The Challenge of Open-Source Project Visibility

Typically, developers of open-source projects receive minimal information regarding their user base. While this anonymity is a core tenet of open source, it presents a challenge for those aiming to monetize their work, as data feedback from users is limited.

Unlike proprietary software, where purchase information and telemetry data are readily available, open-source code often lacks these insights. Scarf is an emerging solution designed to address this issue.

From Telemetry to a New Approach

Initially, Scarf’s founder, Avi Press, explored utilizing telemetry to gather usage data. Having developed several successful developer tools, he observed a growing demand for user support as their popularity increased.

Scarf co-founder and CEO Avi Press (Image Credits: Scarf)

“The increasing time commitment to support was significant, yet the project clearly delivered value to larger organizations,” Press explained. “This realization sparked the idea of potentially offering dedicated support or developing features specifically for these companies, or finding a way to monetize the project more effectively.”

However, he quickly encountered a data scarcity problem. Beyond direct user feedback and download statistics from platforms like GitHub, understanding project usage remained difficult, hindering informed monetization strategies and the identification of commercial users.

“Deploying code without observability would be considered reckless in most corporate environments – potentially even grounds for dismissal. This standard applies across nearly all software domains, except for open source.”

Image Credits: Scarf

The Evolution of Scarf

This led to the initial iteration of Scarf: a package manager intended to provide usage analytics and facilitate the sale of project variations. However, the community met this approach with resistance, questioning its alignment with open-source principles.

“Discussions revealed a consensus: existing package registries already possess this data. Developers frequently request this information from companies like NPM and Docker,” Press stated, emphasizing the inherent value of such data.

Consequently, Scarf has adopted a refined strategy. It now offers an NPM library with documentation pixel tracking, but its primary focus is on registries. The company is launching a middleware layer between the code and the registry.

This allows developers to direct users to the Scarf registry initially, which then redirects traffic to Docker Hub or the GitHub Container Registry. Scarf then provides maintainers with valuable insights into traffic patterns.

“Developers specify where their containers are located, and users pull images through Scarf, which redirects the traffic accordingly. We then expose data to maintainers, including the originating company, whether the pull occurred on a laptop or in CI, the cloud provider used, the container runtime, and the software version downloaded. This information is readily available from the traffic, but registries haven’t historically provided it.”

Funding and Future Plans

Scarf has secured $2 million in seed funding, led by Wave Capital, with participation from 468 Capital and angel investors, to support its development and expansion.

Early Stage: A Resource for Startups

Early Stage is a leading event providing practical guidance for startup entrepreneurs and investors. Attendees gain firsthand knowledge from successful founders and venture capitalists on building businesses, securing funding, and managing investments.

The event covers all facets of company development, including fundraising, recruitment, sales, legal matters, public relations, marketing, and brand building. Each session incorporates audience participation, allowing for questions and discussion.

• Fundraising: Learn strategies for attracting investment.
• Recruiting: Discover best practices for building a strong team.
• Sales: Master techniques for driving revenue growth.