My Journey Building PyMC Labs: Five Principles from Open Source that Boost Innovation at any Company - PyMC Labs
I've always wondered why open-source software (OSS) was so much better and more innovative than what companies with armies of highly paid and trained programmers could produce. And if we figured out why, could we apply these same principles to make companies more innovative and fun places to work at?
PyMC Labs consists entirely out of the open-source developers behind PyMC, which I can confidently say is an amazing and highly innovative piece of software that gives any commercial product a run for its money. The caliber of developers and statisticians we were able to attract to this project is simply stunning. So when starting Labs, we definitely had the expertise to solve advanced analytical problems, as well as the experience to do that together. But would this work in a commercial setting where all of a sudden there was money, deadlines, and paying customers involved? Would we have to submit to the business pressures, hire a Scrum Master(TM), implement a strict hierarchy with top-down management, like almost every other company, or, could we preserve the more free-flowing and collaborative spirit of our open-source roots?
I'm very happy to say that I think we identified the principles that make OSS successful and how they can be applied to any business to foster innovation, happiness, and excellence.
