. It contrasts survival paths: volunteer-supported projects (Debian reproducible builds), media-driven donations (Mastodon), fiscal hosts and associations (Fairtronics), NGOs spun from projects (Mnemonic), commercial partnerships (Greenhost + Stackspin), and SaaS/licensing (pretix, OpenSanctions). Concrete advice: start sustainability planning on day one, join existing communities, avoid rebuilding solved pieces, and diversify income streams.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction and welcome
- 1:05The funding cliff problem
- 6:19What is the Prototype Fund
- 8:25Volunteer models and their limits
- 12:55Joining associations for structure
- 16:28Founding NGOs for sustainability
- 18:36Collaborating with existing companies
- 21:46Starting your own business
- 25:21Alternative funding and support models
- 26:02Funding is not the only solution
- 29:10Q&A: Follow-up funding and challenges
- 30:53Q&A: Open source from business perspective
- 32:59Q&A: Funding community dynamics
- 34:52Closing remarks
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