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I don't understand what is the business case for acquiring an open-source framework? Can someone explain why couldn't they just contribute or fork the project?

tmorton 4y ago
It's an aquihire - they get the core team on staff. They can influence the open-source project roadmap, and get priority support for their integrations.
SeanAnderson 4y ago
It's pretty decent, passive marketing, too. One could argue a similar effect would be achieved by a fork, but I don't think it would ring as true to SWEs. I think about Google a lot more due to how prolific Material Design is throughout my web experience, I think about Meta a lot more due to how prolific React is throughout my web experience, etc.
nilsbunger 4y ago
Rewinding earlier, what is the case for VC investment in an open source framework? Usually it's some variation of proprietary extensions ("open core"), enterprise support, and/or hosting. Docker, Red Hat, MongoDB are prominent examples. So that could also be the rationale for Shopify acquiring it. Alternatively, they could've just wanted to acquihire an excellent team.
- tough 4y ago
  You can learn more about OSS.Capital at their site, Joseph Jacks leaded the Remix funding a little less than a year ago, this is their first exit. He has a really cool concept on how Open Source Software will eat Software. https://twitter.com/JosephJacks_/status/1586507090096312321 https://twitter.com/JosephJacks_/status/1586507090096312321
sgallant 4y ago
Offering a great developer experience (DX) when building e-commerce sites is core to their strategy. DX was a key reason why they beat Squarespace in the early e-commerce days: developers preferred building Shopify sites over Squarespace sites. It's in Shopify's best interest to maintain that developer love and Remix can help with that. Here are two hypothetical situations to highlight that point: 1. If someone else, say, Swell [1], had better DX than Shopify, we would see Shopify start to lose market share to Swell for the segment of the market where developers can influence the tooling decision (i.e. agencies). 2. If in two years from now, everyone is using Next.js to build e-commerce sites, that would put Vercel (the company behind Next.js) in a good position to promote/partner with other e-commerce providers or build their own e-commerce solution and compete with Shopify. The developer market segment is important and DX is key there. [1] https://www.swell.is/ https://www.swell.is/
Overtonwindow 4y ago
Because some people want to make money with their acquisitions…

tmorton 4y ago

It's an aquihire - they get the core team on staff. They can influence the open-source project roadmap, and get priority support for their integrations.

SeanAnderson 4y ago

It's pretty decent, passive marketing, too. One could argue a similar effect would be achieved by a fork, but I don't think it would ring as true to SWEs. I think about Google a lot more due to how prolific Material Design is throughout my web experience, I think about Meta a lot more due to how prolific React is throughout my web experience, etc.

nilsbunger 4y ago

Rewinding earlier, what is the case for VC investment in an open source framework? Usually it's some variation of proprietary extensions ("open core"), enterprise support, and/or hosting. Docker, Red Hat, MongoDB are prominent examples. So that could also be the rationale for Shopify acquiring it. Alternatively, they could've just wanted to acquihire an excellent team.

tough 4y ago
You can learn more about OSS.Capital at their site, Joseph Jacks leaded the Remix funding a little less than a year ago, this is their first exit. He has a really cool concept on how Open Source Software will eat Software. https://twitter.com/JosephJacks_/status/1586507090096312321 https://twitter.com/JosephJacks_/status/1586507090096312321

sgallant 4y ago

Offering a great developer experience (DX) when building e-commerce sites is core to their strategy. DX was a key reason why they beat Squarespace in the early e-commerce days: developers preferred building Shopify sites over Squarespace sites. It's in Shopify's best interest to maintain that developer love and Remix can help with that. Here are two hypothetical situations to highlight that point: 1. If someone else, say, Swell [1], had better DX than Shopify, we would see Shopify start to lose market share to Swell for the segment of the market where developers can influence the tooling decision (i.e. agencies). 2. If in two years from now, everyone is using Next.js to build e-commerce sites, that would put Vercel (the company behind Next.js) in a good position to promote/partner with other e-commerce providers or build their own e-commerce solution and compete with Shopify. The developer market segment is important and DX is key there. [1] https://www.swell.is/ https://www.swell.is/

Overtonwindow 4y ago

Because some people want to make money with their acquisitions…