Ashley Jeffs shares his journey with Benthos, an open source stream processor that was acquired by Redpanda. We talk about the evolution of data streaming technologies, the challenges he faced while growing the project, the decision to bootstrap versus seek venture capital, and what ultimately led to the acquisition. We discuss reactions to licensing changes, what it’s like to have your thing acquired, the challenging yet fulfilling nature of open source work, what’s next for Benthos, and what it takes to enjoy the journey.

Mihai and Ashley join Jon to discuss data streaming. What is it, why is it being used, and common mistakes developers make when setting up. They also discuss some of the tools in the ecosystem, including Benthos, a tool created by Ashley Jeff’s to make the plumbing part of data streaming easier to get right.