How do you grow a 350-person, globally distributed tech company—without outside venture funding? In this episode of Triangle Tweener Talks, we chat with Peter Zaitsev, Co-Founder of Percona, who bootstrapped his open-source database services and software company from a scrappy two-person startup in the U.K. to a $50M+ revenue business headquartered right here in the Triangle.Peter’s story is anything but linear. He talks about growing up in the Soviet Union, teaching himself assembly code on paper before he even touched a real computer, and starting his first company at age 19—where he quickly realized that “business risk is one thing, but risking a kidney is something else!” After stints with MySQL and a move to Seattle, he eventually settled down in Durham, North Carolina, growing Percona into an open-source industry leader that competes on pure value and top-tier support.Whether you’re an early-stage founder, a bootstrapper at heart, or just love the behind-the-scenes tales of pioneering in open source, this episode is packed with candid lessons on innovation, risk tolerance, and how to “grow or go” without losing sight of what matters to you and your customers.Tune in to hear:Peter’s early days in Russia, learning to code by writing programs on paper.The rise of open-source databases—and how Percona survived and thrived in the wave of cloud, AWS, and managed solutions.Peter’s take on bootstrapping vs. taking venture capital, plus how he steered Percona to $50M+ in revenue with zero outside funding.How his zero-to-one mindset paved the way for other ventures like Altinity, FerretDB, and Coroot.Why he chose to relocate Percona (and his family) to the Triangle—and how he learned he’s more of a “small team, big ideas” guy than a 350-person operator.Where to Find Peter Zaitsev:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterzaitsev/PeterZaitsev.com: https://peterzaitsev.com/Percona: https://www.percona.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterzaitsev/Where to Find Scot Wingo:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thescotwingo/Tweener Times: https://www.tweenertimes.com/X: https://x.com/scotwingoIn this episode:(00:03:44) Growing Up in the Soviet Union: Peter describes learning code by writing assembly on paper and dreaming of real computers.(00:08:09) Founding Spylog at 19: The excitement (and danger) of launching a web analytics startup in late ’90s Russia—“equity or a kidney” decisions included.(00:13:15) MySQL & the Open-Source Spark: How Peter’s early clashes (and collaborations) with MySQL’s founders shaped his approach to open-source performance.(00:26:30) Leaving MySQL & Moving to the UK: Peter’s leap from a corporate gig to founding Percona in London—and how consulting work morphed into something bigger.(00:30:33) Percona Lands in California: Navigating the 2008 financial crisis, Sun’s acquisition of MySQL, and the unexpected tailwinds for open-source databases.(00:40:01) Why the Triangle? Peter shares what drew him (and eventually Percona) to Durham, NC—seasons, startup culture, and less traffic than Silicon Valley!(00:45:45) MySQL vs. PostgreSQL in the Cloud Era: The shifting momentum in open-source databases and why “tuning by credit card” happens on AWS and beyond.(00:52:10) Building an Open-Source Ecosystem: From support subscriptions to new ventures like Altinity and Coroot—Peter explains his passion for transparent software.(00:59:10) The Zero-to-One Founder Mentality: Why Peter thrives on the excitement of small, agile teams—and how he handles “too many good ideas” before breakfast.(01:03:05) CEO Lessons: Knowing when to hire a CEO, evolving as a founder, and final thoughts on putting customers (not licenses) first.In the news:Percona Redefines Cloud-Native Database Management with Percona Everest: the World's First Open Source Public DBaaS Alternative: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917948450/en/Percona-Redefines-Cloud-Native-Database-Management-with-Percona-Everest-the-Worlds-First-Open-Source-Public-DBaaS-AlternativePercona Percolates, Permeates & Penetrates To Platform Position: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adrianbridgwater/2022/05/17/percona-percolates-permeates--penetrates-to-platform-position/---Triangle Tweener Talks is hosted by Scot Wingo, presented by Triangle Tweener Fund, and produced by Earfluence. ------Triangle Tweener Talks is sponsored by:Atomic Object: https://atomicobject.com/
