I started an open source project in 2004. This week, it hit 30000 GitHub stars
a year ago
- #startup-journey
- #sustainability
- #open-source
- Started an open-source project in 2004 to improve phpMyAdmin for client use.
- Project grew organically over 21 years, reaching 30,000 GitHub stars.
- Initial phase (2004-2014): Built alone, no community, used GPLv3 license.
- 10k stars (2015-2020): Gained traction, refactored code, faced scaling challenges.
- 20k stars (2020-2023): Formed a company, raised $1M seed, navigated VC challenges.
- 30k stars (2023-2025): Grew to 50 people, focused on sustainability, raised $9M.
- Future (2025+): Full rewrite planned, staying true to open-source ethos.
- Key lessons: Build for yourself first, simplicity scales, community is the engine.