> When you break down the go-to-market strategy, it’s easy to see that open core is just freemium with extra steps. The goal is to get as many people reliant on

> When you break down the go-to-market strategy, it’s easy to see that open core is just freemium with extra steps. The goal is to get as many people reliant on the open source product as possible so they can eventually be monetized. > The free product you use is propped up by the deep pockets of venture capitalists, and at some point, rent is going to come due. Open core companies need to make a significant return for investors or it will not have been worth it. It may not be tomorrow. It may take 5 years. But rest assured, the pressure will take hold at some point. > When that inevitably happens, the most likely outcome is that the open source product will stagnate and be “good enough” while the majority of development focus goes towards the money maker. New features only get added to the cloud product. > Of course, companies will make promises that this will never happen. But these promises exist to assuage the concerns of the current moment, not to guarantee a future state. It’s important to keep up appearances after all.