Website

The content of your website should be forward-looking. Build the website for the product you want to have in 6 months; your website will undergo many, many iterations over time. Aim to have a company website published in your first week or sooner. OCV will transfer any existing domain names to the founder.

The first version of your website may be a single page, but should include:

1. Headline and description. The headline should explain your company in a few words. The description should explain what you do in 1-2 sentences.

2. Value props and/or features. How does the product help its users, and what are the existing or planned features?

3. Pricing. The pricing page is often the most visited because it quickly tells visitors what the company offers. Even if you’re not sure what you are selling or for how much, it’s a good exercise to start thinking about. The first version may be an hourly rate for support and services.

4. Competitors. A simple and clear way to help people understand your business is to list the companies and technologies you replace. For example, GitLab’s Platform page lists each category it serves and which tools and technologies it replaces in each.

5. About us and contact us. Include the company vision and mission, details about the open source project, a contact form, and team bios. It’s important that founders are included on the website and share their specific expertise. Include the founder's role in the open source project (creator, maintainer, contributor).

6. Terms of Use. Use the template provided by OCV’s legal team.

7. Privacy Policy. Use the checklist provided by OCV’s legal team.

One website for the project and the company

For companies that can maintain the original project name, it’s best to keep the open source project and commercial company websites together rather than separate, if you can. Two different websites can confuse and require double the effort to maintain. Much of that effort will be duplicative.

Don’t worry about deprecating the existing open source project website. Instead, make the commercial company website a superset of the two. The commercial site should be the go-to destination for all communication and information. Eventually, the two websites may evolve into one, but that can happen over time. Doing everything all at once may alarm the community. It’s better if this is a gradual process that happens as the community gains trust in the commercial entity. People are a lot more receptive to change as long as the commercial company is consistently doing the right thing.

If combining the open source and company website isn’t an option, create a new website and include a link to the open source project repo in the website footer.

Terms of Use

Terms of Use, also known as Terms of Service, are a legal agreement between a company or website and its users that outlines the rules and guidelines for using the service. It's a legally binding agreement between the company or website and its users that protects both parties' interests.

Terms of Use Template

Terms of Use Template

Provided by OCV’s legal counsel for OCV (open core) companies as of February 20, 2023. Companies must review and edit highlighted sections prior to releasing their Terms of Use.

Privacy Policy

A privacy policy tells visitors what information you collect from them and what you do with it. If you collect any personal information (emails, names, etc.), you need one. If should cover how you handle any personal information collected by the company from the website, products, and services. Not all privacy policies look the same—yours should match what your website actually does. Don't mention mobile apps if you don't have one, or talk about data collection of minors if your site isn't for kids.

With respect to the personal information that the privacy policy should cover:

1. Who does the personal information concern?

2. The relationship between the Company and the individuals whose personal information is collected. Is this personal information generally collected in a consumer context or in a business context?

3. How does the Company collect or receive the personal information?

4. For what purposes is the personal information collected, used, and shared?

List all categories of personal information that the Company collects.

Template

Use the provided privacy policy template. Use the Coverage Checklist to determine which sections you need to include and which to eliminate.

Coverage Checklist

Location Requirements