Free Code, Future Sustainability

In this episode we chat with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy about the journey of finding a sustainable business model while staying true to the open source model. We discuss the origin of Font Awesome, the power of open source software, and the concept of "actualized open source." Dave shares insights into the success of Font Awesome and their approach to monetizing the project while continuing to provide value to the open source community. They also discuss the launch of their new project, Web Awesome, and their Kickstarter campaign. Tune in to learn more about the intersection of open source and business.

Key Takeaways:

• Font Awesome started as a solution to personal challenges with icons in web development and quickly turned into a global standard.
• The importance of Retina displays in driving the success of vector-based iconography, especially for Font Awesome.
• Balancing a profitable business model with the ethos of open source has resulted in continued improvement and distribution of free software.
• Actualized open source is not just about sustaining a project but enabling it to become everything it can be.
• Font Awesome maintains a commitment to not selling user data and providing a transparent business model based on value exchange.

Notable Quotes:

• "Never let your morals get in the way of doing the right thing."
• "Can we build a company full of people that can actually trust each other?"
• "Can the company and the open-source project be actualized? Can they be self-actualized?"
• "Software has this crazy thing about it that's different from the real world. The real world there is a natural scarcity... But with software, whatever we can provide in software, we can copy and distribute for almost free."
• "What if we could be a place where people could become more of who they were made to be, right, of what they know is good about them?"

Timestamp
0:01:23 | The origin of Font Awesome as a solution to icon frustrations
0:03:00 | Explanation of Retina displays and the significance for graphics
0:04:04 | Font Awesome's advantage of using vector graphics for scalable icons
0:06:00 | Decision to make Font Awesome an open source project
0:08:32 | Font Awesome's rapid growth and the importance of GitHub for distribution
0:09:19 | Realization of Font Awesome's potential and decision to seek funding
0:10:23 | Building Font Awesome as a company instead of relying on external funding
0:11:18 | Dave's preference to avoid fundraising and maintain control over the project
0:11:58 | Open source software should not be begging for money
0:13:15 | The challenge is to build a product that people will pay for
0:14:57 | Font Awesome found a way to make payroll & sustain open source
0:15:22 | Being a pro subscriber is similar to donating to open source
0:17:10 | Transparency and trust are important in the business model
0:20:15 | The goal is to achieve self-actualization in open source
0:23:23 | Company's mission is to fulfill employees in life and workplace
0:28:09 | Launching the web awesome Kickstarter for Shoelace (web awesome)
0:30:10 | The goal is to grow open source exponentially and provide more value
0:31:33 | Motivation should come from what's good enough about us, not what's not what's lacking.

Show Notes:

• https://fontawesome.com 
• Font Awesome YouTube channel
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

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