Software Firm Is Open for Innovation
MYSQL chief Marten Mickos isn't afraid his rivals in the database-software industry will ever overtake him. "Let them try," he says. "Our secret is in the way we operate our culture, and I'm convinced others cannot imitate that."
Mr. Mickos has about 12 million reasons to feel that way -- the number of (mostly unpaid) programmers in MySQL's collaborative community. The company has been committed to "open-source" innovation since its founding in 1995.
Like Linux and others, it shares its source code free of charge, giving programmers everywhere permission to debug, add capabilities or otherwise modify the product before redistributing it. (The company makes money by selling commercial licenses and offering support and services.)
Mr. Mickos became senior vice president of Sun Microsystems Inc.'s database group earlier this year when Sun acquired MySQL for $1 billion. In a recent interview, he shared his ideas about why MySQL's Internet-age version of a barn raising produces superior innovation and what motivates all those developers.
He spoke with Josh Hyatt, contributing editor of MIT Sloan Management Review, for the Business Insight Journal Report.
