Open Source Cowboy Consulting

Pioneering Open Source Frontiers

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Service Offerings & Engagement Models

Open Source Cowboy Consulting provides executive-level services for organizations that treat open source as infrastructure, not experimentation. Engagements are designed for accountability, measurable outcomes, and long-term operability.

1. Open Source Governance & OSPO / dOSPO Design

What this is
Design, build, or refactor open source governance and operating models for scale, safety, and funding durability.

Delivered outcomes

  • OSPO or dOSPO operating model (centralized, federated, or decentralized)
  • Governance charters, committee structures, and decision rights
  • Contributor, maintainer, and steward role definitions
  • Policy stack: contribution, security, licensing, incident response
  • Transition plans from single-vendor to community ownership

Who this is for
Foundations, Web3 ecosystems, AI companies, and enterprises with open source as critical infrastructure.

2. Paid Open Source & Sustainability Models

What this is
Design funding mechanisms that pay for open source without corrupting it.

Delivered outcomes

  • Maintainer Retainer Programs
  • Tooling Sustainability Programs
  • Feature bounty and milestone-based funding models
  • Budget governance and renewal criteria
  • KPI and impact measurement frameworks

Distinct advantage
Built and operated at ecosystem scale, not theoretical.

3. Ecosystem Program Operations & Institutional Build-Out

What this is
End-to-end construction and operation of ecosystem-scale programs that sit between technology, governance, and real institutions.

This is not “program design” in theory. This is standing up programs that must survive politics, budgets, security incidents, and global scrutiny.

Delivered outcomes

  • Member-based operating models for multi-entity ecosystems
  • Committee and working-group systems with real authority and accountability
  • Program execution frameworks spanning incubation, maintenance, and growth
  • Vendor coordination models across competing stakeholders
  • Budget ownership, renewal criteria, and treasury alignment
  • Operational playbooks for day-to-day execution under governance constraints

What this replaces

  • Ad-hoc foundation operations
  • Single-vendor ecosystem control
  • Unclear authority between boards, executives, and contributors

Proof surface
Built and operated at Cardano ecosystem scale, including governance bodies, funding programs, security coordination, and lifecycle management across hundreds of repositories and global contributors.

Who this is for
Foundations, consortia, AI ecosystems, and networks transitioning from founder-led control to institutional stewardship.

4. Open Source Security & Incident Readiness

What this is
Operational security coordination for open source ecosystems.

Delivered outcomes

  • Security council or coordination body design
  • Vulnerability disclosure and response workflows
  • Incident command and escalation models
  • Vendor and maintainer coordination playbooks
  • Post-incident review and structural remediation

Positioning
This is governance and operations, not pentesting.

5. Ecosystem & Program Audits

What this is
Independent, unsentimental assessment of open source programs and portfolios.

Delivered outcomes

  • Program health, maturity, and risk assessments
  • Maintainer sustainability and bus-factor analysis
  • Governance failure modes and bottleneck identification
  • Funding inefficiency and incentive misalignment analysis
  • Clear remediation roadmap with priority ordering

Use case
Boards, executives, or funders needing truth, not reassurance.

6. Executive Advisory: Open Source, AI, and Governance

What this is
Direct advisory for senior leaders navigating open source and AI as institutional infrastructure.

Delivered outcomes

  • Strategic positioning of open source within org or ecosystem
  • Governance risk mitigation
  • Internal alignment between product, legal, security, and community
  • Preparation for board, regulator, or public scrutiny
  • Narrative reframing from “community cost center” to civic infrastructure

Engagement model
Retainer or time-boxed advisory.

7. Education, Enablement, and Thought Leadership

What this is
Structured knowledge transfer without performative evangelism.

Delivered outcomes

  • Executive briefings
  • Internal training for product, legal, and engineering teams
  • Workshops on governance, funding, and sustainability
  • Public-facing reports or whitepapers when strategically justified

Not included
Generic talks, hype decks, or content marketing.