Although the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down Canonical's plans to go public in the next few years, CEO Mark Shuttleworth says that this tough time will likely breed a new generation of startups. In particular, it can present opportunities for open source software companies like his.
Because open source software often runs on the cloud, it may be more attractive than ever to companies that plan to continue operating remotely for the foreseeable future. Canonical, for example, it best known for its flagship open source operating system Ubuntu, which works the same way on any device, regardless of whether it's running in the cloud or on private servers. This appeals to developers and large businesses alike, Shuttleworth says.
In general, he predicts that successful new startups will launch this year because of the crisis, not just in spite of it.
"A difficult time like this is also a time for new creation as much as it is destructive," Shuttleworth told Business Insider. "There will be new startups founded that will solve problems this year because of the changes of the economy, lifestyles, and practices around us. Those startups will tend to be heavily skewed towards open source."
He's not the first to expound on open source's strengths during tough times: Other tech executives have explained how companies specializing in open source software were better able to weather the last financial crisis, too.
So far, Shuttleworth says he has not seen direct impact from the pandemic on Canonical's business, though he admits it's too early to tell.
"At the end of the day, people need us for what they're using Ubuntu for — they use a huge amount of Ubuntu," he said. Canonical is trying to appeal to businesses facing a financial crunch by playing up its cost efficiency. "There's a big push for value in enterprises. That obviously plays to our strengths."
Going public is an 'appropriate next step for us as a business'
Shuttleworth says he feels that going public is the "appropriate next step" for Canonical, a 16-year-old business, though he plans to wait and see how the markets settle through the coronavirus pandemic.
"It will be prudent not to do anything like that until the world economy has settled," Shuttleworth said. "There's too much uncertainty in the market right now."
He still hopes to bring Canonical public in the next few years, ideally after it's hit north of $200 million in yearly revenue. Part of achieving that goal is snapping up more large business customers.
On Thursday, Canonical announced Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, a new version with additional security and performance features tailored for large enterprises, including new virtual private network capabilities to let users work remotely and securely.
"All of our focus is in the combination of developer capabilities and security," Shuttleworth said. "The developers want the latest capabilities and enterprises have the best security. What is the recipe for productivity? We're scanning the horizon for what the best developers want."
Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at rmchan@jkmperu.com, Signal at 646.376.6106, Telegram at @rosaliechan, or Twitter DM at @rosaliechan17. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request.
