Bold & Open

Bold & Open is a Substack focused on the growth and management of open source projects and communities. It covers strategies for community engagement, innovation through collaboration, and leveraging open standards and practices for success. The newsletter examines case studies across different sectors, including technology, activism, and education.

Open Source Projects Community Engagement Collaboration and Innovation Brand and Marketing Social Movements Cryptocurrency Public Sector Innovation Design in Open Source Climate Change Awareness Investment in Open Startups

The hottest Substack posts of Bold & Open

And their main takeaways

Why inviting others to steal your ideas can propel you forward

39 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Intellectual Property Marketing Open Source Innovation
  1. Creating unnecessary scarcity by holding tightly to ideas through patents, trademarks, and copyright can limit opportunities and hinder growth.
  2. Embracing piracy and copycats can lead to collaboration and new opportunities for growth by leveraging the attention and ideas they bring.
  3. Focus on making what is naturally scarce in your work the core of your offering, and build around it to create value and sustain your business model.

How Serbian activists created a Revolution, and what we can learn from it to change things

19 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
🌍 World Politics Unity Tactics Leadership
  1. Principles behind successful peaceful revolutions can be universal, even if tactics need to be adapted to each specific situation.
  2. Start with achievable, small victories to show vulnerability of current powers and attract more support to your cause.
  3. Having a clear vision of tomorrow that appeals to the average citizen, understanding their needs, and uniting under a common goal are crucial for successful movements.

“Off” the newsletter break

39 implied HN points • 10 Dec 23
💼 Business Newsletter Content creation Community Building Consulting Open Source
  1. The author is returning to writing newsletters after a two-year break and is excited to share new content with subscribers.
  2. During the break, they explored various projects, like coaching and writing, to find out what they were passionate about and what would benefit their audience.
  3. The focus for the new newsletter phase will be on open organizations and communities, showcasing success stories and providing insights for readers.

How a group of Berkeley researchers took over the chip industry

12 HN points • 11 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Open Source Collaboration Investment Membership
  1. Creating open standards can encourage innovation by involving new actors and breaking monopolies in industries that previously depended on closed protocols and tools.
  2. Sharing new open protocols with those still relying on closed ones can lead to increased collaboration and improvements within an industry.
  3. Enabling open licenses for products can increase adoption by commercial companies, fostering innovation and allowing for more significant involvement from various actors in an industry.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

How Wikipedia got volunteers to create 55 million articles

0 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Community Motivation Creation Network
  1. Wikipedia's success in attracting volunteers to create millions of articles lies in understanding the hard side of the community, where a minority contributes most of the value.
  2. Volunteers like Wikipedia editor Steven Pruitt are motivated by non-financial factors, such as community recognition, status, and self-expression.
  3. To form a strong community, focus on identifying and engaging the hard side - the minority of highly engaged members who create substantial value, and understand what motivates them to ensure their continued participation.

The Cycles of Bundling and Unbundling to Unleash the Public Sector's Creativity

0 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Innovation Open Source Monopolies Public Sector Software
  1. Investing in external consultancies or centralised and proprietary systems weakens the capacity of public agents and citizens, hindering influence over tools.
  2. Investing in open source technologies empowers the public sector to control their tools, collaborate with other actors, and amplify tech capabilities.
  3. To challenge monopolies, investing in new open standards or supporting smaller startups developing open alternatives can foster innovation and competition.

Why (and how to) create attractive open source design

0 implied HN points • 25 Feb 24
🪑 Design Branding Creativity
  1. Attractive branding is increasingly important for open source projects to reach and engage more people.
  2. Imitating successful brands and remixing their elements can help in creating appealing and trustworthy designs without the need for expensive graphic designers.
  3. To create your own attractive design, find inspiration from successful examples, break them down into key components, inject your twist, and then either create it yourself or hire someone to help implement it.

How to keep investors happy when you have an open source startup

0 implied HN points • 17 Mar 24
💼 Business Startup funding Investor Relations Open Source Financial sustainability Business Models
  1. Open source projects can thrive by sharing ideas without locking them behind restrictive intellectual property rights.
  2. When seeking funding for an open source startup, consider the need for funding based on growth and profitability.
  3. Investors look for viable projects with clear market fit, competitive advantage, a strong team, scalability potential, and a clear exit strategy.

How to shift your brand's power from your products to your community

0 implied HN points • 24 Mar 24
💼 Business Branding Marketing Community Engagement
  1. Align your organization's brand with your community by focusing on your tribe's identity, goals, and values, instead of trying to fit them into your preconceived brand image.
  2. Create meaningful brand touchpoints that reflect your overall brand essence. Keep these touchpoints simple and few to provide consistent and impactful experiences for your community.
  3. Measure your brand's success through the Brand Commitment Scale, assessing levels of customer satisfaction, delight, engagement, and empowerment. Prioritize building long-term relationships with members over short-term revenues.