Driving the TYPO3 Restructuring Project

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In April, the members of the TYPO3 Association voted for the evaluation of a potential reorganization, with the goal to find ways to better leverage our ecosystem. Basically, the Association is tasked to check if we could set up one or more companies that generate money by providing services and products. Money that can again be used to guarantee a permanent development of our products as well as for supporting our marketing operations. The TYPO3 Restructuring ProjectAs you might be aware, I was appointed to lead this project and I started in late May with some preparation work for our endeavor. As the overall topic is not new to me, I basically tried to talk to as many people (preferably outside the TYPO3 ecosystem) as possible. And I quickly realized that, while I did a lot of start-up work in my career, building business around an existing product and user base is a completely different ballgame. Things that are usually rather hard to develop, such as a massive client base and a great product, are in place already, when the usual not-so-much-of-a-brainer things, such as how to create revenue streams and recruitment, turn out to be challenging. What stays, unfortunately, is the need for funding. Project TeamOne of the key steps I have taken with the preparation was to build a team. A set of people, most of them entrepreneurs themselves, which reflects various areas of interest for this project. All of them with a very specific skillset. I spent quite some time on this, talking to a lot of people. And it was quite hard to create a final list, as there is so much talent out there (and most of them I know personally). I ended up with these guys: Robert Lindh, Daniel Homorodean, Daniel Bachmann, Volker Graubaum, Boris Hinzer, Adrian Zimmermann, Mathias Schreiber, Jochen Weiland, Fabian Stein and Olivier Dobbberkau. And yesterday, we did a real-life kick-off meeting in Dusseldorf. I presented the current state of the project, the overall process and in the afternoon we were already able to start with products and funding workshops. The day was fast-paced and immediately brought great insights.Next StepsIn the next week we will focus intensively on developing a feasible plan. While things such as Funding, Business Model and Recruiting/HR need to be water-proof conceptually, minor details will only be described in the plan. The deliverable of the project will be a document that describes the “Minimal Viable Company”.After we have a first version of this concept, we will publish it in its entirety with comments and create a space where everyone can give input and feedback. This feedback will then later be taken into account before we present the concept at the General Assembly 2016.I am looking forward to continue working on this. It’s exciting to see there is so much potential out there and I am learning every day that TYPO3 is so much bigger than I had previously thought.If you feel like contributing to our work or you have questions, please feel free to contact me at any time at your convenience.

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