If you can't capture sufficient value, you're not going to be able to make a business around it. The problem isn't value creation, which the OSS model does do.

If you can't capture sufficient value, you're not going to be able to make a business around it. The problem isn't value creation, which the OSS model does do. The problem is value capture. That's why so many people go around saying "We need to pay X more". That's a sign that creation and capture have a gap. You'll see that with traditional open-source. With companies that attempt to capture the value, your customers will always hate you unless you're careful. Of course using the Elastic license family from the beginning is one way there. The Llama license family is another way. But perhaps my favourite observed thing has to be Kong's licensing: the base thing is Apache 2.0 but when you sign a contract with them, they'll give you access to the Enterprise plugins and you can edit their source. I loved working with them. They seem to have done a good job with value capture. I think they're leaving a lot on the table, but there is significant path dependence on what they've done, so they don't have the option any more. But good job.