Over the past few years, we have witnessed significant progress in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). From chatGPT, a state-of-the-art natural language processing model, to a self-driving car that can navigate complex urban environments, the capabilities of AI systems have reached new heights.

How many startups are there? This question drove me to think about what makes a young company successful and how to maximize the chances. This post may be relevant if for some reason you can't make it to the mainstream market (go live) and you feel that your business is stuck a bit.

On November 29th, 2022 I attended a meetup organized by co.brick Venture Building that covered the topic of how to finance startups. Great speakers from startups (Meetlify, Stream Sage), VC (Level2 Ventures), and companies specialized in acquiring public money (GRANTS.CAPITAL) talked about the pros and cons of getting money from VCs and public funds. In this post, I cover my learnings from the meetup that are worth considering before going one or the other way to fundraise.

Companies and startups, in particular, are usually looking for savings and therefore software offered free of charge is the natural choice for them. Open-source software is free of a license fee, yet it doesn't mean that using it is completely costless. How expensive it is? As always - it depends and precise calculations required in-depth knowledge of the company and the development team. Still, let's take a closer look at the cost drivers leaving out the precise calculations.

For most of my professional career, I was working as a member of a bigger group or had someone who was taking key decisions (or at least took the responsibility). When I decided to join co.brick (early 2022) my task was simple: make a product out of the software the company started to build a few months earlier as an internal startup. Sounds simple? Nothing could be more wrong! But how could I have known?