Josh Koenig Reflects on DrupalCon BoF and Acquia’s Open Source Strategy

At DrupalCon, more than 100 attendees joined the “Future of the Drupal Economy” Birds of a Feather (BoF) session so many, in fact, that the group had to switch to a larger room. Josh Koenig, Co-Founder of Pantheon, shared his reflections afterward, describing the conversation as “positive overall” and pointing to a growing energy around open web development and economic adaptation within the Drupal ecosystem.

A highlight for Josh was hearing from Matthew Grasmick of Acquia, who referenced the new Starshot strategy memo co-authored with Dries Buytaert. The memo outlines two key shifts: enabling non-developers to manage websites independently and targeting mid-market web projects. 

“This is great,” Josh said. “Acquia appears committed to delivering Experience Builder to address this concern.”

 Unlike the proprietary Site Studio tool, Experience Builder is being developed entirely as open source. “No vendor lock-in. Cheers to that,” he added, noting the importance of involving front-end developers and themers early.

On the economic side, Josh backed the focus on mid-market budgets—projects ranging from $30,000 to $120,000—but questioned whether the traditional model of delivering websites still fits.

 “The ‘launch 'em and leave 'em’ model is out; ‘prove and improve’ is in,” 

he said. He sees potential for recurring revenue through Websites as a Service and emphasized a broader shift in buyer expectations. 

“Buyers want solutions and value, not technical capabilities,” Josh said. “That’s where I want Pantheon to help the ecosystem.”

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