On the best-kept secret of VC-backed "open source" startups.
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Keygen Blog
The latest blog posts from Keygen on software licensing, software engineering, and running a SaaS business.
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The outlier paradox
People seek certainty before they act, but becoming an outlier requires acting without it.
Imposter syndrome
On pushing through imposter syndrome and overcoming self-doubt as a founder.
The space elevator
A short story on bootstrapping and startups.
Time away
On what matters — and taking time away as a founder.
Self-promotion
On the mistakes new founders make when it comes to self-promotion online.
Trailblazing
On the impacts of technology and culture in startups and small business.
Locked-in
On the risks of vendor lock-in and how to escape it.
No calls
Enterprise sales don't have to be crazy.
Don't die
On the most important rule in SaaS: don't die.
Longevity, or abandonware?
As a customer of an open core product, is the promise of longevity for you, or somebody else?
Source-available is meaningless
On the multifaceted dishonesty in commercial open source.
You can't rely on people being good
On the inherent risks of exploitation in commercial open source.
The real problem with Open Core
Is Open Core really open, or is it abandonware?
The problem with Open Core
What does Open Core actually mean, and is it Open Source?
Keygen joins the Open Source Pledge
Keygen is joining the Open Source Pledge, committing to donate at least $2,000 per-developer annually to support Open Source.
Licensing is packaging
On the first- and second-order effects of software licensing.
Keygen is now Fair Source
Keygen relicenses from ELv2 to the Fair Core License.
Your 14-Day Free Trial Ain't Gonna Cut It
Ramblings about common free trial lengths and time-to-convert.
Announcing Multi-User Licenses
Introducing support for multi-user licenses in our software licensing API.
That One Time Keygen Went Down for 5 Hours (Twice)
A postmortem of the dashboard and API outage that occurred on February 5th and 6th, 2024.
All Your Licensing Are Belong To Us^W You
Keygen, a software licensing and distribution API, goes open source.
Announcing Advanced Roles and Permissions
Introducing a new way for enterprises to secure their Keygen integrations.
How to Bulk Insert Nested Attributes in Rails
Learn how to bulk insert nested attributes in Rails, rather than sequentially.
Move Fast and Break Things (Without Breaking Things)
API design is hard. Learn how Keygen handles API versioning, and how we make changes even when that means breaking things.
Upgrading Your Keygen API Integration From v1.0 to v1.1
Learn how to safely upgrade your licensing integration from v1.0 to v1.1 of Keygen's API.
Announcing Cryptographic License Files
Introducing a new, even easier way, to handle offline and air-gapped licensing with Keygen.
Why Freemium Pricing Is So Popular
Freemium pricing is a business model that has seen a lot of success within startups. But why is that?
How to Safely Change the Argument Signature of a Sidekiq Job
Learn how to safely change a Sidekiq job's argument signature.
How to Use Hexadecimal Ed25519 Public Keys in Node.js
Learn how to use hexadecimal Ed25519 keys with Node's crypto module.