One website for the project and company

For companies that are able to 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 cause confusion 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.

Website content

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 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:

Headline and description. The headline should explain your company in a few words. The description should explain what you do in 1-2 sentences.
Value props and/or features. How does the product help its users and what the existing or planned features?
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.
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 technology they replace in each.
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 founders are included on the website and share their specific expertise. Include the founders role in the open source project (creator, maintainer, contributor).

Company logo and website design

Founders are encouraged to use AI tools to create their own website/logo and choose whichever website hosting platform they are most comfortable with. When prompting AI, consider including:

Any significance or meaning behind the company name.