From the beginning, the KumoMTA concept was to build something that transcended borders and challenged how people think about software, work and business. As we have grown, we have intentionally looked for international expansion opportunities. This is a story of growth and expansion that defies conventional thinking.
If you have been following along for the past two-and-a-half years, you have seen us grow from "hey, this thing might actually work" to 700 Discord users, installs in at least ten countries on six continents and taking the lead on some cutting-edge security enhancements. While we are proud to talk about the extreme performance, this has always been about more than creating top-tier software - we also wanted to build this company in an unconventional way to respond to unconventional times.
KumoMTA was built from the ground up as a company that provides high-volume commercial email infrastructure for a global community of users. The founders, a Canadian, a Worldly Brit, and a dual Canada/USA citizen, are not strangers to international business, and also have some deep experience with open-source software. This had to be a company that was as open with HR policy as it was with software. The transparency and flexibility that is inherent in open-source software needed to extend to documentation, security, work/life balance and business structure. This summer marks a milestone for us in those efforts.
We are so happy to share that our team now includes official company contributors physically located in five time zones, in five countries. This is in addition to the non-official repo contributors that hail from even more countries. Between these, we have code, documentation and professional services touch points in France, New Zealand, Australia, Amsterdam, USA, UK, Germany, Canada, and more. And I have not even counted the regional partnership with the Postmastery team that covers their own geographic span. The map view with KumoMTA people (blue), and repo contributors (gold) is very satisfying.
While having actual paid company contributors in five countries poses its own challenges, this is a happy problem to have. This also helps us build on the initiative to break the mould of what a company is and how HR should look. You will notice I have not used the term "employee" here. Being so geographically diverse, it is imperative that we have a trust relationship with everyone and a very flat hierarchy. There are no "office hours", but rather "task lists". Everyone contributes like they own the place, and there is no room for MBA-style structure. As we grow this more, I hope this can be a model for others who want to build something new and exciting that can break down business stereotypes that block innovation. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need VC funding, and you do not need to spend 3 years making it perfect before launch. What you need to do is act on your idea.
Whether this is your first blog read or you have been following us from the beginning, we want to thank all of our supporters who have challenged us, contributed to code, corrected documentation, and deployed the software. You have made the work to expand and provide services globally completely worthwhile.
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KumoMTA is the first open-source MTA designed from the ground up for the world's largest commercial senders. We are fueled by Professional Services and Sponsorship revenue.
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