This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Norman Richards. Original Post: Good luck with the VCs, Interface21 Feed Title: Orb [norman richards] Feed URL: http://members.capmac.org/~orb/blog.cgi/tech/java?flav=rss Feed Description: Monkey number 312,978,199 Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Norman Richards Latest Posts From Orb [norman richards]

VC funding seems like a nice thing at first. It definitely lets you grow a company. I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to join JBoss if it weren't for our first bit of venture funding. From that perspective, it's great. JBoss got to grow, and gave a large number of open source developers the unique opportunity to get directly compensated for their open source efforts. Assuming Interface21 aggressively pursues and pays developers, then I'm very happy that another group of open source developers will get that same benefit.

On the other hand, VC funding at JBoss wasn't always a wonderful thing. Rather than allowing JBoss to succeed and grow, there was the persistent distraction of the money interests. In order to serve our masters, we had to do more than just be a profitable company with great growth. We had to explode. That's not something that most companies can survive. And, JBoss didn't. We were ultimately absorbed into Red Hat with many of the key people that were the heart and soul of JBoss gone.

Don't get me wrong, the VC-required "event" has been very good for me personally as it has for everyone involved with JBoss. Yet, the feeling I get talking to people here is that if we could have possible made it without the venture funding things would be quite different.

So, it's with that slight bit of regret I congratulate Interface21 on their funding. I wonder if they know how much of their soul they just signed away. Hopefully they'll find enough success to make that a worthwhile tradeoff.