Joseph Jacks bets on open source startups, a ‘paradox of philanthropy and capitalism’

Joseph Jacks invests in open-source startups aiming to balance capitalism and philanthropy.

: Joseph Jacks and OSS Capital invest in early-stage open-source startups, promoting the 'open core' model as sustainable. These investments include Formbricks, AppFlowy, Plane, and others. While open source is not a business model, Jacks believes that 'open core' can effectively bridge open-source's philanthropic nature with capitalism's profit motives.

Joseph Jacks, through OSS Capital, invests in early-stage open-source startups such as Formbricks, AppFlowy, and Plane. He sees a harmony between open-source’s philanthropic essence and capitalism's drive for profit, embodying this through sustainable business models.

OSS Capital was founded in 2018 and has raised three $50 million funds, with plans for a fourth. They focus on seed-stage investments and sometimes support follow-on funding through special purpose vehicles.

Jacks advocates for the 'open core' model, where core software remains open source, but additional features are proprietary. He believes this model will outperform traditional proprietary software, a sentiment shared by others like GitLab's Sid Sijbrandij.