tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post9018992868532752347..comments2023-12-20T04:44:35.280-05:00Comments on Bickel Blog: JBoss Recollections - Part 2Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00989147278616251322noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-17297642748792780722012-08-15T16:50:13.384-04:002012-08-15T16:50:13.384-04:00Pretty much anything we did publicly that even tou...Pretty much anything we did publicly that even touched the idea of business + open source + $$$ sparked massive viciousness. One of the things that annoyed me the most was that Spring Source pretty much followed in our business footsteps and they never received the negative backlash we did for doing the exact same sort of things. Kinda makes me feel we blazed a path for others to follow.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03180972204867205393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-79002866728490272652012-08-14T14:36:49.585-04:002012-08-14T14:36:49.585-04:00On the comp plan and dis-satisfied people. I am g...On the comp plan and dis-satisfied people. I am going to cover that a bit in Part 3. Pies are only 360 degrees and always tough to split. No matter how big you grow that pie.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00989147278616251322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-37097345076202354032012-08-14T14:34:00.326-04:002012-08-14T14:34:00.326-04:00I wasn't planning on going into more detail. ...I wasn't planning on going into more detail. I think we paid like $100K or so. And that was a LOT of money back then for us (you). We did not have VC backers and it was cash right out with an undefined pay-off. Fortunately, Ben was doing a bang up job of selling enough so you had enough money in the bank to do that...Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00989147278616251322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-12094780441238320432012-08-14T13:19:13.826-04:002012-08-14T13:19:13.826-04:00I don't know if you are going to talk more abo...I don't know if you are going to talk more about the certification but that was really something you pushed for and at first was a bit of stretch. <br /><br />I remember the first meeting at SUN in 2000 (so prior to your time) and the guy looking at me funny and the message was "look kid, J2EE is already a billion dollar industry here and you are about to mess it all up for a lot of people so here is what we are going to do: we are NOT going to let you certify so you don't bother the big boys, but we are going to let you continue and not squash you like a bug, because we can't be seen killing open source in public". Of course, none of this was said in that exact way but that was precisely the message... <br /><br />So I remember you pushing, and I don't remember the number exactly but it was a significant number and furthermore it was money that came out of my personal pocket since at the time JBoss was an LLC. <br /><br />By the time we were leading the pack in terms of downloads and were everywhere, they had no choice but to GET US TO certify us or fear splinting the community and watering down the J2EE brand, by that point it was just a question of time and resources. <br /><br />sorry if I am jumping the gun, I was thinking back to that meeting in the Ritz Carlton suite (you had booked the one in downtown and we were in Buckhead, LOL) and your top of the message of 'certification'... <br /><br />In retrospect you were bang on on that call. adt43wt342https://www.blogger.com/profile/07557608193924044365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-34512747734633584052012-08-14T13:06:51.875-04:002012-08-14T13:06:51.875-04:00The compensation plan... in retrospect I am not so...The compensation plan... in retrospect I am not so sure it was such a good idea. If you remember it was also the point where some people picked up their marbles and decided to go play somewhere else. With 20/20 hindsight the reason was obvious, most people over estimate their contribution. What was harder to swallow for some folks was that the distribution was actually decided by a committee, not just me and it was as close to 'fair' as our little group could come up with. My dad did help a lot in crafting it as it was a little tricky because, as you point out we were an LLC and not a C corp. Ironically the big public spat the dividing faction raised was the first big 'controversy' and it brought us to the attention of investors as well. In many ways, these unfortunate incidents pushed us to accelerate. Which meant 1/investment 2/ PR. The PR paid off handsomely because of the reasons you mention (it was a fun story in a rather dull industry). adt43wt342https://www.blogger.com/profile/07557608193924044365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-53790078908436673772012-08-14T12:42:38.338-04:002012-08-14T12:42:38.338-04:00Keep it coming Bob - I'm enjoying the read.
M...Keep it coming Bob - I'm enjoying the read.<br /><br />MillsyChris Millshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06457650528208939948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4235511691906958855.post-9229909134416357192012-08-14T12:41:50.323-04:002012-08-14T12:41:50.323-04:00Keep it coming Bob - I'm enjoying the read.
M...Keep it coming Bob - I'm enjoying the read.<br /><br />MillsyChris Millshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06457650528208939948noreply@blogger.com