How to Be a Disruptor
By Marten Mickos, MySQL AB
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Run a Distributed Workforce
One key to our success is our distributed workforce. Approximately 70 percent of our 360 employees work from home. Like many next-generation software vendors, we've abandoned the rule that you must force your workers into an office to be effective.
Analysts hail the distributed workforce model as a cutting-edge way to improve efficiency of operations. But the truth is that it is an ancient idea. Before the Industrial Revolution, few people went to a central place to work. Everyone lived where they worked and figured out how to balance their personal/business time on their own.
Hiring the best people from wherever they live in the world is a competitive advantage which brings unique perspectives to our development process. For example, we have an employee living in a small, rural village in Austria -- and yet he is able to participate in one of the most exciting businesses in the world.
Of course, there are some challenges to having a distributed workforce. Some new hires can't figure out how to work from home. And sometimes when problems occur, we blame them on the fact that we are not in the same office. But we work to overcome these challenges. We also hold an annual offsite that looks more like a family reunion, with employees who actually want to be there and are excited to meet their colleagues from around the world.
Foster a Culture of Experimentation
When growing from "startup" to "established company", software vendors often lose some of their ability to innovate. Some experts attribute this to the difficulty of maneuvering a larger organization, while others feel a kind of complacency sets in when a certain level of success is achieved.
As the size of MySQL has grown, we have worked to maintain our level of innovation by fostering a culture of experimentation. Rather than meticulously planning and analyzing every move, we try to test new projects quickly. If the new venture shows promise, we invest further. If not, we try a new approach until a solution is found.
Develop Openly
In contrast to the private nature of proprietary software vendors, MySQL has worked to create an atmosphere of openness for our products. We have constructed an architecture in which our customers and partners can participate in the development and maintenance process. For example, we post bugs on our Web site and each bug has a developer's name associated with it so that customers can contact the appropriate person directly.
Many software companies would never show a design document to anyone outside their development organization - but we do. It takes self-confidence (and humility) for a vendor to invite participation in such an important process but the result is more innovative products that are better matched to the market's needs and future directions.
Distributing our software for free on the Internet also saves us significant marketing dollars compared to our old school ancestors. We don't need to do expensive visibility campaigns because our product is already being used in nascent markets. This way, we can monitor and invest slowly in a new country as their MySQL use matures.
Leverage the Ecosystem
Smart software vendors have always recognized the tremendous value of their ecosystems. Open source companies have the potential to build the largest software ecosystems in software history. MySQL has been downloaded and distributed more than 100 million times in its 11-year history, with approximately 11 million current, active installations.
Naysayers often discount the importance of these users because they may only use the product, without ever paying a cent directly to the vendor. I disagree - I feel this type of user is extremely valuable. The contribution of our ecosystem when taken as a whole is extremely significant. Consider this: if you estimate that just one-fourth of our ecosystem spends a few hours a week on our product, the combined effort amounts to the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of full-time workers.
No matter how many PhDs you hire, there will always be more power outside your company. Leveraging the contributions of the ecosystem does not involve salary, management or pensions, and it enables your company to be much larger than your company size will allow you to be. Even if you are not receiving monetary compensation, you can gain invaluable product feedback, bug fixes, word-of-mouth recommendations and general goodwill.
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