About Chinstrap Community
Chinstrap Community promotes the understanding and adoption of commercial open source software (COSS) business models in the software startup community and the technology industry at large.
We believe that COSS is not only an instrument of software freedom, but a powerful business accelerator. COSS is the ultimate level playing field for technology entrepreneurs around the world.
Chinstrap Community provides information and resources to COSS stakeholders to help them understand and participate in this sector: the entrepreneurs, investors, university professionals, attorneys, and others who work to commercialize innovation. We believe this community needs a forum to share best practices on open source licensing and business models. We aim to dispel false dichotomies between open source development and prosperity .
Who are we
Our Founders
Heather Meeker
Heather Meeker is a renowned expert and sought-after author and speaker on open source software. As an attorney, Heather has represented organizations of all sizes on open source licensing and compliance matters, including most Fortune 50 technology companies and numerous startups across all sectors.
She is the author of two books on open source software: Open (Source) for Business: A Practical Guide to Open Source Software Licensing, and From Project to Profit: How to Build a Business Around Your Open Source Project. She is formerly a founding general partner of OSS Capital and is currently co-founder and general partner of Chinstrap Ventures. In her legal career, she was a partner at the law firms of Greenberg Traurig and O’Melveny & Myers and is currently a partner at Technology Law Partners.
Heather is an alumna of Yale University (BA) and the University of California, Berkeley (JD).
Sabir Ibrahim
Sabir Ibrahim is an entrepreneur and attorney specializing in the law of open source software. He has spoken and written extensively on open source software and other legal issues facing startups. As an entrepreneur, he founded a successful IT services company that served professional services firms. He also bootstrapped a commissary supply business from a mom-and-pop to a small company with over $150,000 in monthly revenues.
As an attorney, he has advised nearly all of the Big Five technology companies on matters relating to open source software licensing and compliance. He is a former associate at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, a former corporate counsel at Amazon Lab126, and a former senior counsel at Roku. Sabir is co-founder and general partner of Chinstrap Ventures.
Sabir is an alum of the University of Michigan College of Engineering (BSE, Computer Science) and the University of Michigan Law School (JD).