Axel Fontaine, creator of Flyway, one of the most popular database migration tools, joins Marco to share how he built a global open source project, turned it into a profitable business, and sold it to Redgate. From bootstrapping alone to making millions without investors, Axel’s story is a deep dive into the business side of coding.💡 Topics in this episode:How Flyway grew from a side project to an acquisitionThe power of simplicity and zero dependenciesTurning open source into a sustainable businessBootstrapping vs venture capitalLife after selling your company⏱️ Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:54) Guest introduction(01:18) What is Flyway?(02:16) Evolution of databases and CI/CD(07:37) The idea and first version of Flyway(10:41) Competitors and why Axel built his own tool(13:27) Building Flyway’s simplicity and focus(17:30) Design principles: zero dependencies and reliability(20:18) Learning user focus through onboarding docs(23:31) How Flyway’s roadmap evolved(27:00) Handling bugs, testing challenges, and quality(31:27) Marketing and early promotion(33:49) The Maven Release Plugin blog post(36:07) Technical mistakes and lessons learned(38:28) Managing contributors and open-source community(44:44) Burnout and balancing workload(50:43) Turning Flyway into a business(52:20) Failed monetization attempts(01:09:11) Licensing, IP cleanup, and CLA process(01:30:02) First commercial release and first sale(01:31:56) Rapid revenue growth(01:39:07) Leaving consulting and going full-time on Flyway(01:44:30) Negotiating with enterprise customers(01:46:55) Acquisition interest and decision process(01:52:46) Decision to sell(02:04:57) Life after the sale and reflection(02:07:38) Key lessons for founders(02:09:50) Giveaway(02:10:47) Rapid-fire questions(02:13:18) OutroNew episodes every other Wednesday. Subscribe for more deep, developer-focused conversations.📺 Watch the episodes on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lwF2fg1fOHk 

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