Gaining Trust through Transparency with Nikhil Nandagopal

The Business of Open Source

Nikhil Nandagopal, Founder and CPO of Appsmith, joins me to chat about building trust, the importance of starting as an open source offering, and how the community continues to shape the future of Appsmith.

In this episode, Nikhil and I discuss the origins of Appsmith, building a business edition as well as a community one, and the challenges he and his team encountered along the way. We compare the community and business editions, discuss the importance of community and an educational, product-led approach to marketing, and even touch on the stigma of the “low code” label with which Appsmith has chosen to align. Listen to learn Nikhil’s views and insight on open source, community, education, developer relations, and more.

Highlights:

• Nikhil introduces himself and Appsmith (0:49)
• Why open source? (2:37)
• Lessons learned by starting with an open source approach (4:57)
• Appsmith community edition vs. business edition (6:33)
• Nikhil recounts his most significant mistakes in creating Appsmith (9:59)
• Nikhil shares Appsmith’s marketing strategy (12:20)
• The importance of nurturing your community in open source (16:01)
• Unexpected challenges Nikhil encountered in the early days of Appsmith (18:03)

Links:

Nikhil

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhil-nandagopal-05534241/
• Twitter: @NikilNandagopal
• Company: https://www.appsmith.com/