In this interview, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dirk Morris, Co-Founder & CTO of Untangle. Untangle provides an open source, integrated network gateway solution for small businesses, which includes spam and spyware blocking, web filtering, anti-virus protection, firewall, VPN, and numerous other features. These applications are critical for small businesses, but most other solutions on the market are too complex or too expensive to be implemented by small companies with limited budgets and IT expertise.

Untangle integrates all of these existing open source network gateway applications into a single application, which can be run on a single server with a simple user interface. Their entire core offering is free, making it a great solution for small businesses, but they do have a monetization strategy which includes commercial add-ons, such as tech support and server hardware.

Dirk shares about the tremendous opportunities Untangle has had to reach small businesses, largely due to the fact that their entire product offering is free and open source. He also shares about his personal background and career path, which began on the engineering side, but quickly led him to exciting entrepreneurial and business opportunities. He gives some great advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, including how to find and develop relationships with advisers and mentors, which are crucial when starting a company.

Last month, Untangle announced the addition of a couple of new technologies. First was their Re-Router Technology, which allows their software to run in the background on a standard Windows desktop, protecting all of the computers in the network without the use of a dedicated server. OStatic provides a good overview of the benefits of this new technology. They also announced their new “Silver Bullet,” which is a free USB stick that comes pre-loaded with the Re-Router tech, allowing for a quick demo of its capabilities and an easy way to get started. The VAR Guy gives his take on the Silver Bullet here.

Untangle has also worked on initiatives to utilize Linux and open source software to refurbish old computers for use in schools, helping children and minimizing waste…it’s great to see startups who are active in the community!

Below is a demo of the Untangle software:

To check out more, visit the Untangle demo site.

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This video focuses exclusively on early-stage startup advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Thomas Stocking and David Dennis at GroundWork Open Source walk through the process of starting a company, step-by-step, covering everything from selecting a winning product idea to negotiating VC funding.

David and Thomas start by highlighting the importance of initially brainstorming numerous ideas, and being ruthless with the selection process. They also emphasize that founders should vet these ideas with experts in the field, and they provide advice on how to find people who will provide objective feedback (this may include calling up VCs, analysts, media contacts…even executives of competing companies!) They mention the challenges of covering initial startup expenses, and discuss strategies for successfully closing your first round of venture capital funding, which involve being prepared with a compelling presentation and answers to tough questions.

Thomas and David also communicate that incredible persistence is required to make a startup company succeed, but at the same time, founders must be willing to continually reassess and refocus their business plan…it’s crucial not to become too attached to one idea! The interview concludes with their advice on the skill set required to succeed as a founder or CEO of a startup, and how to direct your career such that you acquire and develop those skills. If you’re thinking about starting a company, then this is the episode for you!

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GroundWork Open Source is a company specializing in IT and network monitoring solutions. Many excellent open source IT management tools can currently be found on the web, but the challenge lies in the integration of these tools, which is what GroundWork provides, at 20% of the cost of comparable proprietary IT software (or less, in the case of their free community version). The open source aspect also allows their software to be very flexible for unique applications, and they provide highly scalable enterprise packages for growing customers.

In this interview, I had the opportunity to speak with Thomas Stocking, Co-Founder and Sr. Director of Customer Support, and David Dennis, Sr. Director of Product Marketing, and they discuss all about the company’s tech, product features, open source business strategy, marketing approach, and competitive pricing. Stay tuned for Part 2, an episode focused exclusively on advice for entrepreneurs!

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